People have always been told of specific skin care routines—the do’s and the don’ts. But have you ever wondered of the validity of all those? Below is a list of some of the most common skin misconceptions, and debunking them is our goal—because sometimes, facing the truth can be so ugly.
1. MYTH: Steam is really good for acne-prone skin.
If you love steaming your skin, then you’re not alone. The facial steam is a one of the most favourite offerings of a salon facial and personal facial steamers are getting really popular for home use
nowadays. And for those people who are on budget constraints but wishes to do facial steaming still—they do so by doing it the hard way: with a bowl of warm water plus a towel. Too bad all this steaming won’t actually clear out your pores. Pore blockages or comedones occur when oil and other debris gets lodged into the pores. This forms a thick, sticky substance that starts a whitehead, a blackhead and a pimple. Even hours of facial steaming won’t clear this plug from your pores or prevent new ones from forming. But this is not to say that facial steaming does not have a place in your skin care routine. Having a
facial steam can soften your whiteheads and blackheads so it can be extracted a lot easier later on. You should not try to extract an already inflamed blemish though, as it will lead to more problems. Steaming can also make your skin glowing and looking brighter. But steaming your face, no matter how often you do
it won’t clear up your acne. Period.
2. MYTH: The eyes and yours ears don’t break out.
We often wonder why almost everyone, including the skin experts, tend to forget the existence of the face’s outfielders? The pores surrounding your eyes, in and around your ears, and the pores that are inside your nose are highly susceptible to breakouts too! To prevent this, you need to maintain good eye
health. As for your ears, keep it clean by regularly using a few drops of astringent toner on a cotton swab. For the clearing of your nasal passages, spray it with saline spray in order to help get rid of excess bacteria and promote healthier nasal passageways.
3. MYTH; All natural means all good
You would not really rub a poison ivy on body because it is deemed “natural”, right? So why is it that people tend to continue to blindly slather themselves of products that are “all natural”? Sure there are a lot of fantastic green options when it comes to skin care, but Mother Nature’s essences are not so always skin-friendly. There are plant extracts, essential oils and colorants that can irritate the skin as much as their synthetic counterparts.
The perception with natural products is that they are always “kinder and purer” to your skin than those products created in laboratories, but really, nothing can be farther than the truth, and that’s according to Joel Schlessingger, MD, a dermatologist and former president of the American Society of Cosmetic Dermatology and Aesthetic Surgery. In fact, if you are buying these all natural products to take care of your acne or avoid allergic reactions and breakouts, then you might end up being disappointed as they won’t necessarily be the better option.
4. MYTH: Vitamin E is a wonder ingredient
It seems that nowadays, every skin care products comes with Vitamin E or tocopherol as a selling point. Vitamin E is a compound that promotes skin renewal. But because this compound easily gives up electrons to stabilze those free radicals floating around your body, it can be a bit harder to predict its
behaviour when it is exposed to oxygen, light and heat. In fact, most tocopherols that are formulated for skin care are not stable which can result to skin irritation.
5. MYTH: Pain equates to product potency
Wrong! And the phrase “no pain, no gain” should never be applied in skin care. A lot of people have grown accustomed to thinking that they need to feel a certain tingling, itching or burning sensation to let them know that their chosen products are working. But that is entirely not true. When it comes to skin care, if you’re using a product that starts to hurt you, wash it off immediately.
