Anti-Aging Myths You Need to Stop Believing

Never cracking a smile staves off wrinkle:. Celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Victoria Beckham swear by the idea that an expressionless, but that doesn't mean you should follow their lead. "While expressive motions of the face do cause lines to form, it's virtually impossible to live life expressionlessly."Enjoy life and smile. Happiness isanti-aging in and of itself."

Squeaky clean skin looks younger for longer:. "Using harsh soaps to keep your skin squeaky clean strips your skin of its natural oils — and actually accentuates fine lines and wrinkles. If you want to keep your skin soft and younger-looking, stick to a gentle cleanser and don't scrub your face.

There's one perfect routine out there:. There's no Holy Grail for skin care. Although there are plenty of productive steps you can take — wearing SPF each day, for example — there's no one-size-fits-all miracle method that makes your skin "flawless" forever despite cosmetic companies' claims. So just because your friend got lucky with her seven-step routine doesn't mean you will. Keeping your skin care routine simple can actually be more effective.

You can fight gravity by standing on your head:. Yep – this is a real thing some people actually believe and it's one of the more "entertaining" anti-aging myths she says she's ever heard. And not surprisingly, it's not true.

The higher the price, the better the skincare:. While having a decent skin care budget may give you access to quality products recommended to you by a pro, dropping hundreds of dollars on a skin care regimen you saw on TV isn't necessarily going to lead to a perfect complexion.

Makeup with SPF is the same as sunscreen:. Just because you pop on a BB cream with a little SPF in the morning doesn't mean you are safe from the sun's harmful rays. Unless you wear a foundation or tinted moisturizer with an SPF of 30 or higher and apply it every two hours just like sunscreen, you shouldn't assume you're properly protected.

Doing facial exercises can fix wrinkles:. Guides to facial exercising techniques occasionally circulate around the web, promising the elimination of crow's feet and sagging jowls. Sadly, this can actually make things worse. They might be able to help your neck tautness, but on your face, it can make things worse because you're moving so many muscles.

When it comes to treatments, the newer, the better:. No matter how many of your friends swear the latest procedure works, you should speak to a dermatologist or esthetician before trying it. For example, so-trendy oxygen facial does "nothing, at best," and "at worst, it can accelerate damage at a cellular level by exposing skin to oxygen free radicals." Um, no thanks to that.