Beauty products can seem awfully mysterious. Among all of the lotions and potions that crowd your average drugstore aisle, you’ll find many enigmatic claims about “defying” age, “revitalizing” crow’s-feet and “purifying” pores. Can any product live up to the hype? “There’s a lot of misinformation,” said dermatologist Sandra Read, a spokeswoman for the American Academy of Dermatology. “A lot of claims being made out there are unsubstantiated.” Nevertheless, many women (and not a few men) remain seduced by these pint-size elixirs of youth and pulchritude. Here’s the scoop on a few products that you may have wondered about.
Firming lotions, no matter what they promise, can’t flush away the results of too many Twinkies. Often, they contain something totally unrelated to fat cells and skin dimples: alcohol, which dries out the skin. Store shelves are well-stocked with pore-minimizing products. Some contain retinol, which loosens dirt and oil in pores, letting them be expelled naturally. You may also hear about pore-minimizing treatments, including microdermabrasion. But can anything actually alter a pore’s size in the long term, turning eraser heads into pin dots? “No,” Read said, laughing. The size of your pores is genetically determined, she says.
Face primer can be thought of the same type of stuff you slather on your walls: a base coat that makes your paint (i.e., foundation) last longer. “It’s one of my secrets when I do professional makeup,” makeup artist Carola Myers said. “It will conceal the signs of fatigue and add a luminosity to your makeup.” She suggested primers by Chanel, Nars and Smashbox.
Serum, to be applied after cleansing, can moisturize, brighten or help firm skin, depending on its ingredients. This may sound magical, but serums are often quite similar to same-old moisturizers, although they may have slightly smaller molecules that can penetrate skin more deeply. Toner rids the skin of dirt, impurities and excess oils. Of course, some people would say that’s the job of your facial cleanser. But this age-old product has its fans.
“You should use a toner at night, especially if you’ve been using makeup,” Myers said. “We all skip it, but every time I use it, I do feel very clean.” She likes those by Almay and Clinique but said “anything mild would be wonderful.”
