Beauty myth #7: "Washing my face with a regular hand soap works just as fine as using an expenisve cleanser."
No, no, no! Regular hand soap is way too strong and has got a pH value that's too high for your poor face. It may dry out acne and wash away mean bacteria, but it also washes off the skin's natural protective oils. The only result is a vicious circle - to begin with, your skin will become really dry and irritated, and then it responds by producing more oils since you keep washing off the natural ones. If you have acne problems and wash your face with a regular hand soap, it will probably result in more acne. Buy a cleanser that suits your skintype, and don't forget to moisturise afterwards! (And yes, this goes for men aswell - you may have got rougher skin, but regular soap is a big NO-NO!).
Beauty myth #6: "There's no point in collecting nail polishes, because they will dry up before I have time to use them."
As long as you store your polishes in a dark, dry and cool place, shake them once in a while and make sure to keep the caps tight, there will be many years before your polishes have dried up and become thick and goopy. Plus, if you have many colours to choose from, you will open the same bottle less often = you're letting in less air into the bottle compared to if you would open it frequently, and the easy evaporating molecules that are important for the formula of the polish will stay put in the bottle for longer time. If a polish would go thick and goopy, there are special nail polish thinners (NOT to be confused with acetone which breaks down the polish molecules and ruins the polish - with thinner, you add substances that have evaporated from the polish and therefore diluting it) that you can use for thinning your polishes to make it as good as new again. Most polishes stay a nice formula for many many years, as long as you store them in the right way!
Beauty myth #5: "Hair extensions damages my own hair and makes it thinner."
A hair extension that is properly installed won't damage your hair in any way. You naturally loose about 100 strands of hair every day, these will be caught in the attatchments of the extensions and will all come out at once when you remove the hair extensions and makes it look like you loose a lot of hair. Plus, you get used to the extra volume you get from the extensions, so at removal, your hair will feel thinner when it's acctually just as full as before you had your extensions done. Something that can damage your hair, however, are some solvents that are used to remove extensions installed with glue or keratin was (like acetone), so if you want to avoid damage to your hair it's recommended that you use a method that don't need a solvent to remove the extensions, like micro rings or braiding.
Beauty myth #4: "Shaving makes the hairs become thicker and darker when they grow back."
What you do to a dead hair (i.e. the part that grows outside the skin) doesn't affect what happens in the follicle. The hairs look thicker when it grows back because you have made a clean cut when shaving, a hair that has been around for a while have been worn and has a tapered tip. The same thing goes with the shade of the hair - when it grows back, it looks dark compared to older hairs that have been bleached by the sun during a longer period.
Beauty myth #3: "The best place to try on a foundation shade is on the inner part of my wrist"
The inside of your wrist is fair, and the facial skin is commonly fairer than the skin of the rest of your body - that's why it might seem to be a good idea to try out a foundation shade on the inside of your wrist. The truth, however, is that most people don't have the same skintone in the face as on the rest of their body. Myself, I have yellow undertones on the skin on my body, and pink undertones on the skin in my face, so don't trust the shade of your body skintone when choosing your foundation shade! The best place to try a foundation shade is on the jaw bone, and it should be neither too dark or too light but blend into your own skintone.
Beauty myth #2: "A face moisturiser makes my oily skin even oiler"
Wrong! It's really really important to moisturise after you have washed your face, both day and night, since you remove the skins natural moisture barrier when washing. Oily skin reacts with producing even more oils if you're not careful about bringing back the skin's natural moisture balance, and it also gets irritated which can lead to acne and other skin irritations. Make sure to choose an oil-free moisturiser that provides moisture, not grease, to your oily skin to mantain the moisture balance.
Beauty myth #1: "I can't wear bold eye makeup with a bold lip"
Of course you can, there is nothing that says that you can't wear bright pink lipstick with a colourful eye makeup! Myself, I find it really hot with a really black smoky eye together with red lips á la Kat von D. If you want to enhance your lips or your eyes, however, it usually helps if you tone down the other.