Fact: There is no evidence or research that indicates that the under-eye area needs special ingredients (or what these "special ingredients" should be) that are any different from what you use on your face or neck. You can use the exact same well-formulated face cream under your eye area as well. Even if your under-eye skin is different (extra dry) you can still use a face cream for dry skin to treat it. An eye-cream simply allows companies to sell a cream in a significantly smaller container for a significantly higher price. We all know how pricey eye-creams can get!
2. Myth: "My skin needs special care night while it repairs itself so I must use a product labelled Night Cream ".
Fact: Skin is "repairing" itself and producing skin cells every second: all day and all night. Your skin is deserving of beneficial ingredients (antioxidants, anti-irritants, skin repairing ingredients, etc.) both day and night. The only actual difference there should be between your day time and night time moisturizer is that the daytime moisturizer must have an SPF while the night time moisturizer should not.
3. Myth: "Regularly steaming my face is beneficial for my skin".
Fact: Extreme temperatures in any form (shower, sauna, direct steaming, icing) whether hot or cold irritate the skin and should be avoided as much as possible. It can injure skin cells, dehydrate the skin, and cause capillaries to surface. Only use lukewarm water on your skin.
4. Myth: "I have dry skin, so I will drink lots of water to hydrate it"
Fact: Dry skin is not a simple matter of lack of moisture. Drinking water has very little to do with dry skin as it does nothing to remove surface layers of the skin, where the dry skin occurs. In fact, studies have shown that those with oily or normal skin had relatively similar water content in their skin as those with dry skin. Dry skin can be caused by damaging the skin's outer barrier which can occur through a number of factors such as sun damage, use of irritating ingredients, overly drying cleansers or smoking. Thus, in order to prevent dry skin, the skin's outer barrier must be protected and repaired. BUT... keep in mind that drinking lots of water is BENEFICIAL for your overall health, so keep drinking 8-10 + glasses a day!
5. Myth: "Topical Scrubs are the best way to exfoliate my skin".
Fact: Topical scrubs only deal with the the very top, on the surface, superficial layer of skin. Scrubs with a rough, course texture with "beads" cause tiny tears that damages the skin. The best way to penetrate through layers of the skin, remove built-up dead skin cells, and reveal younger-looking skin is with a well-formulated chemical exfoliant (AHA or BHA products). For more information, read this detailed article on AHA/BHA exfoliants.
So there you have it, 5 very common beauty myths dispelled. Hopefully, you learned at least 1 or 2 points from here and lucky you if already knew about all of these! Because up until very recently, I was also guilty of believing these myths. Now, I CRINGE when I think about all the times I would steam my face weekly to "open my pores" and follow with a beaded, topical face scrub... thinking I was "pampering" my skin but I was doing just the opposite :(. It's horrible how many of the beauty myths out there we religiously follow and avidly believe in, are actually doing more harm to us than good. Always do your research before falling for anything your hear!!
Ps. Just in case your wondering, I learned these tips after reading Paula Begoun's Beauty books & articles. I've written a longer post on some more surprising skincare tips I've learned if interested.
*Image used is from Google Images*
