Dispelling Beauty Myths

Host: And now its time for Better Beauty and from everyday questions about whether you should be wearing sunscreen to the right way to get rid of pimples, there’s so many different opinions out there, a lot of people are confused. Not anymore though, that's because renowned dermatologist Doctor Heather Willary Loyd is here. She’s going to set the record straight and also dispel some of the most common myths out there. Good to have you here.

Doctor Heather Willary Loyd: Thank you for having me.

Host: There are a lot of myths--I’m sure that you see in your office when people come in.

Doctor Heather Willary Loyd: I do, all the time. People have many questions and it’s my job to set the record straight.

Host: Straighten it all out, that’s what you’re here for, so one of the biggest myths out there is that the crossing of legs causes varicous veins. Your mother always tells you don’t cross your legs for a long period of time, is that true or false?

Doctor Heather Willary Loyd: That one is false; actually we know that crossing the legs can maybe cause some irritation behind the calf. I definitely think hyper pigmentation or dark marks before the calves for crossing the legs but it doesn’t really lead to varicous veins. In fact, really standing on your feet for a long time is much more likely to be associated with varicous veins.

Host: Really, okay, see I learned something new. Now we’re also going to talk about the toothpaste here because a lot of models will tell you that putting a little bit of toothpaste on a pimple will get rid of it overnight. Is that true or false?

Doctor Heather Willary Loyd: So you know it’s a little bit true because toothpaste does have astringent property so that it can definitely dry out pimples but the problem is toothpaste wasn’t designed to be used on the face and a lot of people can have sensitivity especially if it’s left on for a long time. So you really--even though it can be effective, it might not be safe and so we’d want to use alternatives and one alternative that people might have at home is tea tree oil which is a simple at home remedy that has been proven in clinical studies to work in acne but without all of the side effects that toothpaste might have.

Host: Interesting, especially the tartar control. Let’s talk about the eyes because you have puffiness around the eyes. I always hear about preparation H which is not meant for the eyes but does it really work?

Doctor Heather Willary Loyd: Well that one is really interesting, actually preparation H does minimize puffiness, short terms, not a long term treatment but not the US version so the original formula for preparation H had an ingredient called live yeast cell extract which is actually does give this immediate tightening effect to the skin. But that was removed from the US formulation, it’s really only found on the Canadian formulation and just like we talked about with the toothpaste, it can be a little bit irritating. It definitely wasn’t designed to be used on the face and so there are alternatives.

Host: Okay, this is one of them here.

Doctor Heather Willary Loyd: That contains kalandula and it can minimize the appearance of puffiness under the eyes. So definitely--

Host: Stay light like a little cream.

Doctor Heather Willary Loyd: And nice light weight eye cream that can minimize the appearance of puffines.

Host: Before we go, can we talk about the pores because a lot of people think that they can shrink their pores, what dad gave you is what gave you, is that the truth?

Doctor Heather Willary Loyd: You hit it right on the spot, so basically your pore sizes really are more genetically determined. You know you inherit that, so there’s nothing that actually can shrink or make your pores smaller but there are things that can minimize the size of your pores or make them appear smaller by improving the texture.

Host: How about ice, putting ice or cold water on them?

Doctor Heather Willary Loyd: No, actually retinoid and the most common over the counter one is retinol, products that contain ingredients retinol can smooth the skin and make your pores appear smaller , so we have a product here, this is the Peter Thomas Ralph product and it’s an excellent, very high concentration of retinol that can smooth the skin and make it appear more smooth.

Host: All right, you did a fantastic job. Thank you so much Doctor.

Doctor Heather Willary Loyd: Thank you.