Beauty Bulletin from Paula Begoun: 10 Beauty Commandments Everyone Should Know

In Paula Begoun's latest Beauty Bulletin, she gives the "10 Beauty Commandments Everyone Should Know". There is only one caveat from her, though -- this list is by no way complete, as there are TONS of "shalt" and "shalt nots" when it comes to beauty (as we all know).

The commandments are as follows:

• THOU SHALT NOT believe expensive cosmetics are better than inexpensive cosmetics.
• THOU SHALT NOT believe there is any such thing as a natural cosmetic (or that natural means better).
• THOU SHALT NOT believe in miracle ingredients that can cure skin-care woes.
• THOU SHALT NOT covet thy neighbor’s perfect skin (or believe her perfect skin came from a particular product or cosmetics line; skin is more complicated than that).
• THOU SHALT NOT believe everything a cosmetics salesperson tells you.
• THOU SHALT NOT believe in the existence of wrinkle-eliminating, firming, toning, lifting, or filling-in creams, lotions, or masks that can permanently erase wrinkles. Aging skin can become firmer and more resistant to future signs of aging with the right products, but even those aren’t going to get rid of wrinkles or replace what cosmetic surgery or cosmetic corrective procedures can do.
• THOU SHALT NOT be seduced by every new promotion, new product, or new product line that the cosmetics industry creates.
• THOU SHALT NOT get a tan; sun is your enemy, not your friend; it is the primary reason that skin wrinkles and develops skin cancer (and it isn’t just about getting a sunburn—turning the skin brown is equally as damaging when done on a regular basis).
• THOU SHALT NOT buy a cellulite cream, nor shalt thou assume it’s possible to dissolve fat from the outside in, because you absolutely cannot. If these products worked, who would have cellulite?
• THOU SHALT NOT see pictures of pubescent, anorexic models (who spend two hours getting their hair and makeup done and another two hours posing while the photographer and a corps of assistants determine the most flattering lighting, after which the resulting picture goes through a battery of digitally enhanced touch-ups and adjustments) and believe you will get the same (or even similar) results from using the products being advertised. That is, unless you happen to be pubescent, anorexic, and a model and can somehow stay in the right lighting all the time.

I know I have a hard time with many of these -- it is only lately that I have really come to terms with all of them.  Anyone else?

*Photo courtesty of ideacreamanuelaPps on Flickr's Creative Commons 

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