Ni'Kita Wilson: Oh, no.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

"You don't need to exfoliate." Pssh.

Chang: [laughs] Oh, man.

Wilson: Oh, I love this one.

Myth: "If you feel a tingling or burning sensation,

it means the product is working."

Chang: Oh, my gosh. I had to say, "No!"

when I saw this myth.

My name is Ni'Kita Wilson, and I'm a cosmetic chemist.

And my name is Dr. Claire Chang,

and we're here today to debunk

a few myths about skin care.

Wilson: Let's get started!

"Drinking extra water will make your skin look better."

Ooh, take it away, Dr. Chang.

Chang: Although drinking an adequate amount of water

is important for your overall health,

there's actually no scientific evidence

that drinking extra water goes straight to your skin

or that it can improve your skin hydration.

Excess water is most likely just filtered

out of your body through urine.

Wilson: I can personally attest to the extra water

just passing through.

Chang: Our next myth:

"Your skin will get used to the products you use,

and then they'll stop working."

Wilson: Oh, I love that one.

It's not a matter of your skin getting used to the products.

A product can only do but so much.

There comes a point where those ingredients have done

all they could possibly do for your skin.

Chang: If you've noticed a huge improvement

when you first started using a product

and then notice less improvement over time,

just like Ni'Kita said,

it may be because over time we reach a plateau

in which your skin's visibly improved,

and at this point the ingredients are still working,

but they're maintaining a new normal.

Wilson: "The order in which you use

your skin-care products doesn't matter."

Chang: Order definitely matters.

In general,

you should apply your products thinnest to thickest,

and those with the active ingredients should go on first.

Wilson: Agree 100%.

If you have a water-based serum,

it's going to be hard-pressed to fight its way

through those barriers that we created in the cream

in order to get into the skin to work.

So definitely thinner, more active first,

and then build up heavier later.

Chang: So, I recommend doing a cleanser first,

then a toner, essences or ampoules,

then do your thicker moisturizers and your creams,

then your facial oils,

then your sunscreen, and then your makeup.

Our next myth is, "Pores can get smaller."

Wilson: Oh, nope.

Your pores do not get smaller.

Chang: There is also a circulating myth going around

that cold water can shrink the pores,

but this is just a myth.

Wilson: Your pores are the same size.

What can happen is your pores could swell up,

you know, oil can bring dirt, debris,

dead skin cells can get in there and swell.

They get engorged, you know,

from all this stuff that gets stuck in there,

and then when they're cleaned out,

they just get back to the normal size.

But the walls can also get compromised,

and so they can kind of lean and become weak.

And that also could change the appearance

of how your pores look.

"You don't need to moisturize your face if it's oily."

Chang: This is definitely a myth.

There is a difference between skin oil and skin hydration.

So, skin hydration is the water content

or the moisture levels of the skin,

whereas skin oil is the sebum content.

So, sebum is secreted by your facial oil glands

or sebaceous glands,

and it helps protect the skin barrier.

But sebum can contribute to that oily, greasy look

on the face, so people don't like it.

The important thing to remember is

that oily skin can become dehydrated

and have a low water content,

so moisturizing is still important.

I advise that you use the right moisturizers,

oil-free moisturizers that are noncomedogenic.

Also look for lightweight lotions

rather than thicker creams.

The lotions have a higher water-to-oil content,

whereas creams have a higher oil-to-water content.

Most recently I've been using Sulwhasoo,

which is a Korean brand.

S U L W H A S O O.

Wilson: You didn't know this was going to be

a spelling bee too, did you?

Chang: "You don't need to wear sunscreen,

even when it's cloudy."

Wilson: You need to wear sunscreen when it's cloudy,

when it's sunny.

The only time you don't need to wear sunscreen

is when there is no sun. It's night.

Just because you can't see the sun,

the UV rays are still there.

They're still present.

And it's the UV rays that are doing the damage.

And it doesn't matter what your pigmentation load is,

you need sunscreen.

I recommend 30 and above,

because if you're using 15 and then using

a little bit, you're not going to get

the level of protection that you need.

"The more expensive the product,

the better it works."

Chang: Absolutely false.

Many of the products that I use

and that I recommend are very affordable

and found in the drugstore.

I say that the efficacy of the ingredients

and the formulation matter a lot more than the price.

Wilson: I agree.

You know, as a chemist,

I want you to buy the most expensive product we make.

[laughs]

But the reality is,

it really does get down to the ingredients

and what you're looking for.

You can go to the drugstore

and you can pick out really great products

that can really help you and really

make a difference in your skin care.

Chang: The next myth is,

"The more you wash your face, the better."

Wilson: Oh, no.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Your face is not that dirty.

You know, you wash it in the morning, you wash it at night.

You don't have to overdo it.

Actually, the more you wash your face,

your skin could be worse off.

One, you are getting rid of the microbiome.

You're throwing that all off balance,

and when you do that,

you compromise your skin barrier,

and when your skin barrier is compromised,

that can lead to irritation, sensitivity.

Chang: Over-washing your face,

especially with harsh soaps or scrubs,

the ones with those beads in it,

can really dry out and irritate the skin.

I just recommend washing your face twice a day,

and then also after sweating heavily,

because sweat can clog the pores

and irritate the skin further.

Wilson: "You don't need to exfoliate." Pssh.

Chang: [laughs]

Oh, man.

Everyone can benefit from some gentle exfoliation.

Exfoliating can help renew and brighten your skin,

even your skin tone, de-clog pores.

It helps in anti-aging,

and it can actually improve the absorption

of other topicals you're putting on your skin.

Wilson: I love exfoliation.

I love it for every reason you just named.

And for me, again, because I have

very oily skin and acne-prone

and also hyperpigmentation, exfoliation really helps.

Chang: You're reminding me

I need to go exfoliate today. [both laugh]

If you're using a very gentle exfoliant,

you can do it every day.

If you tend to have sensitive skin

or you're using a higher concentration,

you might want to limit it to two times a week,

even one time a week,

and then if you're using in-office kind of chemical peels

and going to a facialist or your dermatologist,

you may want to limit it to every two to four weeks,

because they're using much higher concentrations

of chemical exfoliants.

Wilson: I can't end this without giving a shout-out

to Dr. Dennis Gross

and his AHA/BHA pad.

Beautiful, beautiful.

Chang: The next myth is,

"You need to use a lot

of skin-care products to get good skin."

Wilson: Again, as a cosmetic chemist,

I wish that were true.

You don't need to use a lot of products,

you just need to find the right products

that work for your skin needs.

Chang: Sometimes, actually, using too many products

can do more harm than good.

Wilson: Oh, I love this one.

Myth: "If you feel a tingling or burning sensation,

it means the product is working."

Chang: I had to say, "No!" when I saw this myth.

I was just like, "Ah!"

I always say actually your daily skin care

should typically not be uncomfortable at all.

And if it is,

it's a sign that your skin cannot tolerate the product.

Wilson: It's not always good to ask someone,

"What are you using?" and then go and buy it,

because your skin may not have the same tolerance level

as theirs, so you may have a different reaction.

Chang: And I know a lot of people who try to use

the best, the most effective ingredient,

and they try to kind of stand through it.

They want to persist because they want

to get their skin looking shiny and wrinkle-free.

But your skin, again, is different

from all of those people out there,

and it may not be able to tolerate it,

so you want to find the right product for you.

"Acne is only a problem during puberty."

Wilson: [laughs]

Can someone tell my skin that, please?

You could have not had acne during puberty,

and all of a sudden, as you enter 30s or 40s,

you all of a sudden start to get it.

You know, your hormones are changing,

and I'm a living, breathing testament

that that is not the case.

Chang: Adult acne may be persistent from puberty,

but a lot of times it's late onset

in patients who've never had acne before.

The reasons for acne in adulthood are genetics,

hormones, clogged pores, inflammation.

Stress can definitely worsen acne.

Certain diets can worsen acne, including, you know,

high-sugar, high-carb diets.

Pregnancy can sometimes trigger acne.

I definitely had acne during my pregnancy.

Cosmetics, too.

It's nice to really kind of localize where the acne is,

because those might be triggers

that you can remove

and see if your acne gets better

by removing those triggers.

You just want to be patient with it.

Remember that any treatment for acne

can take six to eight weeks to work,

so you just really want to stick to it,

unless of course you're getting that burning,

tingling, or irritation from it.

Wilson: "Dark undereye circles