Five Common Misconceptions About Skin and Hair

"I have oily hair/skin and I shouldn’t use creams and conditioners."

Wrong.

Even oily skin and hair need moisturizing! If you remove the all the protective natural oil when you wash, your skin will produce more to make up for it and you are in a vicious circle. If you supply a reasonable amount of light, non-greasy conditioner, lotion or gel, your skin and hair will stay comfortable and great looking. Make sure you find truly non-greasy products. If you have combination skin, learn to use light gel or lotion on the center of your face and oilier nourishing cream on the sides.

"Shampoo is crucial for the quality of hair"

Not necessarily.

You probably shouldn’t use suspiciously cheap shampoos of the quality of dishwasher detergents, but beyond that, shampoo is not the crucial point. Shampoo merely removes dirt and excess oil, much the same way a soap does on your hands. But while your skin gets direct nourishment from blood, hair is dead matter and can only be nourished from the outside. Using a good conditioner is essential and additionally nourishes the future hair that is just forming in your cuticles.

"Nail polish protects nails"

Nope.

Nurturing protects nails. If you must have long nails and they are not naturally strong, there is no avoiding nail polish to prevent breaking the nail. But must is the important word here. Every nail polish by the mere fact that it has to stick to the nail, and all removers, by the mere fact they need to dissolve the polish, contain chemicals nobody should put on their body unless they must. If your nails split or are brittle, strengthen the nails with polish and then fully focus on nurturing the skin, where your future nails are forming – you will see the effects in a couple of months.

"I want to let my hair grow long, so I’m not going to cut it"

Cutting splitting ends is absolutely essential to achieving healthy long hair.

Imagine the hair as a tightly wound rope with a frilled end. If you don’t cut above the frilled end and then seal it, all you achieve is more and more frilling. So, the answer is to regularly cut just above the split ends and then nurture the “open ends” so that they don’t dry up and frill again. I’ve seen split ends as long as two inches and had the person tell me how proud they were not to cut their hair and let it “grow freely” – it was sad. Cutting the hair regularly also allows you to have a well shaped hair style. Try not to use a blow-dryer if possible. Use serums or “hair masks” for nurturing the ends and the roots.

"I’ve always had bad skin, it will never be different"

Correct, it will be exactly as you think it will be.

Maybe it’s time so see your skin as the organ it is. Would you say: “I’ve always had bad lungs, it will never be different?” Probably not, you’d probably run to testing labs and try to find out what’s wrong. You’d probably happily take medication, you could even be motivated to change your diet or start exercise routines.

But would you do that for your skin?

What if I tell you this – your skin wants exactly what the rest of your body craves: plenty of water, good sleep, vitamins, good nutrition, clean air, regular cleansing, exercise that will firm it, little bit of sun (from just being outside, not tanning), good blood circulation. All those things come into play before you put on any cream . Ninety percent of the time, skin merely reflects the overall state of your body’s well being – see if you can improve that first.

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See also: Costmetic Product Tips