Skin Care Myths

What does “Sun Protection Factor” mean anyway?

Lexli International — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 20:45:08 GMT

If you’re like most individuals, your assumption is that the higher the SPF, the broader the protection. And you’d be correct. However, the protection derived from products with an SPF greater than 15 is generally greatly exaggerated.

Another way to look at SPF is in terms of the amount of time it would take you to burn without sunscreen. For example, if you normally burn in 15 minutes of sun exposure, SPF 15 gives you 15 times the protection, or 15 x 15 = 225 minutes. But don’t rely too heavily on that number. The key to ensuring you’re protected from the harmful effects of the sun’s rays is the regular reapplication of sunscreen. Perspiration and water exposure wash sunscreen off the skin. (There’s no such thing as a “waterproof” or “sweatproof” sunscreen, mind you.) For best results, reapply every few hours.

Dermatologists, plastic surgeons and estheticians look at SPF 15 as the baseline level to look for in a sunscreen. This is because of its ability to block about 92% of UVB rays, the rays responsible for burning. As you increase the SPF number, the gains are minimal. For example, SPF 30 protects against 97% of UVB rays and SPF 50 against 98%. Still, for those with fair skin, SPF 30 or higher is recommended.

More Skincare Myths

Lexli International — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:00:00 GMT

There are many myths out there concerning skincare and acne, but they are nothing more than just that, myths. We’ve talked about myths such as the effectiveness of cucumber on puffy eyes and the need to wear sunscreen, but have you heard of these myths?

Myth: Facial exercises will help make your skin look younger

Truth: Facial exercises can actually do quite the opposite by stretching your skin and creating lines and/or wrinkles. Daily facial maneuvers and manipulations can cause lines, furrows and sagging. Facial exercise is not helpful for worn-out skin because skin is not about the muscles.

Myth: Getting a tan will eliminate acne

Wearing sunscreen can protect your skin, which leads this myth to be false. While there exists a theory that UV light can minimize skin's bacteria, getting direct rays from the sun is not the safe way to do it. In fact, tanned skin may simply hide your acne, not get rid of it.

Debunking Cucumber & Sunscreen Myths

Lexli International — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Skincare has many misconceptions. How many times have we heard people telling us that chocolate causes acne, or that tanning can help our skin? Here are a few myths debunked:

Myth: Cucumbers reduce puffiness in your eyes

Truth : While some think that cucumber flesh can reduce swelling and revitalize skin, such is not the truth. Remember—your body cannot absorb water, but cucumber is over 90 percent water. If you do notice swelling going down, it’s likely that the cucumbers you are using are cold. Cold stops swelling, and that’s what you are noticing that affects your skin.

Myth: You only need sunscreen during the summer

Truth: UV rays from the sun will reach us no matter what season it might be. Using skin care products with sun protection, such as a moisturizer with sunscreen, can benefit your skin year-round.

Anti-Aging Skin Care Myths

Lexli International — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Everybody is looking for a cheap and easy trick to minimize puffy eyes, wrinkles and acne. Here are a few unconventional tips that consumers are trying, despite the fact they’re nothing but myths:

The first one involved the use of Preparation H which is a hemorrhoid treatment cream to reduce under eye puffiness
The other was placing duct or scotch tape over the wrinkles smoothing them out and then leaving the tape in place over night.
Toothpaste to get rid of acne
Baby foreskin serum to reduce wrinkles
Facial exercises with machines
Caviar

I strongly advise you to think well before you try any of these unconventional techniques. You could have a reaction to either these creams or tape. Instead, you should just use anti-aging products that are created by certified doctors with your best interests in mind. Make sure to use a face exfoliating cream daily to remove dead skins cells that can clog your pores and make your face appear older.

What unconventional anti-aging skin care techniques have you tried?

Cucumbers For Puffy Eyes: Do They Really Work?

Lexli International — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMT

It is a popular practice to place freshly cut cucumber slices over one’s eyes in order to reduce puffiness and “that tired look" and often a sign of too much salty food or alcohol-laced fun the night before. The botanical ingredient in cucumber, known as cucumis sativus, can help, but not your best bet. Cucumbers are more than 90% water and the rest is mostly inert fiber with no skin benefits.

Cucumber slices do sometimes reduce puffiness a bit, but only because they are cold. It is the cold (not the cucumber) that shrinks the swelling by constricting blood vessels and thus reducing inflow of fluid into soft tissue.

There have been some cases where women who have put cucumber slices on their eyes actually received an eye infection. Even if you properly wash a cucumber, they still can contain millions of bacteria on the surface. Not only can they have bacteria on the outside, but in the inside too. There are insects called Cucumber beetles that vector viruses such as cucumber mosaic or bacterial wilt, which are diseases of cucumbers. Now placing that over your delicate eyes screams eye infection! Instead, I would stick with a cool clean washcloth over your eyes to reduce puffiness.

If you're looking for a better and more proven method of treatment than cucumber slices, you should use a lightening lift lotion to help tone and rejuvenate your skin.

Do you put cucumbers over your eyes to reduce puffiness or with your at home facial while you lay in the tub and relax?

Buzz Words in the Skin Care Industry.....

Lexli International — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Anti-aging, re-surfacing, micro-tightening, detox. These are just a few buzz words that skin care companies use to get your attention. Why? Because they want us to believe their products are worth buying. So, if one brand’s bottle is saying “anti-wrinkle,” the brand next to it rushes to put that same phrase on their bottle. It’s a word race for your dollar. To sell products, a lot of companies will even use ingredient buzz words like these:

Amino acids
Copper Peptides
DMAE
Resveratrol
CoQ10
Better than Botox
TGF beta
GABA
Matrixyl
Collagen & Elastin
Natural/organic
Eyeseryl
Alpha lipoic acid
Argireline

Unfortunately, even if the product doesn’t have enough of the ingredient in the bottle to have an affect on your skin, the company can still put it on the label! Always do your research to find the concentration and quality of each ingredient. Does the company have third party verification that the product will do exactly what it says it will do? A label might claim that the product includes an ingredient with a high-tech sounding name, but do your research before you make the investment. It might just be a buzz word you’re buying.

What are some buzzwords you come across in products you've seen? Have you noticed any trends in skin care bottles and packaging?

Do Botox Creams Really Work?

Lexli International — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Can you really beleive that skin care companies think we beleive that you can apply a cream on our face, and it can penetrate through our skin and into the muscles to block nerve activity in the muscle and paralyze that muscle like and actual botox injection in a cream form?

As I thumb through beauty magazines and attend professional esthetic trade shows, I am overwhelmed with the companies who still tout that their product is “Better than Botox.” I was going to research all the products I could find that make this claim. As I was searching, I found a great and thorough article by Paula Begoun. Since she did such a great job, I want to provide this article to you. To sum it up, in case you don’t feel like reading 12 pages, you CANNOT duplicate botox in a cream form!! And if you could, what would happen to your fingers as you take it out of the jar, and when you apply to your whole face? Would you really want your whole face and fingers to be paralyzed? All I have to say is thank goodness that creams can’t duplicate the real effects of the Botox injections!

To read about products claiming to be “Better than Botox” check it out at http://www.cosmeticscop.ca/SkinCareFacts_2968

Common Acne Questions - What Doesn't Cause Acne

Lexli International — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMT

There are so many myths and questions in the skincare industry about acne. In the next few weeks, I will go through a variety of topics about acne and treatment of acne scarring. This article will focus on what doesn’t cause acne. Stay tuned for the next article, “What DOES cause acne,” in our Acne Series Blog.

So the question is, “What does NOT cause acne?”

Cleanliness: Acne is not a condition caused by poor hygiene and cannot be cleared by scrubbing or washing excessively. There is no correlation between acne severity and skin bacteria numbers. Aggressive rubbing should be avoided.

Diet: There have been no studies to confirm that acne is associated with diet. There is no scientific evidence to link acne with eating chocolate or fatty foods.

Stress: The relationship of acne with stress remains controversial. Most studies do not support the idea that stress is associated with acne flare-ups. However, stress may begin to interfere with sleep patterns, quality of sleep, general health, etc., and may indirectly influence acne.

Using alcohol to dry the skin: The skin should not be excessively dried using alcohol based solutions. (alcohol/aftershave/cologne/perfume) it is important to keep the protective barrier of the skin as healthy as possible when combating acne. Excessive drying may lead to increased inflammation and irritation.

Steaming the Face: Repeated exposure to hot steam may worsen acne by increasing inflammation. The occasional steaming done to remove comedones is acceptable.

Can Certain Food Causes Acne?

The notion that eating chocolate and greasy foods will cause acne has been passed down for decades and so far there is not any evidence to support this claim. The only way a greasy food, such as pizza or French fries, will cause you to develop acne is if you rub the food all over your face and the grease clogs your pores. While chocolate is a bit more complicated since many people are lactose intolerant, meaning they are allergic to milk. If a person is allergic to milk it could easily cause a number of problems for them, including causing acne. This does not mean that chocolate causes acne, but what it does mean is that your body interpreting milk as a toxin can cause you to develop acne or a number of more serious problems.

Does Makeup Cause Acne?

This issue is more complicated since makeup will not directly cause acne, but rather certain makeup can dry out your skin and make you more susceptible to acne developing. The best way to make sure makeup will not dry out your skin and subsequently cause you to develop acne is to only use makeup products that are non-comedogenic or non-acnegenic. In addition, your body might have genetically occurring allergies to certain ingredients, but the only way to discover what makeup products you are allergic to is by trial and error. If a certain makeup dries out your skin, stop using it.

Resources

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Haz-Map-Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Agents
Specialized Information Services (SIS)
U.S. National Library of Medicine
National Institutes of Health

The Truth About A “Base Tan”

Lexli International — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMT

First of all what is a tan?

To put it in simple terms, it is our body’s natural protective response against internal skin damage. So when people say they have a “healthy tan” this is far from being true. Within the basal layer and upper dermis are our pigment producing cells called melanocytes. These cells are stimulated by exposure to ultraviolet rays and manufactures melanin, the skin pigment that is the body’s natural sunscreen. Although people think a tan is healthy, a tan is actually a chemical reaction of the body defending itself from the damaging rays of the sun! A tan is actually the body and skin saying “don’t do this to me!” So what happens to our skin when we get a base tan from a tanning bed, it causes a start of inflammation, that actually makes damage from further UV rays worse. This is because inflammation sensitizes the skin and makes it more vulnerable to added insult later.

Bottom line is, “The melanin produced by tanning is not protective as compared to natural genetic adaptive melanin. So you are only increasing cell damage by getting a base tan and increasing inflammation. Now add tanning at the beach on top of this and you are only causing more skin damage.” Dr Abdullah

So what is the difference between a tan and naturally having darker skin?

When you have darker skin naturally, the melanin distribution is evenly covered over the nuclei of the surrounding cells. This “coating” gives the greatest protection for DNA which is inside the nucleus of the cell.

When we get a tan, the pigment does not surround the cells in an orderly fashion as it does in ethnic skin. Unlike ethnic skin, the pigment that is stimulated gets “scattered” throughout the skin, and sloughs off with the natural sloughing of dead skin cells, therefore it gives us temporary color.

The color you get with a tan does not give you the same solar defense as if that was your genetic skin color. Your genes determine how much your skin color will protect you from the sun. So the color you get with a tan, no matter if it’s from the sun, the tanning booths, or sunless tanner, it is not the same thing, and doesn’t protect your skin from UV damage. A tan provides us with only an SPF of about a 4, and therefore won’t protect us from skin damage.

So what option do we have when we want a little “color” for that special occasion or vacation without causing damage to our skin?

The good news is there is a safer alternative. Sunless tanning. How these products work, whether they come in the form of a liquid, gel, mousse or cream is by a chemical ingredient called DHA (dihydroxyacetone). When this ingredient binds to the proteins on the skin, it creates an orange/ brown color. One thing to remember with sunless tanners is that they are a temporary tan and should be very careful not to get in your eyes. They too will fade in a few days with the sloughing of dead skin cells, excess water exposure, sweating, and exfoliation. And just remember, self tanners do not contain sunscreen and won’t protect you from getting a sunburn or other damaging effects from the sun.

Dissolving Myths Surrounding Water as a Base Skincare Ingredient

Lexli International — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Skincare products are not magic. The process begins with a base, to which various ingredients are added to make the final product. The vast majority of skincare products are water-based, with the first ingredient listed as water, aqua, purified water, or H2O, combined with other ingredients to make individual products such as moisturizers, exfoliants, cleansers and so on (check your bottles ladies - if the ingredients are not listed on the bottle then they will appear on the packaging).

Unfortunately for you, water is not a great base for a skincare product. Water doesn’t get absorbed through the skin. Moisturizers don’t put water into the skin. Moisturizers prevent evaporation from the skin, thus keeping it hydrated. If your skin absorbed water, going swimming would be a nasty proposition – osmotic pressure would cause you to bloat up until your body equalized with the outside environment!

Scientifically speaking, the molecules of water are just too big to be absorbed directly into the skin. That’s why choosing water as a base ingredient in a skincare product just doesn’t make sense.

There have been many laboratory studies done on Aloe vera. In fact, it is one of the most researched natural skincare ingredients. Unlike water, aloe absorbs into your skin synergistically, delivering nutrients while hydrating and repairing. These abilities are well documented, and have been researched by the scientific community since at least 1935.

To sum things up – aloe just makes sense as a base for a skincare product. Why pay for a product that has a base ingredient your skin can’t even use!

That being said, all aloe is not created equal. When aloe is harvested it must be processed and stabilized within six hours to avoid chemical breakdown, reducing efficacy. Make sure you buy products containing bioactive aloe. In addition, find out if the company uses pharmaceutical grade, IASC certified aloe in their products. An effective aloe based skincare product should deliver the therapeutic benefits of aloe to your skin, working synergistically with powerful humectants, protectants and botanicals to rejuvenate and reveal a clear and luminous complexion.