I've never actually done the whole steam-then-cold-water thing myself, but I grew up seeing it everywhere, adverts showing someone's face all steamed up, water splashing, some voiceover talking about pores "opening" so the dirt comes out and then "closing" again afterward. I never fully understood what that meant, if I'm honest, I just absorbed it as one of those things that was apparently true because everyone kept demonstrating it the same way.
I never really struggled with my skin growing up. No severe acne, nothing dramatic. But I do remember when vanishing creams were everywhere in high school, this would've been the early 2000s, and I genuinely don't know if that was a global thing or just a local moment. If you've never heard the name, they're basically oil-control creams that leave a matte, powdery finish, and everyone around me was using them. My skin was already dry though, so a mattifying cream just made it look worse, tight and flat instead of glowing. I never really got into them, mostly because they didn't suit what my skin actually needed, not because I understood why at the time.
Looking back, that's kind of the theme with a lot of skincare "knowledge." Things get repeated and demonstrated so confidently that you just accept them, whether or not they're actually true, or actually right for your skin specifically. Here are six things I believed or half-believed for years, before actually looking into whether they hold up.
1. Pores open and close
This is the one from the intro, and it's probably the most widespread myth out of all of these. Pores don't have muscles, so they physically can't open or close like a little door, no matter how convincing those adverts made it look. What's actually happening when steam makes your pores look bigger is that heat increases blood flow and softens the outer layer of skin, temporarily making pores more visible and easier to clean out. Cold water afterward just tightens the surrounding skin, which makes pores look smaller for a bit. Neither one is actually changing pore size, it just looks like it is.
Pore size itself is mostly genetic, along with things like oil production and skin elasticity. You can't shrink them permanently, but you can keep them looking less noticeable with a consistent, gentle routine. The steam trick isn't pointless exactly, it does make extractions easier, just not for the reason those demonstrations always implied.
2. If it tingles, it's working
I used to treat a stinging face like a good sign, like my skin was thanking me for finally doing something. This one's a bit more nuanced than a flat myth, so it's worth being precise about it. A brief, mild tingle from something like vitamin C or an acid can be normal, especially early on. What's not normal is burning, prolonged stinging, or discomfort that lingers past a few seconds. That's your skin telling you it's irritated, not that the product is doing extra work.
Cleansers, moisturizers, and sunscreen specifically should never sting at all. If they do, that's usually a sign your skin barrier is already compromised, not that the product's especially potent.
3. Oily skin doesn't need moisturizer
This one always made sense on the surface. Why would you add moisture to skin that already looks shiny by noon? Except oil and hydration aren't the same thing. Your skin can be producing plenty of sebum and still be dehydrated underneath, and when it senses it's dry, it tends to respond by producing even more oil to compensate. Skipping moisturizer on oily skin can genuinely make the shine worse, not better.
A lightweight, oil-free moisturizer does the opposite of what I used to fear. It signals to your skin that it's already hydrated, which actually helps regulate oil production instead of triggering more of it.
4. A higher SPF number means you can skip reapplying
I definitely used to think SPF 50 bought me the whole day. It doesn't. SPF measures how much UVB radiation gets filtered, not how long the protection lasts. The American Academy of Dermatology recommends reapplying every two hours regardless of the SPF number, since the protective ingredients break down at similar rates. Sweat, water, and just touching your face all wear it down faster too.
A higher SPF does give you slightly more protection while it's actually on your skin, so it's not a pointless upgrade. It just doesn't buy you extra time before your next application.
5. You should exfoliate every day for glowing skin
I had a whole phase of exfoliating daily, convinced more buffing just meant more glow. It didn't. It stripped my skin's barrier instead, and it took me way longer than it should have to connect the dots. Most dermatologists actually recommend one to three times a week, not every single day like I was doing.
Over-exfoliated skin has this specific look, tight, red, kind of weirdly shiny in a way that almost passes for "smooth" at first glance. It's not smooth though. It's just damaged, and it took me a solid two weeks of backing off completely before my skin actually looked normal again. Not exactly the glow I was going for.
6. Popping a pimple carefully is fine
This is the one I still catch myself wanting to do, if I'm honest. The logic always felt sound, gentle pressure, clean hands, surely that's fine? Except squeezing tends to push bacteria and debris deeper into the skin instead of out of it, which increases inflammation rather than resolving it. That's how a small pimple turns into a bigger, angrier one, sometimes with a scar or dark mark that outlasts the original blemish by months.
Even "doing it right" with clean hands doesn't really change the mechanics of what's happening underneath the skin. If something really needs to come out, a dermatologist has sterile tools and proper technique for a reason.
The one that isn't really a myth, more a lesson
This last one isn't a scientific myth exactly, more something I learned the slow way. Back when vanishing creams, those oil-control, matte-finish creams, were the thing, everyone I knew was using them. I tried keeping up with it because that's just what you did, but my skin was already dry, and a mattifying cream on dry skin doesn't read as "put together," it just reads as tight and flat. I wasn't breaking out or reacting badly to it, it just didn't suit what my skin actually needed, and I quietly stopped bothering with it.
I didn't have language for any of that back then. I just knew it didn't work for me and moved on. Looking back, that's basically the whole thread running through this entire list, so much skincare advice gets repeated as if it applies to everyone equally, when a lot of it really depends on what your skin is already doing. Something can be popular, demonstrated everywhere, recommended by everyone you know, and still be the wrong move for your specific skin.
What I'd actually tell past me
Looking back, most of these myths came from the same place, a rule that sounded logical enough that nobody thought to question it. Skincare has a lot of that. Half of what circulates as "everyone knows this" turns out to be more folklore than fact once you actually look into it.
If you're building out your own routine and want somewhere to start that isn't wrapped up in myths like these, I've written about choosing the right cleanser for your skin type separately. And if none of this stops you from staying up too late anyway, that's a different problem entirely, one I've also written about.
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