There are many ways to take beautiful care of your skin, but the first step is to acquire a clear understanding of how the so-called “beauty” industry works so you don’t repeatedly get waylaid by bad or ineffective products and misleading, absurd claims. Let’s start at the beginning with some basic guidelines that can help you get through most of this information. Get to know these commandments before you go shopping at another cosmetics counter, see another infomercial, have a friend introduce you to a new multilevel cosmetics line, talk to your dermatologist, have a facial, or read another fashion magazine. Once you’ve taken these basics to heart, you will have a better perspective on what you are really buying at the cosmetics counters, what these products can and can’t do, whether what you are using is worth the money, and, most important, whether any of this can hurt your skin.
One confession: This is just a partial list. There are many more “thou shalts” and “thou shalt nots,” and I go through each and every one of these throughout this book, presenting the information you need to make an educated decision about your skin care, body care, and makeup.
1. THOU SHALT NOT believe expensive cosmetics are better than inexpensive cosmetics.
2. THOU SHALT NOT believe there is any such thing as a natural cosmetic (or that natural means better).
3. THOU SHALT NOT believe in miracle ingredients that can cure skin-care woes.
4. THOU SHALT NOT covet thy neighbor’s perfect skin (or believe her perfect skin came from a particular product or cosmetics line; skin is more complicated than that).
5. THOU SHALT NOT believe everything a cosmetics salesperson tells you.
6. THOU SHALT NOT believe in the existence of anti-wrinkle, firming, toning, lifting, or filling-in creams, lotions, or masks that can permanently erase wrinkles.
7. THOU SHALT NOT be seduced by every new promotion, new product, or new product line that the cosmetics industry creates.
8. THOU SHALT NOT get a tan; sun is your enemy, not your friend; it is the primary reason that skin wrinkles and develops skin cancer (and it isn’t just about getting a sunburn—turning the skin brown is equally as damaging when done on a regular basis).
9. THOU SHALT NOT buy a cellulite cream, nor shalt thou assume it’s possible to dissolve fat from the outside in, because you absolutely cannot. If these products worked, who would have cellulite?
10. THOU SHALT NOT see pictures of pubescent, anorexic models (who spend two hours getting their hair and makeup done and another two hours posing while the photographer and a corps of assistants determine the most flattering lighting, after which the resulting picture goes through a battery of digitally enhanced touch-ups and adjustments) and believe you will get the same (or even similar) results from using the products being advertised. That is, unless you happen to be pubescent, anorexic, and a model and can somehow stay in the right lighting all the time.
Chapter з