Most of what is sold as beauty advice is product recommendation. This is the part underneath it: the routines that work, the things that quietly do damage, and where paying more is justified.
What actually makes a difference
- Sunscreen, used properly and daily on exposed skin. It is the single most evidence-backed
thing in the entire category, for both skin cancer risk and visible ageing.
- Sleep and water, which are boring and do more than most of what is on a shelf.
- A short routine you actually do rather than a long one you do twice a week.
- Patch testing anything new, on the inside of the forearm, for a day.
Quiet damage
- Over-washing and over-exfoliating. Stripping the skin barrier causes most of the
dryness and irritation people then buy products to fix.
- Hot water on skin and hair, which strips oils.
- Sleeping in make-up, reliably.
- Very tight hair styles worn daily, which cause traction hair loss over years.
- Nail varnish remover on a cold sore, which appears in a lot of old tip lists. It is
acetone on broken skin. Do not.
Where paying more is justified, and where it is not
Formulation costs money in sunscreen, in anything with active ingredients, and in tools that touch heat. It does not cost much in basic cleansers, in most moisturisers, or in cotton wool. The active ingredient list on the back tells you more than anything on the front, and the same actives appear at the same concentrations across wildly different prices.
What we will not do
Publish a "best" list of products we have not tested. Where we compare, it will be on published ingredients and cost per use, with a date.