Myth 1. The longer you clean your skin, the better
Dermatologists normally advise against washing your face any more than twice a day, and the cleansing product should not stay on your skin for more than a minute. No need to foam up your cleanser intensely and massage it in for 10-15 minutes like many people do, even if you have oily skin and feel like you need to clean the oil out of your pores.
Overwashing your face can actually have the opposite effect on your skin, making it produce more oil if you have oily skin, but aggravating dry skin too, as it removes the natural moisture from your skin.
Myth 2. Cleansing wipes are the best makeup removing method
Makeup wipes may be cheap and quick to use, but do you really think they do a good job removing all your makeup, sunscreen and dirt that accumulated on your skin during the day? If so, we challenge you to do a test:
Use a cleansing wipe as usual, then wet your face with warm water and without washing anything off, dry your face with a white towel. In the majority of cases, your towel will no longer be white and you will witness leftover foundation and mascara on the towel.
On top of not being able to clean your skin, makeup wipes can irritate it, often exacerbating acne, rosacea, and dryness, as well as causing wrinkles, especially if you don’t wash your face after using them. When it comes to your skin’s health, try not to cut corners, and instead of cleansing wipes, use a wash-off oil-based cleanser to melt away your makeup without any tugging or pulling at your skin.
Myth 3. You have acne because you’re touching your face too much
Rubbing and picking at your skin will definitely not benefit it, but many people who never did this can have acne. This is because many different factors starting from your hormone levels to foods to a dirty pillowcase can cause acne. Many of these factors you can’t control, e.g. many women over 30 suffer from hormonal zits that appear around their period.
And the ladies are not the only ones blessed with these “occasional presents”, as men, too, often have pimples, especially around their beards as a result of razor burn or not washing their beards thoroughly enough. Still, thorough and regular face cleansing, as well as clean phones, pillowcases, scarves and yes, beards, are all a must for a pimple-free face.
Myth 4. Oily skin doesn’t need moisturizers
The dream of a typical person who has oily skin is to have dry, matte-looking skin, so moisturizing it is unnecessary, right? Wrong, as it is very likely that your skin is overproducing oils specifically because you’re drying it out. In fact, many people with oily skin who start using moisturizers often find that their skin becomes less oily.
What is true, however, is that the moisturizer of your choice should be very different from the one favored by someone with dry skin. Oily skins should opt for gel creams, lightweight lotions and milky serums instead of a heavy, rich cream, even at night, mainly because the richer moisturizers can cause breakouts and feel too heavy on the skin.
Myth 5. High reviews and recommendations from beauty gurus mean a product is good
If a product is recommended to you by a beauty guru or you see that it gets rave reviews on some website, it doesn’t mean that it’s a good product. No, we have no intention of proving that beauty gurus and reviews are unreliable, as they very well may be honest and well-intentioned, but all these people don’t have your skin and most of them are not dermatologists or facialists, and don’t know enough about skin to recommend you what you need.
This is not to say that you cannot use these reviews and opinions at all, however, but look for reviews by people who you know have a similar skin type, skin condition, and age with you, and even then, get a tester of the product before fully committing to a product, as you might be allergic to one of its ingredients.
Myth 6. You need a dedicated product for each part of the face
Although it is true that different parts of the face and the body have different thickness, produce more or less oil, when it comes to skincare, most people don’t need a separate eye cream, neck cream, or daytime and nighttime moisturizer. On top of being extremely expensive for no reason, these specialized creams usually don’t work any different from a regular face cream, so you need only 1 product for the whole face, neck and decollete.
This is not to say that you shouldn’t invest in different types of products, though. A serum, for example, will be able to address a specific skin concern you have, be it acne, hyperpigmentation, or fine lines, because it has a high concentration of active ingredients that most moisturizers don’t. So, instead of buying a separate product for each area, it’s better to invest in a good serum to layer underneath your moisturizer that will deal with your skin concerns.
Myth 7. You have to stick to a consistent routine to get results
Our skin is the barrier protecting our bodies from the environment, and with environmental changes, it can change as well. Things like climate, changes in season, how much time you spend in the sun, your diet and, let’s face it - age - can all change our skin type and worsen a skin condition we might have.
Together with these changes, we should adjust our skincare routines. And while the 3 basic steps of cleansing, moisturizing and protecting from the sun should stay year round, the products of your choice should be adjusted. So, for example, you might opt for a thicker moisturizer or even mix in a facial oil in your usual moisturizer in the winter when it’s cold, windy and you need extra skin protection, but in the summer, you change it to a lightweight cream that lets your skin breathe in the hot and humid weather.
Similarly, when you’re having a breakout, it’s useful to add an acne product to use on those pimples, but when the breakout is gone, you should stop using it. You get the picture: adjust your skincare regime to your skin's needs.
Myth 8. The pricier the product, the better it is
Now, even I am guilty of having believed this myth in the past. And it does seem quite logical that price should correlate with effectiveness, but the truth is that so many other aspects influence the price of a certain product that this rule doesn't hold water. Paying a premium price for a product doesn’t mean it will work better than a cheap one.
Yes, it will likely feel better on the skin, come in a beautiful bottle, use exotic ingredients and smell nice, but it is almost certain that it will not be more effective than a dermatologist-approved product, even a very affordable one from the drugstore. This is because you as a consumer are paying extra for the brand, the extravagant packaging, and the signature fragrance, and not for effectivity per se.
Thus, look for products and brands that were created by dermatologists or facialists instead of luxury fashion brands, as they offer the best balance of effectiveness and price.
These were all the skincare myths we had in store in this article. If you like the topic, share it with your loved ones. We also recommend checking out this article about Popular Skincare Mistakes.
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