STOP Believing these internet beauty 'tips'!

By BR Tabatha

Oh the interweb, how you’ve educated thee. There once was a time I had no idea how to wing an eye, let alone contour a cheekbone. Then YouTube exploded and with it vloggers galore and slowly I learnt that I could Google anything beauty-related and get an answer. ‘How can I quickly heal acne?’ ‘What colour lipstick is hot right now?’ ‘How can I pump up my lips naturally?” Some advice was spot on, some not so much… as some women who’ve tried the Kylie Jenner challenge have found out.

So what pieces of Internet beauty advice should we ignore? Here are our top offenders:

Crayons.

Lipstick made from crayons! You’ve gotta love a spot of DIY! However making your own lippy out of kiddy craft probably isn’t the best idea. Yes on the outside it might seem safe. Non-toxic! But non-toxic doesn’t mean fit for human consumption. This craze went so gangbusters Crayola had to make a point of dissuading people from trying it.

Pins.

Pop a pimple with a pin. Whether than pin is a sewing needle, a tack or a safety pin the answer is don’t. Just don’t. Especially if that pin has been sitting around for a while gathering dust… and bacteria. Who knows what infection it could cause, let alone the fact that popping a pimple damages the skin and can cause it to heal even slower. 

Milk of Magnesia

Milk of Magnesia as a primer. I’ve seen two of my favourite vloggers recommend this. I also saw hundreds of people posting below their videos saying ‘noooooo, don’t do it!’. Much like another no-no further down the list, Milk of Magnesia is really alkaline, so applying it can play havoc with your skin’s pH levels, which could open it up to baaaaad bacteria, instead of the good bacteria our skin has and needs when it’s pH is balanced. Our take? Not a goer. 

Mouthwash

Mouthwash clears up zits. On the face of it this seems like a great idea. Dab on a bit of minty mouthwash, hit the hay and wake up with smaller zits. The problem with this tip is that the alcohol in the product dries out zits – and the skin around the zits. And as you no doubt know when oily skin is dried out it goes into oil over-production and next thing you know – more zits. It’s probably best to stick to tea tree oil.

Baking Soda

Baking Soda Masks. This one is quite contentious, some people swear by it, saying it helps their skin like nothing else. While others give it the big ‘no way Jose’. Some say it has helped their oily acne-prone skin. Others look at the science and say that due to baking soda being on the higher side of alkaline it destroys the acid mantle of the skin while acting as an overly harsh exfoliant, further damaging your skin. Even in BRHQ we’re divided. One of us swears by it, another one thinks it’s crazy to put something so alkaline onto our delicate skin. The rest of us fence-sit, but have yet to give it a go… because, well, the science seems pretty sound.

So tell us, have you come across any beauty tips online that just seemed dangerous or plain out crazy? Or will you give anything a go once? Chat away.