Whether you first heard them from your mother or at your first slumber party, beauty urban legends cause us to buy promising skin creams and follow off-the-wall regimens. Here, we’ve listed five of the most common beauty myths out there—and their answers.
Myth: Cocoa butter will help get rid of stretch marks.
Fiction. There are plenty of creams and lotions that claim to eliminate or at least minimize stretch marks. While we would love for all of these to work, stretch marks are caused by weight gain or loss, and usually can’t be reversed.
Myth: Spot-reducing exercise works.
Fiction. If this were true, we’d be the happiest people on earth! Sadly, you can’t just pick one spot and do certain exercises to trim fat where you want. Aim for total body workouts like running or swimming with light free weight exercise to lose more weight and look fit and trim overall.
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Myth: Crossing your legs causes varicose veins.
Fiction. There are plenty of ways to potentially develop varicose veins, but none of them are related to crossing your legs (sigh of relief). Some examples of what could causes varicose veins include genetics, obesity, trauma to the skin, etc.
Myth: Pumping the mascara wand helps to apply mascara better.
Fiction. The only thing you get when you pump the mascara wand is extra air and bubbles in the mascara tube which dries it out and decreases its lasting power. If your mascara is running low but it’s not time to toss it, just slowly twist the brush as you remove it to pick up more of the product.
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Myth: 8 hours sleep can help me lose weight.
Fact. The experts tell us to aim for 8 hours a day, but if that just seems impossible, shoot for 6-8. Obviously we’re not eating while we’re sleeping, but in addition, not getting enough sleep can prevent us from burning as many calories as we should throughout the day…so get back in bed and rest up! (You don’t have to tell us twice!)
