photo by: University of Kansas Health System on YouTube
Dermatologists Chris Tomassian and Anand Rajpara appeared on the University of Kansas Health System’s morning medical update last week.
Experts at the University of Kansas Health System debunked common beauty product myths ahead of the holiday shopping season, urging people to not waste money on trendy products such as collagen powders and jade face rollers.
During a morning medical update Thursday, dermatologists Anand Rajpara and Chris Tomassian said one of the biggest mistakes people make in skin care is paying too much for products with big claims. Celebrities and social media influencers have overshadowed recommendations by licensed dermatologists or plastic surgeons, frequently marketing anti-aging beauty products not backed by science, they said.
“Having an effective anti-aging skin care routine is actually very affordable and easy to do,” Rajpara said. “If you see a good dermatologist or plastic surgeon, they can recommend the things that you need, but most of the stuff is really inexpensive.”
Collagen supplements, touted by celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston and Kourtney Kardashian, have not proven to be effective in boosting collagen production. The collagen powder industry is worth nearly a billion dollars, although it is “far-fetched that a powdered drink does any good,” Rajpara said.
Instead of wasting money on collagen powders with deceiving high price tags, Rajpara suggested investing in retinol and vitamin C serums to boost collagen production for anti-aging skin effects.
“The idea that you would ingest collagen, you’d digest it, it circulates in the bloodstream and it magically just (deposits) in your face is a bit far-fetched,” Rajpara said. “But unfortunately people do buy into the fact that, the more expensive a product is, the better it is. When in fact the products that we recommend that we know that work are actually inexpensive and you can get them at your local drugstore.”
One of the leading factors to visible aging is sun damage, but people tend to try to “pay (their) way out of sun protection,” Tomassian said.
Spending money on procedures such as chemical peels will ultimately be a waste if there is no investment in inexpensive sun protection.
“A lot of people do pay for these procedures, do a lot of chemical peels, but they don’t protect themselves from the sun,” Tomassian said.
Other products Rajpara and Tomassian urged consumers against were biotin gummies for hair loss, jade rollers, gua sha and silk pillowcases that promise to reduce wrinkles.
Biotin, a supplement long believed to be beneficial in fast hair growth, is a waste of money, they said, because there is no evidence it is actually effective in growing hair. Jade rollers and gua sha, which have gained popularity online as tools to carve jaws and cheekbones, are really only helpful in de-puffing skin and massaging lymphatic veins under the skin in the face. And while silk pillowcases can help with frizzy hair, there is no way they decrease wrinkles, the doctors said.
“They’re just trying to take advantage of people trying to find that kind of fountain of youth,” Rajpara said.
— Lucy Peterson reports for Kansas Reflector.