Skincare is something we should care about. It’s way more important than makeup, and we love that in the past couple of years we all saw how people’s perception of beauty started changing and we all started caring more about keeping our skin looking healthy and glowy instead of just caring about the makeup we can put on top of it.
On one hand, it’s a good thing, it’s nice to see a myriad of options and products for every type of skin and a solution to every type of skin problem. But on the other hand, with that came also a trend for skincare that’s just a gimmick. Products and procedures you simply don’t need are being promoted all over social media as “life-changing” and “an absolute essential” for skincare. So how does one figure out what’s essential and what’s a gimmick? Ask your dermatologist, or look for dermatologist advice online. We’ve done some research too, so here’s skincare you don’t need.
1. Cleansing Devices
These things are everywhere. It feels like almost every day there’s a new brush to use on your face. And they’re often promoted as an important part of your skincare routine. But that’s not true at all. Yes, properly cleansing your skin is important, but you don’t need a brush. These devices can do more harm than good. The ones that have bristles are super unhygienic, they collect bacteria on them that can then be introduced to your face when you use them. Not to mention that you shouldn’t be using bristles on your face, it’s too harsh and can damage your skin. The silicone brushes that pulsate are better, they don’t harm you. But do you need them? Absolutely not. Just using your hands and a good cleanser is more than enough.
2. Nose Strips
We’ve all tried it at least once. You “think” you have blackheads, you put on that strip and hope it just removes them. Newsflash – it won’t. And you know what else is important? Those things you call blackheads are most likely not blackheads, but just your sebaceous glands. Or just your pores. So you don’t need nose strips. They don’t work.
3. Jade Rollers
Are they pretty? Yes. Do they feel luxurious and add to the experience of doing a skincare routine? Yes. Are they effective in making your skin look better? The short answer is – no. The most you can expect of them is to maybe move around your lymphatic fluid and help a little with puffiness in the morning. But again, you could just use your hands for that massaging motion. You don’t need a jade roller and don’t let social media convince you otherwise.
4.Vitamin E
Raise your hand if you’ve seen vitamin E touted as a solution to stretch marks and scars. The hype got so bad that there was a point where everyone was just buying vitamin E capsules and putting them all over their face and body in hopes of getting rid of acne, pigmentation, scars, stretch marks, etc. It doesn’t work, stop rubbing it all over your face. It just doesn’t do anything for you and many studies are proving it doesn’t work.
5.Pore Vacuums
You’re probably thinking “they must work, I’ve seen the junk they get out of my pores”. They do suck the “junk” out of your pores. Mostly oils and dead skin cells. But will that make your skin magically clear, glowy, and healthy? Nope. In fact, it’ll work against you and make your skin produce more of that “junk”. And in the worst-case scenario, you can damage your skin by putting the settings too high and bruising your skin.
6.Toners
Toners are tricky. Some are good, some are useless. And weirdly enough it’s the ones that have active ingredients like salicylic acid or green tea in them – those are good, they do something, but they’re not toners by definition. In the past, toners were essential, because cleansing products were too harsh and you needed them to restore your skin PH levels. Nowadays we have nice, really gentle cleansers, which make toners kind of useless. They do no harm, but they’re also not improving anything.
