Do You Believe Any of These Skin Care Myths?

November

Do You Believe Any of These Skin Care Myths?

It’s hard to believe that these are the “biggest” skin care myths, but that’s what the TV show Extra wants you to believe. They are interesting myths and I’m wondering how many of you Beauty Brainiacs out there still believe these.

Skin Care Myths

1. Tanning beds are safe. (They aren’t.)
2. A 50 SPF is better than SPF 15. (It’s not.)
3. You can scrub away acne. (You can’t, scrubbing actually makes it worse!)
4. You can be addicted to lip balm. (Ok, maybe you can a little bit.)

I consulted the main Beauty Brains on this one and they added the following:

5. Mineral oil causes cancer. (It doesn’t.)
6. Cosmetics can make your eyelashes grow. (They can’t.)
7. Natural products work better than synthetics. (Not necessarily.)

-Mid Brain

Do YOU believe some of these skincare myths? Leave a comment and let the rest of the Beauty Brains community know what you think.

12 Responses to “Do You Believe Any of These Skin Care Myths?”

teapoisoningninja Says:

SPF 50 isn’t better than SPF 15??
Lynoure Says:

2. “Better” is very vague. I can see that SPF 50 is not better than SPF 15 if you normally burn in 30 minutes, but what about the people who burn extremely easily? Could you explain why 30 is no better than 15, and give some sources for it, too?
teapoisoningninja Says:

Yes, please. An explanation and/or sources would be lovely, since I’ve always heard that SPF15 won’t do anything for my olive toned skin.
Shawn Says:

You might want to look into vitamin D deficiency that is starting to show up in Americans, especially ones living in northern states. The whole “sun is bad” thing has made people religiously stay out of the sun… to our detriment. The body can’t synthesize vitamin D without sun exposure.
Jessica Says:

@Shawn – That whole ’sun is bad’ thing is true, though. The sun can cause premature aging and can cause skin cancer. And besides, should Vitamin D deficiency start to become an issue for someone, I imagine one would only need a few minutes of sun exposure, or to take a supplement.
Besides, I haven’t noticed people ‘religiously’ staying out of the sun. I see tons of people out every single day in fact! LOL
Beauty & Brains G-String Says:

Mineral oil might not cause cancer but does it clog pores? It’s pretty heavy. With so many other products out there does anybody still use this?

Also, I heard that the coal tar in dandruff shampoos causes cancer in Lab rats- why do they still sell it? Isn’t there an alternative treatment for scalp disorders instead of smelly coal-tar?
Mary Eleazar Says:

As a very pale Irish gal, if I wear SPF 15 for 30 minutes in direct sun, I burn; put an SPF 50 on me for the same amount of time, though, and I do not. Please explain.
Top skin care myths | Medicine, Cancer, Health Blog Says:

[...] Most importantly, how much do you know about what’s good for your skin and what’s not? The Beauty Brains have recently exposed the tops skin myths. Each of the following is not [...]
Judy Says:

Well…of course I have admitted that I am powerless over my chemical dependency on lip balm.

I am proud to say that I am a grateful member of a 12-step program for those of us poor unfortunates whose lives have been ruined by this obsession. Though I am not completely recovered I do now only have 3 tubes of lip balm and have stopped hoarding extras so as not to run out!
thebeautybrains Says:

Midbrain, you’ve got a bit to still learn. The way you wrote the second myth is a bit misleading. “SPF 50 is better than SPF 15 (it’s not)”

SPF 50 does block 99% of UV rays while SPF 15 blocks 93%. So, in some cases SPF 50 IS better than SPF 15. I think what you meant to write was that SPF 50 isn’t ALWAYS better than SPF 15.

Depending on skin type, many people will not notice a difference between an SPF 15 and an SPF 50. It all depends on how long it takes for your unprotected skin to burn. If it takes 20 minutes for you to burn, an SPF 15 will protect you for 5 hours. An SPF 50 will protect you much longer but there is no practical difference.

No matter what you use, you should always re-apply sunscreen every 2 hours.

See this link for more.

http://www.skincancer.org/sunscreen/sunscreens-explained.html
Becka Says:

As for any Vitamin D deficiency, I think it only takes like 30 mins of sunlight to manufacture enough Vitamin D…
I would think that, unless you lived in a cave, one would get sufficient sun exposure just from walking from house to car etc.
My dad, as an example, had skin cancer and now is very anti-sun, and he has no vitamin D deficiency.
Carole Simcox Says:

I don’t see how SPF 15 can be as good as a higher SPF. The higher the rating the longer the protection lasts. I know it isn’t exactly the number, but it is more.