Today you can find numerous beauty tips and life hacks online that are supposed to help you to look younger and healthier. But do all of these tips and life hacks actually work? Sadly, the answer is “no”. Here are five popular beauty life hacks that you shouldn’t follow because they might do more harm than good.
Strangers on the Internet can be really helpful when you’re looking for some beauty tips because among millions of users, there will surely be someone who has already encountered the same problem and can give good advice. But more often than not, people who have no clue what they’re talking about are dispensing advice right and left, and their tips usually turn out useless at best and harmful at worst.
In addition, there are countless beauty blogs on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, and some of the bloggers are willing to post even common misconceptions and outright lies for the sake of hits and likes. Let’s take a closer look at five popular beauty tips and life hacks that don’t actually work.
Washing your face with hard soap
Some beauty bloggers claim that washing one’s face with hard soap (such as Aleppo soap, Castile soap or Marseille soap) helps to get rid of pimples and makes the skin flawless. However, hard soap does more harm than good to the skin due to its high pH level. It strips the skin of moisture and causes redness, irritation, and flaking.
Using coconut oil as a face moisturiser
Coconut oil does have great moisturising properties due to its high content of saturated fatty acids. However, it is not advisable to use it instead of your regular moisturiser because it may clog your pores and cause blackheads and pimples. If you want to use coconut oil for skincare, you should mix it with lighter oils or apply it only to the areas where your skin is particularly rough and dry instead of slathering it all over your face. In general it is better to use coconut oil on your hair or body but not on your face.
Using a needle to pop pimples and extract blackheads
Although it is obvious to most people that poking your face with a sharp and sometimes not even sterile metal object is a dangerous idea, a life hack that suggests using a needle to get rid of pimples and blackheads is very popular online and has many followers. In reality attempts to physically remove pimples and blackheads, including picking and squeezing them, often results in skin damage, infection, and scarring. If you have an acne problem, you should consult a cosmetologist or dermatologist who will suggest a proper treatment.
Using lemon juice to lighten the skin
It is common knowledge that lemon juice has whitening properties due to its high acid content. This is probably the reason why a life hack that suggest applying pure lemon juice to combat freckles and hyperpigmentation is so popular. However, you should know that concentrated lemon juice is too acidic and therefore can cause skin irritation. You can try diluting it with water, but it may reduce the skin lightening effect of the juice.
Using hydrogen peroxide as a face toner
The idea of using hydrogen peroxide to exfoliate the skin, get rid of acne or lighten the skin might seem like a reasonable one at first glance because everyone knows about the disinfectant properties of peroxide and its whitening effect. However, trying to use peroxide as a face toner or adding it to a DIY face mask will likely result in skin redness, irritation, flaking, and maybe even chemical burns. Are you really willing to take this risk?
Naturally, there are many other useless and even harmful beauty tips and life hacks on the Internet. For example, you can find life hacks that suggest applying hairspray on top of your make-up to make it last longer, using a lip pencil instead of lipstick, whitening the teeth with baking soda and peroxide, making pore cleansing strips from gelatin, using regular drawing pencils instead of eyeliner for cat eye make-up, using cornmeal instead of dry shampoo, etc. Alas, these tips either don’t work or harm the skin and hair, so instead of relying on tips from Internet strangers, you should invest in high-quality personal care products with effective formulas based on natural ingredients.
In our online shop Organic Store, you will find a great selection of natural and organic skin and hair care products from trustworthy brands, which combine innovative formulas, time-tested traditional beauty recipes, and the healing power of nature. At Organic Store, we offer affordable prices, convenient and secure payment methods, and international delivery to make your online shopping experience as comfortable as possible.
