Many common cosmetic advices are only meant to puzzle and make us more confuse then we were before - how many of them are really true?

Jul 8, 2006 11:45 GMT  ·  By

There are so many cosmetic advices nowadays about how a woman should stay healthy and beautiful and also prevent damaging her hair, nails, complexion, skin etc. that make most women get dizzy. Women do not know anymore which is good and which is bad, what they should try and what they should avoid?

The following are just a few samples of "busted myths" in order to make it clear to you what to really believe and what to treat with indifference from among the beauty advices given to you by the friends, colleagues, mothers etc.

Coffee and chocolate intake cause acne, many people say. But it is false, because if we simply look around we can see many women that are always on a diet, do not drink coffee and neither eat sweets, but still have cellulite and ugly pimples or black heads. Scientific studies have showed that chocolate is no cause for acne or other skin disorders. On the other hand, stress is a risk factor for skin that may lead to all kinds of eruptions on the face and epidermis covering all the body.

Others say that if one has an oily complexion, this means that it is sufficiently moisturized and does not need any further hydrating processes. Once again, a false myth. The moisturizing level of the skin is not related to the sebum amount produced by the sebaceous gland in the epidermis. There are many women that have an oily complexion, but still a dehydrated skin of the face - 78 % of the oily complexion individuals have to deal with the dehydration problem, statistics show. That is why is crucial for any oily skinned person to use cosmetics that will regulate sebum production and will also keep the skin hydrated.

Combing your hair too much or too often leads to hair falling and damaged, split hair ends. Not true. Try not combing your hair at all for a few weeks and will not notice any difference. The hair must be usually combed for three times daily with a comb or hair brush suited for our type of hair. Also, try avoiding teeth combs and rough plastic hair brushes, as these may be hard to your hair. Instead of not combing the hair, try eating more fruits and vegetables that are rich in vitamins and minerals and regularly apply masks and other specific hair care products if you want to have a shiny and healthy hair.

Cutting the eyelashes makes them grow longer. False and a stupid thing to do, also. Even if this may function in the case of 1% of the women that have tried it, you will definitely be surprised to discover that, after cutting your lashes, they will not grow any more.

However, there are some myths that are true and one should apply it in order to enhance her beauty. For example, it is true that filing the nails in all directions leads to damaging them. Our nails must be shaped and filed in one direction only and not with a metal file. Nails damaging and exfoliation may also be caused by other factors, such as repeatedly applying colored nail varnish directly to the nail. Try to stick to the following successive nail care steps if you want to have beautiful long nails: deeply water soak the nails firstly, then file them in a single direction, apply to the nail a treatment rich in calcium and only afterwards color your nails any color you like with nail varnish.

Another good advice is to apply exfoliating masks to our complexion weekly, not more often, because daily exfoliation of the skin damages the epidermis. Moreover, many esthetics experts claim that the more often one deeply cleans his skin, the more rapidly the skin will become greasy and will attract dirt from the environment. Also, do not use body peeling products for the complexion, because they are too rough for the sensitive face skin.

Painting: Gustave Courbet, The Woman in the Waves, 1866.

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