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When you were a teen, chances are that you probably dabbed a lick of toothpaste on a pimple at some point, thinking it would solve all your problems. You probably read it in the likes of Mizz or Bliss.
But while it does work for certain people, it’s not a guaranteed cure.
Dr. Rebecca Baxt told The Huffington Post that it’s best avoided as toothpaste is, you know, intended for teeth and not for skin.
Toothpaste irritates the skin, so some may believe that it dries out pimples, but what it really does is irritate and cause redness and peeling.
This is a common trick employed to minimise puffy eyes. And while cucumbers contain antioxidants that help reduce bags and the like, the beauty method can backfire if you’re not careful.
As Glamour reports, putting vegetables purchased in a supermarket on your eyes could lead to an infection.
The problem with putting vegetables (or anything else along those lines) near your eyes, she said, is the risk of infection. Millions, if not billions, of bacteria hang around on the surfaces of things.
3. Plucking a grey hair will cause several others to sprout in its place
There is absolutely no scientific evidence to support that plucking a grey hair will cause your hair to say, “Ha, we’ll show her” and purposefully grow several other grey hair in its place.
That said, plucking or pulling hairs can cause damage to your hair, so it’s probably best to just embrace the greys.
A fear that lingers in the back of every woman’s mind.
Fortunately, this is nothing more than a popular myth and there’s no evidence to suggest that crossing your legs is a contributory factor to varicose veins.
Rest easy, one and all.
5. Brushing your hair 100 times will keep it healthy and shiny
None of us are drinking enough water. In fact, you should probably pour yourself a glass right now.
Many celebrities tout water as the secert behind their glowing skin, but there isn’t really any evidence to suggest that drinking gallons of water will necessarily improve the appearance of your skin.
There have been shockingly few studies conducted to measure the effect of water on skin in part because of the difficulty in finding funding for such studies.
Ever lounge around in your garden with squirts of lemon in your hair, hoping to get natural blonde highlights? Lemons do work, but they are also highly acidic, so too much can dry out your hair.
Elle recommends this lemon/cinnamon/chamomile cocktail instead. Beware that its effectiveness all depends on your natural hair colour – if you have dark brown hair, you’re not going to get light blonde streaks.
Okay, organic products might be good for you.. But products labelled as “natural” or “organic” might not actually be all that good for you and could just be guilty of hijacking the words for marketing purposes.
In particular, you should be suspicious of the word natural.
Saturday 23 November, 2024
Saturday 23 November, 2024
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8 commonly believed beauty myths that are mostly nonsense
1. A dab of toothpaste will get rid of your pimples
False.
When you were a teen, chances are that you probably dabbed a lick of toothpaste on a pimple at some point, thinking it would solve all your problems. You probably read it in the likes of Mizz or Bliss.
But while it does work for certain people, it’s not a guaranteed cure.
Dr. Rebecca Baxt told The Huffington Post that it’s best avoided as toothpaste is, you know, intended for teeth and not for skin.
2. Cucumbers will get rid of puffy eyes
Kind of true.
This is a common trick employed to minimise puffy eyes. And while cucumbers contain antioxidants that help reduce bags and the like, the beauty method can backfire if you’re not careful.
As Glamour reports, putting vegetables purchased in a supermarket on your eyes could lead to an infection.
3. Plucking a grey hair will cause several others to sprout in its place
False.
There is absolutely no scientific evidence to support that plucking a grey hair will cause your hair to say, “Ha, we’ll show her” and purposefully grow several other grey hair in its place.
That said, plucking or pulling hairs can cause damage to your hair, so it’s probably best to just embrace the greys.
4. Crossing your legs will cause varicose veins
False.
A fear that lingers in the back of every woman’s mind.
Fortunately, this is nothing more than a popular myth and there’s no evidence to suggest that crossing your legs is a contributory factor to varicose veins.
Rest easy, one and all.
5. Brushing your hair 100 times will keep it healthy and shiny
False.
Brushing your hair 100 times a day is not only a time-consuming activity enjoyed by heroines in Victorian novels, it’s also a complete waste of time.
In fact, it might cause your hair to fall out and dermatologists recommend keeping brushing to a minimum unless you crave split ends.
So now.
6. Drinking water is the best way to look after your skin
Kind of true.
None of us are drinking enough water. In fact, you should probably pour yourself a glass right now.
Many celebrities tout water as the secert behind their glowing skin, but there isn’t really any evidence to suggest that drinking gallons of water will necessarily improve the appearance of your skin.
There have been shockingly few studies conducted to measure the effect of water on skin in part because of the difficulty in finding funding for such studies.
As BBC reports:
By all means, continue drinking loads of water. (Although make sure to space it out during the day, so you can properly absorb it.)
Just don’t freak out if you don’t wind up looking like Eva Mendes.
7. Sprinkling some lemon juice in your hair will give you blonde highlights
Kind of true.
Ever lounge around in your garden with squirts of lemon in your hair, hoping to get natural blonde highlights? Lemons do work, but they are also highly acidic, so too much can dry out your hair.
Elle recommends this lemon/cinnamon/chamomile cocktail instead. Beware that its effectiveness all depends on your natural hair colour – if you have dark brown hair, you’re not going to get light blonde streaks.
8. Organic beauty products are best
False.
Okay, organic products might be good for you.. But products labelled as “natural” or “organic” might not actually be all that good for you and could just be guilty of hijacking the words for marketing purposes.
In particular, you should be suspicious of the word natural.
As Harper’s Bazaar notes:
11 examples of guff you see in every women’s magazine >
6 ways you’ve been washing your hair wrong this whole time >
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Beauty Bodies debunked Make-Up myths