Top 5 Beauty Myths DEBUNKED

We know: acne is annoying, and it feels like an endless cycle of pointing and laughing if you dare step out in public with a pimple or two. This has led to some rather... interesting beauty tips on how to get rid of a zit. These unique remedies always promise to eliminate that bump in minutes and there are way too many of them to count - but we can at least debunk one of them: the toothpaste trick. Toothpaste is a common household staple, so the thought of one small dab eradicating zits was a dream come true. Sadly, your Crest or Colgate will only irritate breakouts and, potentially, make them worse, so leave the toothpaste where it belongs: in your mouth

We sooooo look forward to the necessary sunscreen ritual when we decide to go out into the sun, but we suppose it’s better than the alternative: sunburn. There seems to be this idea that you only have to endure this until age 18. While it’s true that most sun damage happens in our youthful days, it doesn’t discriminate against adults, nor does it discriminate against people of color. When exposed to the sun, black skin will produce melanin, causing the skin to get darker. While it does take longer for black skin to burn, it is still very much a possibility. Bottom line? Anyone and everyone can suffer from too much exposure to the sun, so if you’re out for a long while, invest in some sunscreen.

It’s actually not terrible to have oily skin... to a certain degree, of course. The oil in our skin does protect from aging and wrinkles, but like most things, an excessive amount can do more harm than good. Cue a steady skin regiment of non-oily products... right? It might sound like a bad idea to fight oil with oil, but it’s actually a great way to treat your skin. Oily skin tends to produce more oil to balance out any moisture that your skin has lost, for example, if you use a cleanser that removes natural oils. The exact opposite happens when you use an oil based cleanser: it dissolves grease or makeup while keeping your natural oils intact, in fact, it attracts those oils, which is exactly what you want.

Ah, a classic misconception when you decide to shave or cut any kind of hair -- particularly body hair. The quiet fear of extra strength hair growth always seems to linger into conversations when you decide to shave your legs, under your arms, or don’t wax regularly. While it certainly feels like your hair comes in thicker than a teen who looks at the full moon, it actually doesn’t. It just looks like it does since it appears shorter and is more stubbly. The same is true for the hair on your head as cuts, and even trims, don’t affect hair growth. So go ahead and cut, shave, or wax that hair, and just remember, it’s not permanent.

Yeah... we just had this conversation about hair, but we’ll gladly repeat ourselves to debunk this ancient tale. Not that there’s any reason to be ashamed of rockin’ the gray, but this myth has sent many into an unnecessary tizzy. Cue the desperate attempts to hide the gray, some more outlandish than others, when in reality... it’s not going to grow any faster if you get rid of that pesky strand, and there certainly won’t be more hairs coming in to overtake your head. However, plucking is just a temporary fix, as the hair will eventually grow back, and plucking too much can lead to bald spots. So it miiiiight be best to embrace the silver strands.

So How many of these myths did you believe? For more refreshing top fives published everyday, be sure to subscribe to MsMojo.