The skin care industry bombards us with myths. Just wear ear plugs!

Myths that relate to your body can be misleading or plain dangerous. How about colonic cleansing? Ouch!

What about that magic Egyptian cream? And the NASA scientists who created a magic broth?  The industry is full of myths and “origin stories” because we, humans, crave a good story. Nowadays, every brand of skin care has a story to go with it. Just ignore them and look at what matters: the ingredient list.

What about the other myths, those that tell you what is good (or bad) for you?

Who told you that adult skin should be smooth and glowing? No, it shouldn’t, not after puberty. Trying to smooth it out by treating it like a inanimate wall will destroy the skin barrier and damage your health.

Who told you that you need a toner? Do you even know what a toner is?  You don’t need a toner that contains alcohol, it will dry your skin and, yes, it will damage the skin barrier.

More: the skin is impermeable and you need delivery gimmicks for an active to enter the skin. Not true. Everything enters the skin except for huge molecules and even then, some chemicals can be broken down by the skin and the products will enter the skin.

Preservatives are bad for you. No! Preservatives will prevent the ingredients in the skin care product from being eaten by bacteria and mold that can then damage your health.

Skin care products should be organic and natural. No and no. Especially when the definition of “organic and natural” is twisted to fit the needs of the manufacturer.

Expensive skin care products are better. No! A $450 product probably contains about $2 in ingredients. The rest of the mark-up is to make you feel rich when you buy it (actually, you will be $450 poorer).

There are more myths and you can read about them in my book. The most common? “There is a magic ingredient that will fix your skin”. There isn’t. Your skin, as it ages, will need all kind of nutrients that the the body can no longer spare (the heart and lungs will always come first), and antioxidants, hormones, and growth factors decline. Unless you take a synergistic approach to skin care, the addition of one ingredient will simply make a different one the limiting factor.

Don’t  be fooled, take your skin health in your own hands and ignore the chatter.