6 Skincare Myths You Probably Believe
When you’re getting skin care advice left right and center, how do you know what to believe? It seems like everybody has their own idea about what makes a great skin routine and there are so many different skin products on the market, it’s hard to know where to start. Amongst all of that conflicting information, you’re bound to get some bad advice floating about. When that bad advice gets online and spreads around it can quickly become a myth.
The problem with these skin care myths is that they’re actually doing you a lot of harm and there are so many people out there that are following these myths, thinking that they’re protecting their skin when they’re actually doing the complete opposite. To help you avoid ruining your skin routine, make sure you don’t listen to any of these skin care myths.
Tanning Booths And UVB Rays
When research into tanning booths found that the UV rays were harmful to the skin and increased your risk of getting cancer, it looked like they might fall out of fashion completely. But the companies that make tanning booths came up with a solution, or so they said. They claimed that the harmful bit was the UVB rays or ‘sunburn’ rays as they called them. They claimed by filtering them out, they’d made the tanning beds completely safe again. It would be great if that were true, but it’s nonsense. There are still UVA rays that aren’t being filtered out and they penetrate the skin and increase your risk of cancer still. So why not just filter out the UVA rays? That doesn’t leave much left and you wouldn’t get a tan if you did. To cut a long story short, there is no safe way to use a tanning bed at the moment, regardless of what you might have heard.
Blackheads
Everybody gets blackheads, that’s not the myth. But when you think you see blackheads it could actually be something different. On your nose, you get something called sebaceous filaments. They’re hair like structures that cause a build up of oils in your pores. They look very similar to blackheads but the color is usually a lot paler. Sebaceous filaments exist for a reason; to moisturize your skin. If you’re wondering how to get rid of sebaceous filaments, you need to be careful. They are actually a natural part of the skin and you don’t want to get rid of them completely. Exfoliating regularly will help to stop build up of oils.
The problem is, most people mistake them for blackheads and start using treatments to get rid of them. It becomes a vicious cycle because you cause yourself more skin problems by getting rid of them. You should use treatments sparingly to make sure that you’re not drying out your skin.
Popping Pimples
Whenever you get a spot or a pimple, the natural reaction is to pop it. That’s what everybody does because you need to get the pus out of the pimple to make it heal, or so the myth goes. In reality, popping the spot does way more harm than good. Some of the pus is going to come out when you pop it, but the majority actually goes in deeper. That can lead to scarring and most of the time, you’ll get another spot pop up nearby in just a few days. While it might not look great, it’s better to leave the spot to dry out naturally instead of picking away at it. But if you’re absolutely set on getting rid of it, don’t just burst it. You can buy a specific product called a comedone extractor that does it without pushing any of the pus further in.
Microdermabrasion
Microdermabrasion is one of those buzzwords that’s way fancier than it sounds. All it really boils down to is gently scrubbing the top layer of your skin off. The thinking behind it is that you clear off all of that dead skin on the top layer, leaving the healthy new skin underneath. The reality is actually quite different. When you scrub too hard, you take off a lot of the protective oils on your skin, increasing the chance of it drying out. You’re far more likely to suffer with acne if you’ve taken away all of the protection on your skin as well. When you’re washing your face, you should be gentle with your skin so you aren’t taking whole layers off it, and normal soap is just fine.
Expensive Products
The price variations in skin products are pretty massive. You can get some cheap non-branded stuff for just a few dollars, but the most expensive stuff can exceed a hundred dollars for a small tube. Surely that expensive stuff must contain a load of crazy ingredients that work wonders on your skin? Otherwise, they wouldn’t sell it for so much, surely? Actually, it’s all clever marketing. The ingredients in most anti aging and other skin products are basically the same, whether you buy the cheap brands or the ridiculously expensive ones. That’s not to say the expensive ones don’t work well, but you can usually get the exact same thing for a fraction of the price.
Lasers
Laser skin treatments are the latest thing in skin care. They’re marketed as a miracle tool that can make you look years younger in just a few treatments. Lasers are easy to market in this way because most people don’t know much about them and they seem futuristic. Unfortunately, they aren’t quite as amazing as everybody thinks they are. The technology is improving and the results from some laser treatments are good, but you need to manage your expectations about what they can do for you. They can help with sun spots and wrinkles but they aren’t going to undo years of damage. Too many people spend years doing damage to their skin and then expect laser treatments to be a quick fix but that’s not the case at all.
These myths are doing some serious damage to your skin so the sooner you stop believing them, the sooner you’ll get the results that you’re after.
Tia, and TipsfromTia.com is trying to keep you looking good and
feeling good, from the inside out. If you’ve got a problem or a tip email me! Be sure to Like and share on Facebook or Follow on Twitter or Instagram.
