Most Common Skincare Myths

Like many health and fitness related fields, skin care sits somewhere between hard science, precarious word-of-mouth knowledge and wild hype. It is important to know what has been proven to work by science. But it is just as important to know what does not work, or works differently as you think, or can even be harmful. This section exposes some of the common skin care myths and misconceptions. This knowledge can help you save time, money and effort, which should rather be channeled into trying proven treatments in a correct way.

Bad things happen to good skin, but not always for the reasons you suspect. In addition to battling blackheads, ingrown hairs, fissures and scars, your body's largest organ has to cope with a host of skin-care fables. To help you achieve a clearer, healthier epidermis, MEN'S FITNESS goes face-to-face with your own skin-deep misperceptions

Chocolate cause acne

Nothing you eat causes acne. Some people think that they absorb the oils from greasy or rich foods and somehow secrete them out of their skin glands. Acne is caused when a gland sheds cells that stick together, plug the gland, hack up the oil and blow up the skin. Bacteria on your face have a field day with this.
What leads to acne? High levels of stress-which can make people gravitate to fast and fatty cheeseburgers and milkshakes, hence the connection--and high levels of the same stuff that makes you manly: testosterone.Taking steroids or using cheap face creams that block your pores.

I Get blackheads when I forget to wash my face

Blackheads are not caused by a buildup of dirt. Rather, pores become dilated and cellular debris builds up. When air hits the cells, they oxidize and turn black. A good exfoliator can help extract the debris from pores. Rub some on your skin, but don't use elbow grease. The granular particles in such products are designed to do the work for you. Moisturizers that include salicylic acid, glycolic acid or alpha-hydroxyl acid will induce a chemical exfoliation and may also help keep skin clear. For more-resistant conditions, a doctor may prescribe Retin-A or Tazorac cream to remove dead layers of skin.

Doing facial exercises will help me tone my muscles and make me look younger

If you do facial exercises, you'll just pull the skin more and probably enhance lines. The face is your only body part in which muscles attach directly to the skin without the aid of ligaments and tissue; the direct pull of muscles on skin, in fact, is what enables myriad subtle facial expressions. Add gravity to the constant tug and you produce lines, furrows and sagging. Daily facial maneuvers will only turn you into your crows-footed, double-chinned father that much faster. So stop mugging in the mirror. Oh, and don't bother with those "seen on TV" gadgets that deliver electromagnetic stimulation and penetrating photon energy probes to promote deep intercellular repair. If you want to spend money on science fiction, go see Attack of the Clones again.

A good tan will help me clear my acne

You're more apt to do serious damage to your skin. The benefits of ultraviolet rays on acne are theoretical, based on hunches that cite UV light's ability to decrease bacteria. And does the sun's intense light and heat flush out sebum to clear acne, or does it produce more oil to clog pores? The jury's still out. Of course, you can always burn your skin to camouflage acne, if you don't mind setting yourself up to become one of the one in five Americans to get skin cancer, a rapidly growing and sometimes deadly problem. Even if you're a tanner, you're still risking cancer, premature skin aging and your own constellation of sunspots. Tanning can turn acne's red spots a permanent shade of brown, causing pigmentary scarring, especially among people with darker skin.

Getting a good base coat will help protect my skin

While your body's melanin helps prevent sun damage, a "good tan" is not the same as having ample natural melanin in the skin. Having more melanin is a genetic adaptation found in darker-skinned people who live in warmer climates