I expect there are many of us who have believed at least one of the following beauty myths. Some have been contrived by those clever marketing guys who want us to buy a particular product and some are just urban legends, we believe them because other people do. Whatever their origin you might find some of them surprising!
Everyone needs to use a day and a night cream
This one might save us all some money! There has been no research or proof to suggest that the skin repairs itself differently depending on the time of day, as the natural skin repairing process is constant, therefore, there is no need for a different formulation of product at night.
The only difference between the ingredients in a day and night cream is that the day cream contains sunscreen, which is where the magic ends!
Skin adapts to skin care products so you should change them every so often
There is no factual proof to support this, and logically your skin isn’t going to become resistant to something which is good for it, like your body wouldn’t become resistant to eating a healthy diet. Something good will always be good, its effectiveness wouldn’t dissipate over time.
There is a product out there which can really eliminate wrinkles
I think deep down we all knew this but maybe didn’t want to admit it to ourselves. Why would manufacturers constantly churn out new formulas which all promise to zap those wrinkles and return our youthful good looks?
The reason is because many simply don’t work, and each one is pumped full of marketing hype which trigger our insecurities to make us spend more on this type of beauty product than any other. Wrinkles are inevitable, a result of the natural breakdown of skin structure from cumulative sun damage and age.
A study published in Skin Research and Technical May 2007, actually demonstrated this point; a group of three women tested three different anti-wrinkle creams over six weeks, when their skin was examined by optical profilometry which looks at the contours and roughness of the skin, there was no difference between any of the groups, and no improvement in wrinkles.
That said, there are products which can help protect and nourish the skin, sunscreens, exfoliants, moisturisers, retinoids etc. However, no skin care product will emulate the results of a plastic surgeon, no matter what the advertising says! For advice on what really helps, have a look at a list of this years top beauty products from beauty blogger Debbie Parker.
Dermatologically tested means the product is reliable and can live up to its claims
Don’t let this phrase lull you into a false sense of security; it does not endorse the effectiveness of the formula, as the phrase doesn’t tell us who tested it, how they tested it, on who, and even what the results were, good or bad!
There is no way of assessing what this phrase means, it is a marketing gimmick which makes consumers believe the manufacturer has their best interests at heart by using clinical terminology which wrongly makes us feel reassured.
There are skin care products which really are better than Botox or dermal fillers
Again, don’t be sucked into the unscrupulous marketing techniques of the brand which claim their products have the same effects as Botox. There is absolutely no evidence to show that any skin care product can work like Botox, fillers or laser resurfacing. Even Botox and fillers themselves do not have the same effects if applied topically to the skin rather than being injected.
