The Beauty Myths

Sun Herald

Sunday October 5, 2008

By Angela Cuming and Kristie Lau

We look at the grooming tips your mum gave you - and which ones you should believe.

Lemon juice gets rid of freckles

VERDICT: FAIR DINKUM

It seems mums do know what they are on about, sometimes. Applying lemon juice to your freckles genuinely does act as a bleaching agent. However, dermatologist Dr JoAnn See says you have to keep the applications up in order to maintain the faded affect. "Lemon juice offers an optical lightening, yes, but it won't get rid of freckles altogether. It's like putting lemon juice in your hair in summer - that works as a temporary method, too," she says.

Brush your hair 100 times a day

VERDICT: GIVE IT THE BRUSH-OFF

Well, if it was good enough for Marcia Brady it should be for us, right? Wrong, says hair stylist George Wilson. "You should try [to] brush your hair as little as possible, especially when it's long because brushing causes split ends," he says.

"And if you do have to brush dry hair, do it from underneath to avoid all those flyaways on the top of your head."

Sunbaking with sunscreen stops you from getting skin cancer

VERDICT: BLOCK IT OUT

Dr John Delauney from the Skin and Cancer Foundation says even the strongest of sunscreen could never act as a force field against the sun's harsh rays. "Sunscreen will never compare to avoiding the sun altogether," he says. But what if we use sunscreen religiously and only ever tan? "You're still in danger territory. Tanning is your skin creating extra pigmentation to protect itself because basically it's saying, 'Ouch, it's too hot'," Dr Delauney says.

Don't go to bed with wet hair

VERDICT: RIGHT ON

This beauty no-no does not just leave you with a stiff neck and a bad case of the sniffles the next morning."If the scalp is moist for a long period of time it can aggravate the small amounts of bacteria found on the skin's surface, which will cause flakiness and irritation and itching," Wilson says.

Eating bread crusts makes your hair go curly

VERDICT: NO WAY, MACY GRAY

Straighties, put the loaf down - all you are doing is overloading on carbs. David Salinger, director of the International Association of Trichologists (trichologists know even more than hairdressers do about hair), says there is no truth to this myth. "Curly hair is genetically determined and formed when one side of the hair grows quicker than the other side," he says.

Cucumber alleviates puffy eyes

VERDICT: YES

While at face value it appears that mum just invented this to stop teenage daughters wasting their pocket money on expensive eye creams, there actually is some truth to this beauty myth. Sydney make-up artist Anya Fransman says turning to the vegie crisper can work wonders. "Cold cucumber slices placed over the eyes can help to alleviate puffiness simply because the coolness of them helps to constrict blood vessels, aiding in slowing down fluid retention," she says.

Always take your make-up off before you go to bed

VERDICT: A CLEAR WINNER

Your mum was right on this one.

"If you consider that your make-up has probably been on your face for up to 16 hours, combined with the natural oils your skin has produced over the day, plus sunscreen, dirt and other impurities from the environment, it is a no-brainer that you would want to remove all this before going to bed - no matter how late it is," Fransman says.

"Not doing so can result in clogged pores, a dull complexion and even breakouts, not to mention premature ageing of the skin from environmental aggressors such as smoke and pollution."

Enough said.

Never wash your face with soap

VERDICT: YOU HEARD RIGHT

Unless it is mum's Dove beauty bar, then yes, steer clear of the bathroom bar of soap to wash your face. Soap can not only strip away all the natural good oils and sebum that keeps your skin healthy, it can disrupt the skin's pH balance. "Instead, choose a soap-free, gentle facial cleanser suitable for your skin type [dry, oily, normal/combination], making sure that you use it in the morning and in the evening and massage it into the skin for up to 30 seconds or until all the impurities have dissolved," Fransman says.

Carrots help you see

better in the dark

VERDICT: SLIGHT TRUTH

As unlikely as it may sound, scoffing carrots can actually improve your eyesight - to a certain extent. "Carrots are full of vitamin A, which is what we need to help us see," says Professor Robyn Guymer from the Centre for Eye Research Australia. But she says that eating 50 carrots a day will never give you superhero qualities. "The myth relates more to people who are deficient in vitamin A, like if they're living on a deserted island and not getting all their food groups," Professor Guymer says.

Using toothpaste on pimples makes them go away

VERDICT: QUICK FIX

If your spots are looking particularly red and nasty, you can dab on a smidgen of toothpaste - but just do not expect long-lasting results. Dr JoAnn See says toothpaste should only be used as a temporary treatment. "It will dry your pimples out because toothpaste is an anti-inflammatory agent. It can reduce the redness if left on overnight and the results are usually evident within 24 hours," she says. "But it's not designed to stay on your face as a cream; it's supposed to be washed off, even on your teeth."

© 2008 Sun Herald

Back to News Index | Back to Home