I’m probably treading on thin ice, but I believe that 90% of cosmetics are a total scam. Skin care ‘heals from within’ hair shampoos ‘shines the dead follicles’; make up 'see the real you because you’re worth it!. “AGELOSS™ BI-LAYERED TABLETS - AGE DEFYING COMPLEX” etc etc…like one wag once said to me: “we don’t sell cosmetics, we sell hope!” (wtf!!)
as far as i can understand. hair is dead. nothing you do to it, wil make an ounce of difference to the health of it. you can do something to the hair while its busy growing, as in your while its still in your scalp.
the skin, i dont know, you can maybe affect the cells to an effect, make it retain water as to make the skin seem fuller. but i cant really imagine anything you stick on your skin, will make much of a difference.
I stood in the pharmacy on Saturday morning studying all the various promises on offer. I developed a bad skin during the past two months or so and was looking for something to alleviate the symptoms (the cause is hormones - not much I can do about that at this point).
The problem with being cynical/sceptic/doubtful is that you dont believe anything anymore, and when reading the ingredients/back label, you immediatly return the bottle when it starts making promises of you glowing, being radiant, smoothing wrinkles and the like. What BS.
I ended up buying clearasil (nothing beats what your mother gave you as a teenager), it helped then, I suppose its worth a try 25 years later…
You’re right about 90% of it being a scam, but we girls do like to feel pretty and cosmetics delivers on the “feel good” bit even if it doesnt really deliver the goods on the “look good” side. And then again, go and have a look at the prices of some of these products, a facewash for “older” women cost in the region of R125 - whereas I picked up the clearasil for around R30 odd.
I also struggle with bad skin at times. In my experience the only things that help are products containing Benzoyl Peroxide, which they sell at most pharmacies. Just be careful because it bleaches coloured fabric very easily. Everything else will generally do more harm than good.
at the risk of getting woo-points… i find that witchazel is cool for chilling skin out, and tea tree oil kills off the bugs. i usually whack a drop of tea tree in my bath water, and moisturiser.
if my skin gets silly, i just go back on the pill, chills it out quick.
dont know if tea tree does anything, but seems to do the job.
I’ve heard that tea tree oil helps, and of course, that old standby of baby oil in the water for dry skin in winter. And for scars, (also treading on the woo-water now), I do firmly believe that bio-oil helps lighten possible scarring when used on new wounds, I used it on a scar that runs from hip to hip and down the thigh (accident - some years back), and if compared to my ceaser scar it healed much lighter despite the fact that I was much older.
What really tickles me is how endlessly imaginative the cosmetics manufacturers are when it comes to inventing new sciencey-sounding terminology. Every other week there’s at least one new one that is touted as the latest and greatest thing. The terms they come up with usually sound like something dragged, kicking and screaming, from some badly scripted pulp sci-fi potboiler. As for the prices of some of them, check out this 2001 review…
Now that you have calmed your breathing a little, more recent prices can be viewed here. The snob factor that these products trade in will guarantee that those who use them will not only swear by their effectiveness but also maintain that they are worth the hefty price tag.
'Luthon64
ER???
The result is this potion, which contains ingredients from vodka to seaweed harvested from a particular spot in the ocean, at a particular time in the lunar cycle, and which won't foment unless you play it a backing tape.
The word “potion” is clue number one, and then of course “particular spot in the ocean” and finally “particular time in the lunar cycle”…
Wow, I will immediately rush out to spend R1400 for 60ml, it will be SO WORTH IT. :-\
Me too! Except, that was the price in 2001. Now it’s over R4,000.00, so it’ll be that much more worth it… :
'Luthon64
My sympathies to any man married to a poppie who believes in this sh*t…
Well, it could be argued that he deserves her, first, for not himself seeing through the excessive hype surrounding these cosmetics, and second, for getting involved with an airhead bimbo.
Now I’ll go and get myself a saucer of milk. 
'Luthon64
i tend to shy away from expensive stuff. the more i need to spend, the less likely it will work.
i rarely use any store bought lotions or potions. i like using fruits and veggies on my skin. i actually like using amla oil on my skin. its the oil the indian ladies use on their hair. smells awesome as well. and dirt cheap.
when a zit shows it ugly face, i just apply old oxy10. doesnt allways work…
my other half struggles with excema, and he uses dermavate, i pinched some for a zit gone ballistic, and like, in an hour, it was less red and horrible looking.
but i do think, that what you eat, makes an impact on your skin. you can apply any and all crap to your epidermis, but if you are smoking up a storm, and eating junkfood all day, it wont make an ounce of difference.
I cant afford it, and secondly I couldnt be bothered. I have exactly 5 items of cosmetics in my drawer - daycream, base, eyeshadow, eyeliner and nightcream - and its all I’ve used since I got my first eyeshadow at age 15. I dont use lipstick, hate it with an absolute passion, there is nothing more disgusting than leaving lip marks on a cup after drinking… urg… and when I look at my sister in law with her pancake mix covered face, ag nee sies man. Same goes with other “cosmetic” fix-me-uppers, such as false nails (for heavens sake, R300 odd rand for plastic nails that breaks off when doing the dishes - never mind the 3 hours spent having someone fiddling with your hands).
The thing I don’t get is, most of the guys I know (feel free to disagree here guys) really don’t find that shit attractive.
If it’s clear that a woman has applied her face with a spatula, she almost always looks more horrible than she would’ve looked like without it all.
(IN my not-so-humble opinion)
Consider this my signature on the “We hate pseudoscientific beauty product-speak on TV” list. At the rate that these products have improved since I was a mere boy (meaning: if all the claimed breakthroughs were actual breakthroughs), all women would look like 12yo’s by now.
Health, no. Condition, maybe.
Take wood, which is every bit as dead as a mane of hair. It you treat it to some linseed oil every so often it improves its appearance tenfold.
Mintaka
lame
Thenk yew, thenk yew - thought I lost it there for a while!
But seriously, what do you think about my Argument from Wood in defence of the shampoo industry?
Mintaka
Argument from Woodit's good! I find that almost any cream or oil will soften the skin, leaving it more 'youthful' looking. Anything's better than dry and leathery. Well-oiled works.
here i can speak from experience.
since im a chick, i have long hair.
since im an artist, i have worked with wood.
conditioner and crap simply smoothes down the surface of the hair follicle, which simply prevents it from sticking together. it does buggerall to the physical condition of the hair. the hair is dead. all the crap in the world wont mend split ends, restore moisture, etc etc etc. if you dont wash your hair, your scalps own oils will look after your hair just as well. but since in this day and age, you want bouncy, shiny hair, we strip the natural oils away with shampoos and crap. while you can apply all kinds of mutis to your mane, the moment you apply shampoo, it gets removed. so lots of money down the tubes.
i use silicone, coz i use a straightening iron on my hair. it creates a barrier, so the heat doesnt roast my hair to a crisp. it allso makes it all shiny. when i wash my hair, it goes frizzy again.
to oil wood, simply means keeping the fibres of the wood pliable, so it doest come apart and basically start to decompose. the fact that it brings out the colour and makes it shiny, is an added bonus.
you can, and actually must, oil leather as well.
the shampoo and/or cosmetic industry, sells bollocks. while the lotions and potions can make a temporary difference, while the product is on the affected area, causing some kind of surface appearance. there is no long term results.
another part of these scams is the ‘health/beauty’ industry: cellulite creams come to mind (wtf!!)