In this article:
Myth #1: Dry skin? Drink more water!
Myth #2: Lips don’t need sunscreen
Myth #3: You can diminish cellulite with a cream
Myth #4: One hero ingredient is all ageing skin needs
Myth #5: You should avoid parabens
Sorting fact from fiction in the beauty world is no easy task! Half-truths, myths and hyperbole are pervasive when shopping for skin care, makeup or hair care.
We're here to set the record straight—to give you the most up-to-date, reliable information so you can find the best products because knowledge is beautiful!
Myth #1: Dry skin? Drink more water!?
The truth: This is one of those beauty myths that refuses to go away, but here are the facts: drinking eight glasses of water a day is a good idea for your body, but we wouldn't rely on it to get rid of dry skin (1). If keeping hydrated is all it took, very few of us would have dry skin!
Until very recently, there was no research indicating that drinking any amount of water had any impact on skin. Then a study published in Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigative Dermatology demonstrated that drinking water did positively impact skin; however, it would take a lot more than 8 glasses to see benefit (2).
The study demonstrated that it would take just under a gallon of water (8 glasses = half a gallon) to realise a statistical improvement in your skin. It was a complex study with 49 participants, but it was still an interesting analysis on water consumption and skin. One study doesn’t prove you should start downing a gallon of water to watch your skin improve. Still, other than going to the bathroom more often there certainly isn’t anything wrong with it—especially if you’re choosing water over sugar-laden beverages.
However, this doesn’t mean that dry skin is a result of lackluster water consumption. The causes of dry skin are far more complex than just drinking water. Some causes of dry, flaky skin include:
- Inherited predispositions to dry skin (in other words, you might be born with it!)
- Poorly formulated skin care and cosmetic products, including those that contain fragrance, SD alcohol and volatile essential oils
- Dry, arid environments can suck the moisture out of your skin, leaving it worse for wear
- Exposure to harmful external aggressors, like UV rays, that can damage skin
- Abrasive physical scrubs that are formulated with harsh ingredients like walnut shells can impair skin’s barrier, leading the skin to become dry
- Ageing! As skin ages, it tends to get drier as its ability to make the substances that it needs to stay hydrated declines (3)
Overall, it’s generally assumed that drinking water is beneficial for health, but do you need to down 8 glasses every day? There’s no medical support for the notion that 8 glasses of H2O is the right number. In fact, many experts think it’s little more than hogwash, especially considering a good deal of the water intake we need comes from the foods we eat, not just in a glass of water. Getting the best skin of your life definitely involves what you ingest but applying a well-formulated moisturiser to its surface to keep it healthy-looking and hydrated can make all the difference in the world.
Myth #2: Lips don’t need sunscreen
The truth: Lips require sun protection as much as facial skin. They’re not immune to sun’s damaging UV rays — they burn and incur damage too!
The skin on lips is more vulnerable, and much thinner, than the skin on the cheeks, nose, forehead and chin. Its barrier, whose purpose is to keep damaging elements out and beneficial elements within skin, isn’t as fortified as that of skin on the face. That means lips are less able to hold onto hydration (4). All of this means lips have even fewer lines of defence against pro-ageing UV rays.
This damage, which includes sunburn and deepening of wrinkles, might look different on the lips. For example, sunburned lips often get mistaken for chapped lips because they share similarities in appearance: both incur dryness and a change in colouring (redness for lighter skin tones and a darkening of the lips’ natural colour on deeper skin tones). However, lip sunburn also causes swelling. Like skin on the body and face, sunburn on the lips can contribute to the development of lip cancer (5).
Think of your lips as a more delicate extension of your facial skin, much like we think of the thinner skin around our eyes. It requires tenderness and a bit more TLC! Make sure you’re using a hydrating, broad-spectrum lip treatment during the day and a nourishing, moisturising mask, treatment gloss-balm at night. Using well-formulated, protective lip care products will not only help combat regularly occurring dryness and the wrinkles associated with such but will also help shield lips from the sun!
Myth #3: You can diminish cellulite with a cream
The truth: Creams and lotions cannot diminish the look of cellulite. The cosmetics industry, and lots of doctors and estheticians, want to sell you products and services (especially expensive ones) claiming to slim, trim, tone and de-bump your thighs, but if any of those worked, who would have cellulite?
Cellulite, AKA “cottage cheese skin,” affects 85% of women worldwide , making it a lucrative pain point to help “solve” (6). Many theories exist as to why cellulite occurs, but there’s not a single agreed upon root cause as of yet.
Remember: Cellulite is a natural part of growing up and growing older and is nothing to be ashamed of!
Myth #4: One hero ingredient is all ageing skin needs
The truth: Many cosmetics companies want you to believe that one miracle ingredient can do it all. Everything from melon extract from the south of France, a plant oil from Morocco or some other exotic or high-tech sounding ingredient is supposed to be the answer to all of skin’s ageing needs depending on whichever stories invested companies are espousing. The truth is that giving your skin what it needs to look younger and healthier is far more complex than any one ingredient could accomplish, no matter how special it happens to be.
Skin is the body's largest organ, and it needs an array of beneficial ingredients to stay healthy, nourished and radiant. Looking for skin care products with one superstar ingredient cheats your skin of the range of ingredients it needs to look better. Think of it like your diet: Kale is a nutritional powerhouse, but if you only ate kale, you would become malnourished because it alone cannot provide everything the body needs to maintain itself and stay healthy (and who would want to eat just kale anyway?).
When it comes to skin health, everyone should use a mix of: skin-replenishers, including hyaluronic acid and ceramides, antioxidants, like vitamin C and resveratrol, and skin-restorers, for example retinol and certain peptides. Each group serves skin in a particularly beneficial way. As an example, antioxidants help protect skin from pro-ageing, damaging environmental aggressors, like pollution and UV rays, while skin-replenishing ingredients mostly work to hydrate and nourish (7). For a well-balanced approach to skin care, check out some of our favourite anti-ageing products with a range of beneficial ingredients proven to help skin look and act younger.
Myth #5: You should avoid parabens
The truth: The "parabens = bad" myth is so pervasive that many people have opted to take a better-safe-than-sorry approach. We can't say we blame you for being cautious given the alarming, scare-tactic, falsehoods running amok on the internet, but facts are facts and we always prefer you know the truth, not rumor-fueled misinformation.
As it turns out, according to published research and global cosmetics regulatory organisations, from the United States and Canada to Europe and Asia, parabens, especially in the small amounts present in personal-care products, are not a problem (8). It’s that simple.
Although many cosmetics companies have opted to avoid parabens, those who continue to preserve their products with them are not making a mistake. Parabens are among the most effective (and safest) preservatives around!
The next time you come across a beauty tip or a claim that sounds too simple, too good to be true, or downright scary, you can always check with us to help you decipher fact from fiction.
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References for this information:
- Clinics in Dermatology, July-August 2010, pages 380-383
- Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, August 2015, pages 413-421
- Clinics in Dermatology, March-April 2018, pages 109-115
- International Journal of Cosmetic Science, June 2021, pages 275–282
- Medicina Oral, Patología Oral y Cirugía Bucal, January 2018, pages e7-e12
- Advances in Dermatology and Allergology, October 2018, pages 442-446
- Exploratory Research and Hypothesis in Medicine, September 2023, pages 269-279
- Journal of Applied Toxicology, January 2020, pages 176-210
