Beauty Myth Wednesdays: The Retouching You Might Not Think About

MYTH #7: MODELS ARE THE PERFECT "HUMAN CLOTHES HANGERS."
Designers might use that tired old line to justify their selection of super-skinny runway models, but when it comes to clothes you see in magazines, that flawless clothes hanger effect is achieved through something entirely different--retouching.

When models wear clothes, the fabric gets wrinkled, the fit might not be exact, and if it's cold on the shoot, there's usually a little something extra that shows up in the top half of the picture. But all of that can be fixed on a computer (Of course if it's a shoot for Maxim, they'll probably leave the nipples, or retouch them to make them more prominent). Just as I've had my waist thinned, my teeth whitened, and my breasts enlarged through the magic of retouching, the clothes I've modeled have also been digitally altered. Bra straps have been erased, colors have been changed, and pants have been lengthened. Retouching isn't just for faces and bodies; it's for clothes, products and pretty much everything you see on the glossy page.

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Related: A Year in (Retouched) Pictures

Beauty Myth Wednesdays: Mannequins and Catalog Models

MYTH #6: THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOUR BODY IF CLOTHES DON'T LOOK THE SAME ON YOU AS THEY DO IN THE CATALOG OR ON THE MANNEQUIN
Magali: Wrong, wrong, wrong. Regardless of whether you're a skinny mini, a plus-sized gal, or somewhere in between, that chic ensemble will never look as perfect on you off-the-rack as it does on the mannequin or the catalog model. The reason? Those clothes are pinned. If you haven't seen this done, check it out next time you're shopping. Take a peek at a mannequin's backside and you'll see that the clothes are fastened on that form to create just the right lines. It's the same deal for clothes you see in catalogs. Trust your resident model. Those outfits are styled and pinned on the human mannequins the same way they are on the plastic ones. So give yourself a break. Then go make friends with a good tailor.

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Beauty Myth Wednesdays: A Primer on Pores

Makeup artist Christopher Drummond dishes about pores this week.

MYTH #5: PORES OPEN AND CLOSE
Christopher: Totally false. Think of your pores as a rubber band. The band is always the same size. The only way to change the size of it is to physically stretch it out. It doesn’t automatically open and close. Your pores are just the same. They are one uniform size. The only way for them to look bigger is if you have oil buildup, which stretches them out, and makes them appear larger. Skin care products will NOT “tighten” the pores.

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Beauty Myth Wednesdays: The Truth About Toner

Here's your weekly dose of beauty reality from makeup artist Christopher Drummond.

MYTH #4: TONERS ARE NECESSARY
Christopher: This is a biggie. Years ago, when toners were created, they were made to 1) clean off excess debris that your soap didn’t get and 2) to balance the pH level of the skin. Cleansers nowadays are so thorough and advanced, they do this already. You don’t need a toner. It is a way for cosmetic companies to make more money. Period. If a company says that toner is needed, they are admitting that their cleanser doesn’t thoroughly cleanse the skin.

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Beauty Myth Wednesdays (On a Friday)

Things have been slow over here due to one of us coming down with a monster flu, but better late than never, right? Here's your weekly myth buster from makeup artist Christopher Drummond.

MYTH #3: EXPENSIVE PRODUCTS ARE HIGHER QUALITY PRODUCTS
Christopher: Many women ask me what I think about La Mer, a very expensive face cream that is about the price of a Mercedes. My honest answer is this: don’t waste your money. The second ingredient is Mineral Oil. This oil is not only a petrochemical, but it is incredibly cheap to produce, as it is a bi-product of petroleum. Since it is the number two ingredient, this means there is a lot of it in the product. This is true of many expensive products: they are simply a high priced, underperforming product. Your best bet is to buy a product that is used by a professional esthetician in a spa. Estheticians are very serious about skincare, and use high-quality, decently priced products. I don’t know any that use La Mer.

(Estee Lauder's La Mer Ingredients: Seaweed Extract - Mineral Oil - Petrolatum - Glycerin - Isohexadecane - Lime Extract - Microcrystalline Wax - Lanolin Alcohol - Sesame Oil - Eucalyptus Oil - Magnesium Sulfate - Sesame Seeds - Alfalfa Seeds - Sunflower Seeds - Powdered Almonds - Sodium, Potassium, Copper, Selenium, Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc Gluconate - Paraffin - Vitamin E Succinate - Niacin - Beta Carotene - Decyl Oleate - Aluminum Stearate - Octyldodecanol - Citric Acid - Cyanocobalamin - Magnesium Stearate - Panthenol - Methylchloroisothiazolinone - Methylisothiazolinone)

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Beauty Myth Wednesdays: The Difference Between Men's and Women's Skin Care Prodcuts

It's Wednesday, which means we're back with more myth dispelling. This week we asked makeup artist Christopher Drummond what sets men's skin care products apart from the stuff they make for the ladies. As it turns out, the secret ingredient is a whole lot of nothing.

MYTH #2: MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SKIN CARE PRODUCTS ARE DIFFERENT
Christopher: It’s commonly known in the industry that many companies take a successful women’s product, re-package it, and sell it as a “men’s” line. Take Clinique as an example. The men’s and women’s moisturizer is exactly the same product. As is the bronzer and the eye crème. So the next time your boyfriend or husband says, “I’m not using that moisturizer, it’s for women," show him the ingredients and revel in the fact that you are right AGAIN….

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Beauty Myth Wednesdays: Experts Tell You What Marketers Won't

If you're a regular reader, you know that we are enthusiastically pro-beauty and staunchly anti-beauty b.s. over here. In other words, we're all about feeling pretty, but we're not so fond of marketing messages that tell us we have to buy certain products or follow specific trends to have the "right" look. So today we're kicking off a weekly feature where we'll ask industry experts to weigh in on the myths that make beauty companies big bucks.

For the next month, you'll be hearing from Christopher Drummond, a makeup artist who just launched his own line of vegan makeup. He'll share his top five skin care and makeup myths and some beauty buzz words that are known to make consumers dip needlessly into their wallets.

MYTH #1: YOU SHOULD BUY BEAUTY PRODUCTS THAT ARE LABELED "HYPOALLERGENIC"
Christopher: The FDA requires that all products sold as cosmetics go through some kind of allergy testing. These tests are conducted or overseen by the companies themselves and they are not regulated. Each company has its own term for selling its products as non-allergenic. However, consumers should be aware that all this means from a regulatory standpoint is that the products did not produce allergic reactions in most subjects when they were tested. So in a nutshell, all products on the market are "hypoallergenic." This word is a marketing tool used to promote products and it doesn't guarantee that you won't be sensitive to a product with that label.

Check back next Wednesday for Christopher's next beauty myth.