Trends That Drive Me Nuts
facial scrubs. if you go to a pharmacy to buy face wash, pretty much all of the options that aren't for acne/oily skin include a scrub agent. my old fallback, L'Oreal Cleanser, has been discontinued, in favor of several scrubby varieties. it's claimed the gritty material is great for exfoliation, but that's actually not the case. washing with a regular cleanser and drying with a towel is enough for most people. and the older you get, the slower your skin cells regenerate, so a scrub for older skin just makes no sense! plus the particles tend to be manufactured from plastic, not natural ingredients, and are terrible for the environment. BRING BACK THE REGULAR CLEANSERS. (meanwhile, i guess i'm going to have to switch back to the overpriced Clinique?)
whitening toothpaste. what's with the obsession with white teeth? people do crazy stuff just to make their teeth whiter. what is all the whitening doing to your tooth enamel? it can't possibly be good for it. a layer of plaque may actually be beneficial for protecting teeth from cavities. and yet you CANNOT buy a regular toothpaste these days, every single option proclaims "whitening" in silvery shiny bursty letters. woo-hoo! what's next? whitening one's eyes???