Vintage

Some beauty myths passed to women from generation to generation seem to have a life of their own.  We present the most common ones and the reasons why they are just myths. (Ask your mother is she has heard of some of them.)

Someone told me that if I wear my hair on a pony tale, it would get split ends and fall.
Pulling your hair back too tight could cause the ends to split.  The same applies to the braids and rolls that are done too tight.  However, you should not have any problems doing it only occasionally.  Do not pull your hair back tightly every day, and do not use rubber bands that are not covered, or have metal brooches because they can cause split ends.

Potato chips, chocolate, pizza, chips and other foods can give your skin eruptions.
Although you should not eat too many of these because they have high contents of sugar, salt or grease, it has not been scientifically proven that some of these foods would cause skin eruptions.  If your face shows eruptions after you eat any of these, well, don’t eat them.  It could be that you have food allergies.

The lack of hygiene causes zits.
Many people prone to zits tend to wash their face too harshly and more frequently depriving their skin of the necessary natural oil and thus causing the skin to produce more oil to compensate the loss.  The results are dry skin and more zits!  Wash your face with a cleansing lotion twice per day –in the morning and at night-; rinse it more often with water if you feel you need it.

Shampoo works better when it produces more lather.
Maybe you like froth on your cappuccino, but the excess lather does not necessarily mean your shampoo works better.  What it probably means is that the shampoo contains extra added ingredients to make it froth, but is not particularly cleaning your hair any better and perhaps it is not as soft as one that does not lather as much.

It is not a good idea to mix various brands of cosmetics to care for the skin.
This is probably a marketing strategy designed by some cosmetic executive to create loyalty towards his brand.  You do not wear the same clothing label from head to toes, do you?  It is good to try different products.  Some companies make some very good products and some not so good.

The more you cut your hair, the more it grows.
Your hair grows from the roots, not from the ends.  If your hair is short, you will notice the growth more but that is all.

Exposure to the sun gets rid of acne.
When you are suntanned, it is possible that the acne is less noticeable, but suntanned skin is drier and it will make your body produce more oil and this could cause more acne.  In addition some medications against acne could make your skin more sensitive to the sun and the interaction could exacerbate the acne even worst.

You can make your pores smaller.
You can make your pores appear smaller by massaging more humectants or by covering them with certain types of lotions that “refine the pores” or with makeup.  On the other hand, when a pore gets clogged with a black head, bacteria or dead cells, it could become infected and look even bigger until it unclogs.  Your pores are not like a door that you can open and close.

Wash your hair shampooing twice.
Unless your hair is absolutely filthy, there is no reason why you should have to wash it twice.  If you do so, you are depriving it from some of the natural oils.

An overcast day at the beach does not require solar protection.
The damaging rays UVA and UVB penetrate the clouds and could damage your skin.

The solar protection also protects my hair.
Your hair is not a flat surface and it would be impossible to protect each strand.  What you can do to maintain your hair soft and shiny after a day at the beach is to apply a conditioner that does not need rinsing.  This would protect it against dryness and the damage that the sun might cause to its color.


If you shave your legs, the hair will grow thicker.
When your hair grows after shaving it, appears thicker because the blade has blunt the ends thus making it more visible.  However, you are genetically programmed to have each hair that you have, not more, not less; that is all you are going to get, unless you are going through some hormonal changes or are under certain medications that would cause changes.