You may have learnt these as skincare truths and have never doubted them. The bad news? They aren’t true. Now, the good news, we debunk them so you’ll know what you should believe instead.
- Myth 1: After cleansing, your skin should feel squeaky clean
- Myth 2: Change your products from time to time because your skin gets used to them
- Myth 3: Exfoliate daily to keep your skin young
- Myth 4: What you eat has no correlation to how healthy your skin is
- Myth 5: Hot water opens pores
- Myth 6: Your skin will age just like your mum’s
- Myth 7: Natural ingredients are less irritating than chemical ones
- Myth 8: Wearing makeup prevents your skin from breathing
- Myth 9: Placing a frozen spoon at your undereye area make eye bags look less serious
Myth 1: After cleansing, your skin should feel squeaky clean
Truth: If you could drag your finger across your face and nearly produce a squeak sound, you might actually be damaging your skin more than you imagine. If your skin feels tight after your cleansing routine, you might have either over-cleansed or your cleanser has stripped your skin off its natural oils, setting your skin up for irritation, dehydration, and possibly, the production of more sebum.
Myth 2: Change your products from time to time because your skin gets used to them
Truth: Products that work on you will continue to work on you, unless your environment has changed, or your skin’s condition has changed. The reason why you feel that a good product has “stopped working” is because it no longer gives the dramatic result that it used to give when your skin was in a worse state.
Myth 3: Exfoliate daily to keep your skin young
Truth: This is not entirely untrue, but whether it is good for you or not depends on your skin type. If you have sensitive skin or dry skin, you should definitely not practice this regularly. Excessive scrubbing can irritate and even damage your skin. See our exfoliation tips for more advice.
Myth 4: What you eat has no correlation to how healthy your skin is
Truth: Nothing can be further from the truth. High glycemic foods – white rice, bread and sweets are super skin enemies; they trigger the body to produce insulin which causes age-accelerating inflammation.
Related: Want to look younger, avoid these foods.
Myth 5: Hot water opens pores
Truth: We have always heard of these few cleansers and scrubs wielding magical pore opening powers when paired with warm water. While steam does help to open up the pores and aid extraction, hot water does not actually open pores.
But it is not entirely harmful. What it does is to loosen the dirt/oil/makeup within your pores, making cleansing a lot more thorough. Just make sure it’s not so hot that it’s hurting your skin and stripping it of its natural oils.
Myth 6: Your skin will age just like your mum’s
Truth: If your mother has extremely good skin, does it mean that you are destined to have the same? Even thought genetics play a huge part in the ageing process, external factors, like sun exposure, alcohol and smoke affect most of how skin looks over time.
Myth 7: Natural ingredients are less irritating than chemical ones
Truth: Natural ingredients definitely has a host of benefits. But, certain ingredients may also trigger reactions when used on sensitive skin. Some of the most common oils that can cause irritation include peppermint and tea tree oil.
DV TIP
Go for the purest extracts, they usually have the least potential to irritate your skinMyth 8: Wearing makeup prevents your skin from breathing
Truth: Dirt, oil, makeup and pollution can build up on the skin. In fact proper cleansing and exfoliation will help clear the skin of those pore-cloggers. But do not fret, suffocating your skin with makeup is simply not possible.
Myth 9: Placing a frozen spoon at your undereye area make eye bags look less serious
Truth: That is, if you are particularly hungover or just exhausted, the cooling sensation can help alleviate temporary puffiness. If what you have are eye bags, the frozen spoon will hardly make a difference.
