Fragrantly Beautiful

Beauty myths and facts

HIGH ON E (TIQUETTE)

By PATTY BETITA

I started taking good care of my skin at a later age—30 to be exact—only after I noticed some brown spots on my cheeks, which I initially thought were freckles (and I even found them cute!). But to my horror, I realized that they were age spots and pigmentation.

I learned from the Facial Care Center, my skin-care clinic, that these brown spots were a result of prolonged sun exposure and bad lifestyle habits over the years. So I decided to really take good care of my skin.

Today, I have a professional skin therapist who I regularly visit for my facials and other treatments but I also have some home-based beauty and skin-care regimen that I’ve been faithfully following for years. In this column, however, I will focus on beauty myths—those age-old beliefs that have been passed on from generation to generation that may have some factual and scientific basis.

Beauty Myth 1: Drinking eight glasses of water hydrates the skin. Yes, drinking water is indeed a beneficial for one’s health and skin but it does not have direct hydrating effects on the skin. Topical treatments such as creams and sunscreen are the only way to hydrate your skin.

Beauty Myth 2: Smoking and caffeine cause dry skin and wrinkles. I am not encouraging people to smoke, but this is what I learned: smoking does not dry out the skin. The wrinkles around the mouth are caused by the repeated "sucking of the cigarette" for years!

Beauty Myth 3: Baby oil or petroleum jelly heals dry, chapped skin better than moisturizers. Yes, baby oil and petroleum jelly are good barriers to help prevent moisture loss. But they don’t bring back the youthful, soft smooth skin you used to have. The best way to soften chapped skin is scrub it with a loofah, pumice stone or any scrubbing agent when you take a bath, apply a moisturizer right after, and then seal it with a thin layer of baby oil or petroleum jelly.

Beauty Myth 4: Scrub your acne away. There are many coarse, heavy grained exfoliators often recommended for acne prone, oily skin but if used too often, they may aggravate acne by opening the cysts and encouraging skin to produce even more oil. Use a medium-strength exfoliator suspended in a gel or paste and do not overdo the scrubbing.

Let’s start taking good care of our skin and health. Remember the old saying that "health is wealth?" It applies to your skin’s health too, because good skin is an asset to be cherished. Just imagine yourself with radiant skin. You will naturally stand out even without the most expensive clothes and shoes!

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posted by Cheryl Levesque @ 1:44 PM