Five Beauty Myths Busted

When I started working on this story, I couldn’t believe how many beauty myths even I wasn’t sure about. There’s tons of beauty urban legends floating around that teach women, well, absolutely nothing true. Don’t get caught being one of those women; here’s five common beauty myths, busted.

Beauty Myth #1

SPF 15 on your moisturizer +  SPF 10 on your foundation = SPF 25

A few years back I met and interviewed Gina Brooke, artistic director for Shu Uemuera and Madonna’s makeup artist. This was one of the first things she mentioned to me and how so many women believe it’s true. Don’t count the SPF in your foundation and powder in with the SPF you’re actually using in your moisturizer. (I know you’re using a separate one right? Good.) Be sure the sunblock you are using protects against both UVA and UVB rays with an SPF factor of at least 30.

Beauty Myth #2

Tanning beds are safer than the sun

I posted this myth because it seems that most of us Phoenicians are quite tanning obsessed. This is so NOT true. In fact, the UVA rays you get from tanning beds are often in really high doses and these penetrate deeper and are actually more harmful than UVB rays. While you may not see immediate damage, sun damage can often rear its ugly head within a few years in the form of sun freckles, discoloration and, the worst, wrinkles. If you really must fake bake, try spray tanning or a self-tanner instead. Your skin will thank you later on in life.

Beauty Myth #3

You need to use conditioner everyday

This myth is brought to you by my lovely hair dresser at Sachi. She told me one day to just stop using conditioner daily. I, of course, was shocked. How could you not use conditioner everytime you shower? Well, I only wash every other day, any longer than that and my roots get oily. I also have extremely fine hair so lathering on conditioner around my scalp weighs down my hair, makes it limp, lifeless and adds unnecessary moisture that my hair doesn’t need. If this sounds like your type of hair too try using conditioner only on your ends. You can also just skip conditioner every other day. Your hair will have added bounce and stay oil-free longer.

Beauty myth #4

Only overweight women get cellulite

This is one of those myths I have mixed-feelings about. On the one hand, if you’re not overweight and have cellulite it’s good to know cellulite gets pretty much everyone. On the other hand, if you’re not overweight and don’t have cellulite, this doesn’t mean you won’t get it. Cellulite is all about the elasticity in the connective tissues under your skin. This is why most topical creams and lasers that claim to get rid of cellulite often don’t work or only show temporary results.

Beauty Myth #5

Cutting your hair makes it grow faster

This goes hand in hand with filing your nails more often makes them grow faster. Your hair grows from your roots, not your ends. It merely appears to grow faster because when you get a trim you are ridding yourself of any split ends. But the act of cutting the ends in itself is not spurring hair growth.