Every year, new health and beauty trends come our way. They become trendy on social media with all your favorite influencers showing them off, they become the talk of blogs and magazines, and we all become willing to drop some cash for them so we can get a little bit of that magic ourselves. But when there are so many fads and trends, it can be hard to know what actually works and what’s just being buzzed about by social media networks. Very often, some things promise wonderful results, but end up only being good at the bottom of the bin, but social media makes it seem like it’s something worth having. From charcoal toothpaste, to face massagers, it can be so confusing and hard to tell the difference between what to buy and what not to buy these days. How can you make sure you don’t buy something that will end up being a waste of money and time? We did some research so that you can make the right buying choices.
Activated Charcoal for Teeth
You’ve probably seen the videos of people brushing their teeth with activated charcoal, with the intention of not just cleaning, but whitening their teeth. Considering how expensive teeth whitening treatments are, more and more people are purchasing charcoal with the hopes of finding an inexpensive way to brighten up their smiles. Charcoal has many uses, because of its ability to bind toxins. That’s why you hear about it being used in face masks and even to treat people who have overdosed on drugs. In dental care, the hope is that the charcoal will whiten your teeth in the same way, but there’s actually no science-backed evidence that it can do that. If anything, brushing the teeth with charcoal can actually do more harm than good. If you’ve ever tried brushing your teeth with it, it takes a lot to brush it out, which can actually end up harming your gums and the layers of your teeth. Maybe charcoal whitens teeth because of how much it takes to rinse it out! But if you’re really interested in improving your dental health, go for a professional instead of an Instagram fad. According to Colorado Healthy Smiles, a practice that specializes in cosmetic dentistry in Broomfield, “if you’re thinking of whitening your teeth, talk to a cosmetic dentist, before you buy something on the market that does a lot of harm to your general dental health. Your teeth are extremely important, and should be handled so that you don’t affect your long-term health.”
Jade Rollers
You’ve probably seen the photos of jade rollers. They are green colored contraptions consisting of two rollers with a long handle. They aren’t new inventions, they have been used by royalty in ages past. They promise to transform your face by decreasing puffiness, redness, fine lines, and dark circles under your eyes. The science of it is that the rolling movement is meant to boost circulation in your face, and help drain any fluid build up in your face. When we tried it, we really liked the cooling and relaxing effect it had, which we guess when you do it on a regular basis will make us feel less stressed, which will limit breakouts. There was really no sign that it reduces dark circles and fine lines, but the cooling effect did reduce redness. Ultimately, our verdict is you can buy a jade roller if it’s not too expensive. It can help you feel more alert when you use it and relax your face which will be nice in the morning and after a long day at work. Also, it’s really pretty to look at which doesn’t hurt.
Peel-Off Face Masks
Everyone is always looking for that perfect facial product that will rid them of blackheads, pimples and all the dirt and grime that builds up in our skin. This is where peel-off face masks come in. You apply a layer, wait for it to dry and then you peel it off and it will lift all the blackheads off clear up your skin. Even though these masks are very popular, they don’t actually solve the core issue. Sure, they remove the blackheads on the surface, but they don’t fix the skin issues that cause them. There’s nothing wrong with buying one just to clear up your skin, but make sure you’re still taking other measures to deeply clean your skin below the surface. Our verdict is, it’s not worth writing home about though.