Conditioner belongs on the ends of your hair, not on your scalp. That is the short answer, and it comes down to simple anatomy: the hair closest to your scalp is the youngest, healthiest, and most naturally lubricated part of each strand, while the ends are the oldest, driest, and most damaged. Putting conditioner where … Read more
Seeing white specks or flakes in your hair can be unsettling, but the cause is usually something ordinary. The white material is most often dandruff — dead skin cells that shed from the scalp faster than normal. Other common causes include dry scalp, product buildup, and a condition called seborrheic dermatitis. Less often, it can … Read more
If a product makes your acne worse, the ingredient list is the first place to look. Some ingredients are known to clog pores, and they can show up in products labeled “non-comedogenic” or “dermatologist tested.” Learning to read labels is one of the few things you can do that directly reduces your chances of triggering … Read more
Follicular lymphoma usually does not look like anything on the skin. It is a cancer of B-cells — a type of white blood cell — that most often starts in lymph nodes deep inside the body, where you cannot see or feel it. When it does show up on the skin, it appears as firm … Read more
Henna body art can look beautiful and last for weeks, but getting it right takes patience and a few safety steps most people skip. To use henna on skin, you mix pure henna powder with a mildly acidic liquid, apply it in a paste, and let it sit for several hours before scraping it off. … Read more
Skin whitening is a massive global industry built on a simple promise: lighter skin. The products range from inexpensive creams sold in drugstores to prescription treatments and cosmetic procedures. Some ingredients have real evidence behind them. Others are unproven, and a few are genuinely dangerous. What follows is an honest look at what these ingredients … Read more
Pubic lice are tiny, tan or grayish-white insects that live in coarse body hair and feed on human blood. They are about the size of a sesame seed, roughly 1 to 3 millimeters long, with flat, wide bodies and six legs. Their claws are built to grip hair shafts, which is why they are almost … Read more
Drinking soda does not directly cause acne in the way that touching a dirty surface might cause a breakout. There is no single food or drink that guarantees pimples. But soda can influence the conditions that lead to acne in some people, mainly through its sugar content and its effect on blood sugar and hormones. … Read more
A hair growing out of a mole is usually a sign that the mole contains normal, healthy hair follicles. Most moles are made of the same pigment cells that sit alongside hair follicles in your skin, so when a mole forms around a follicle, that follicle keeps doing its job. The hair grows just like … Read more
Sweat gets a bad reputation. It stains shirts, ruins makeup, and shows up at the worst possible moments. But when you look at what sweat actually does for your skin, the picture is more interesting than the smell suggests. Sweat is mostly water, with small amounts of salt, urea, lactate, and other compounds. It helps … Read more