Beauty Classics that Should Retire

Dec. 12, 2012 - PRLog -- It’s easy to get attached to a classic product, something familiar and loved. But when it comes to makeup and skin care, sticking with the familiar can deprive the skin of state-of-the-art products that truly can offer impressive results. In the upcoming ninth edition of Don’t Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me the Paula’s Choice Research Team peels back the ingredient labels of the most popular beauty products that have been around for years to find out if they should be retired, and go the way of the typewriter and rotary-dial telephone.

From overpriced, lackluster formulas to potentially harmful products, this list identifies which beauty classics to toss and what to use instead.

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion
This is one of Clinique’s flagship products, but it’s really just a basic, mundane, out-of-date, yellow-dyed moisturizer built around mineral oil, lanolin, and sesame oil. None of those are bad for dry skin—it’s more about what this product lacks that makes it a poor choice. Skin needs a variety of potent antioxidants and proven skin-repairing and cell-communicating ingredients to really see the kind of dramatic difference Clinique promises.

Check out affordable, research-based recommendations for the Best Moisturizers on CosmeticsCop.com.

Dove Beauty Bar
Bar soap is always a bad idea because in addition to leaving residue behind on your sink and skin, the ingredients that keep these types of soaps in bar form can clog pores, and the cleansing ingredients can trigger irritation.

Try a creamy cleanser like Paula’s Choice RESIST Optimal Results Hydrating Cleanser for a gentle, hydrating cleansing treatment.

La Mer Creme de la Mer
At $140 for 1 oz., this product should work anti-aging miracles, but in reality it is merely a very basic cream. The price is almost insulting for what you get.

Creme de la Mer contains mostly seaweed extract, mineral oil, Vaseline (petrolatum), glycerin, wax-like thickening agents, lime extract, more thickeners, and preservatives. Even La Mer doesn’t think much of this product, as all of their other moisturizers contain a far better range of ingredients than this one does. This contains way too much fragrance and eucalyptus oil, both of which can cause irritation. Although there is a smattering of antioxidants, the jar packaging won’t keep them stable.

A good moisturizer doesn’t need to cost a fortune or come in fancy packaging, especially not jar packaging. Look up state-of-the-art moisturizers for a fraction of the price on CosmeticsCop.com.

Maybelline New York Great Lash Mascara
It may be the #1-selling mascara, but popularity doesn’t necessarily relate to quality. Great Lash Mascara takes a good deal of effort to build length and thickness, and pales in comparison to most of Maybelline’s other mascaras. It also has a tendency to smear. There are literally dozens upon dozens of fabulous mascaras at the drugstore, but this old-timer isn’t one of them.

Learn which mascaras earn the Paula’s Choice Research Team’s seal of approval on CosmeticsCop.com.

Sea Breeze Original Formula Astringent
Some may be nostalgic about this product (especially its familiar medicinal odor), but this toner contains some of the most irritating ingredients for skin imaginable.

A good toner should be loaded with beneficial ingredients that soothe and calm skin, such as Paula’s Choice Skin Balancing Pore-Reducing Toner; otherwise, toning is just a wasted (if not potentially harmful) step in any skin-care routine.

St. Ives Apricot Scrub Invigorating
This scrub contains walnut shells and cornmeal, which can be abrasive and tear the skin, and it also contains fragrant ingredients that can add to the irritation. A scrub should never make skin red and irritated; it should gently reveal the glowing skin beneath the old, dull skin.

Research shows that the gentlest (and most state-of-the-art) way to exfoliate is with a well-formulated AHA or BHA product. Find brilliant exfoliant options for a variety of skin types at CosmeticsCop.com.

Pond’s Cold Cream, The Cool Classic
This is simply a very outdated way to cleanse and remove makeup, and is only remotely appropriate for those with very dry skin who prefer a heavy-duty, greasy, hard–to-remove texture. For blemish-prone or oily skin, it almost certainly will only make matters worse.

For the top-rated cleansers and other recommendations, visit CosmeticsCop.com.

   
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Led by best-selling author and beauty expert Paula Begoun, the Paula’s Choice Research Team evaluates and reviews hundreds of skin-care and makeup products, in books such as Don’t Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me as well as online at CosmeticsCop.com. Combining cosmetics industry knowledge and expertise, Paula and her team have developed the Paula’s Choice line of state-of-the-art formulations based on reliable, published skin-care research. Products include skin-care, makeup, body, and hair-care products, beauty tools, and accessories. All products are fragrance-free, cruelty free, and environmentally friendly.