You want to believe that they work. You spend so much money on them and invest so much time in using them. But sadly, most of the beauty products that we rely on to make us [linkbuilder id=”6645″ text=”look younger”], prettier, and like we’ve slept for 10 hours don’t do what they promise.
The Huffington Post and YouGov calculated that about 60 percent of American women use at least one beauty product every day, more than 35 percent of women use one or two daily, 17 percent use three or four products daily, and 7 percent use six or more products every day. Over the course of a lifetime, the average woman spends $15,000 on beauty products.
That’s a whole lot of your hard-earned money being wasted on products that may or may not work. We’re here to help you save time and money! We’ve compiled a list of the 14 most popular products that really don’t do a thing for you (except drain your bank account).
Split End Remedies
Those pricey creams, lotions, and serums promise to mend split ends and make them look healthy again. Truth is, nothing can bind hair permanently together.
Split end products may temporarily stick your hair together, giving the illusion that the problem is fixed, but take a shower or brush your hair, and your splits are back again. Save your cash and invest in a great haircut (the only thing known to actually fix split ends).
Hand Cream, Body Lotion, Foot Cream
Ever notice that eye cream costs an arm and a leg, next to foot cream, then hand cream…with body lotion being the most reasonable? This is marketing mania at its best.
The reality is, all cream is created equal, just the packaging differs. Typically the more expensive creams are placed in more expensive-looking packaging. But despite their facades, all moisturizing creams work the same way, and you can use the same one on all parts of your body.
Facial Toner
Toners are meant to mop up the oil on your face, but unfortunately they often end up doing the opposite. Most toners are primarily alcohol, which overly dries your face.
When your face is too dry, it signals your body to produce even more oil, making the product counterproductive. Dermatologists recommend cleaning your face with cleansing cream because it’s less harsh and will maintain your skin’s proper pH.
Lip Balm
Some balms are okay and will nourish the precious skin on your lips, but most contain camphor, phenol, and menthol, all of which dry your skin. In the case of lip balm, you end up getting caught in a vicious cycle. The more you use it, the drier your lips get. The drier your lips are, the more you feel the need to use it.
Some experts recommend using Vaseline or beeswax with an olive or coconut oil. Check the ingredients on the product that you want to use and make sure it contains no harmful ingredients.
Cellulite Cream
Oh, we really, really want cellulite cream to work. Really we do. But all studies point to it being a hoax.
Creams can soften the skin and give a short-term plumped effect, but the only two things that can fight cellulite are exercise and a healthy diet. (And even then, exercise can reduce cellulite, but it can’t spot-treat it. Your genes are your genes, folks.)
Bust Cream
After cellulite cream, this is the next product we hoped and prayed was a keeper. Alas, studies show it’s not (sigh). Here’s what U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientists have to say about bust-enhancing products: “For decades, millions of dollars have been spent on devices, creams, and lotions advertised as breast developers, all wasted. There is no device or system of exercise that will increase the size of the breasts.
“At best, devices promoted as breast developers merely strengthen and develop the muscles that support the breasts, and exercising these muscles will not really increase breast size.”
Anti-Aging/Age-Reversal Serums
Look around and you’ll notice that practically every cosmetic company has some sort of anti-aging/age-reversal product. Marketing companies prey on the insecurities of women and can make false claims without many consequences. They know that they are able to make a lot of money on these products because women are willing to pay a lot for a chance to look younger without surgery.
The only proven product that can reduce the signs of aging is retinoic acid, and the only product that will keep your skin from wrinkling as quickly is sunscreen (and a big ol’ hat).
Tissue Masks
These amusing-looking face dressings are fun to use (especially with friends or for an awesome FB profile pic) but at $5 or more per mask, they’re really unnecessary.
Most tissue masks moisturize your face or absorb oil just like simple cream masks, which are half the price.
Lip Plumpers
We smear on lip plumpers in hopes of looking like Angelina Jolie in a matter of minutes. The problem is, most lip plumpers work by irritating the lips with harsh products. Your lips react to the acid and they blow up…temporarily.
Want bigger-looking lips? Makeup artists suggest a painless act of extending your lipstick or lip pencil above your natural lip line and adding a dab of shiny gloss to your bottom lip.
Makeup With SPF Protection
As much as we love two-in-one products, the truth is that you can’t get enough protection with SPF-infused makeup. Dermatologists warn that you must apply sun protection over the entire face to effectively protect your skin from the sun.
Unfortunately, most women don’t want to cover their whole face with makeup, so they often miss spots or don’t put enough on for it to work. Save your money on this one and buy a separate, reasonably priced sunscreen.
Shaving Cream
Way back when, shaving cream was a necessary expense. It served to soften hair follicles and help the razor blade glide over the skin, thus eliminating nicks and cuts. The problem was, shaving cream was pretty expensive.
Enter shower gel! Today, most gels are quite cheap and contain the key ingredient glycerol, which is an effective emollient that’s perfect for shaving.
Stretch Mark Cream
Ahh, dreaded stretch marks…a female’s war wounds that tell silent tales of childbirth or becoming a woman. Most women would do anything to eliminate them, and the [linkbuilder id=”6646″ text=”beauty industry”] knows this.
Cosmetic companies claim that their creams stimulate the production of collagen and erase stretch marks, but unfortunately, studies show that stretch mark creams are ineffective and serve to only temporarily moisturize and tighten the skin surrounding the area. Some studies show that bitter almond oil may help, and further research surrounding laser therapy has shown to be promising at reducing stretch marks.
Expensive Cleansers
Take a walk down the aisles of your beauty store of choice, and you can find yourself spending anywhere from $5 to over $100 on a daily facial cleanser. Most dermatologists think that spending an excessive amount on something that is on your face for such a short period is a waste and view it as throwing money down the drain. A cleanser is meant to remove makeup, oil, and dirt. That’s it.
Any claims of doing more are false and a waste. Some dermatologists do recommend spending the money that you save on cleansers and investing in an electronic cleansing brush, which uses ultrasonic vibration to gently and deeply clean your skin.
Pore-Shrinking Products
As the old saying goes, “You get what you get, and you don’t get upset.” Your pore size is predetermined by your genes, and no product has ever been proven to diminish the size of them.
Products simply unclog them or temporarily fill them with silicone so they appear to disappear.