Post-summer days or during an intense breakout, plenty of Google searches will demand you exfoliate your pores... yesterday. Prystowsky says all that scrubbing could have the opposite impact, especially for folks who struggle with consistent zits. "When people have acne and blemishes, they tend to overuse soap and scrub their skin harshly, thinking they have 'dirty' skin. In reality, it's our natural oily/acidic skin barrier that protects us from skin infections, so when people overdo the cleansing and scrubbing, they end up doing much more harm than good," she explains.

The same goes for aggressively drying off with your towel and using exfoliating scrubs — both of which aggravate your indecisive pores. If using a gentle cleanser twice a day doesn't work to clear your skin, Prystowsky says it is smarter to use a spot topical acne treatment with benzoyl peroxide and allow the bumps to heal on their own timeline.

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Unless you've boycotted Instagram, you're likely up to date on the sheet mask craze. From bubble and charcoal to K-beauty and J-beauty and others, many are not only using one mask but multimasking to solve every last beauty issue. Sarkar says that while these products are a great perk, they're definitely unnecessary in a regimen. Mostly because they are often used ineffectively compared to other options. "They take time and in order for them to be most effective should have a moisturizer or sealant applied afterward because most of them are serum-like. I wouldn't worry if you can't make this a regular part of your skin regimen," she says. Instead, stick to a mask you know works wonders for your specific skin and use it a few times a week, giving it time to build and transform your pores.

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Of all the many questions Sarkar is asked, one of the biggest ones is about eye creams. Do they work to rid of dark circles? Keep you looking younger? Make your eyes more vibrant?

The honest answer? The verdict is still out, and even Sarkar herself doesn't use an under-the-eye formula every day. "I generally make sure that when I use my cream with an active ingredient I apply some to that area too. If I'm worried about it being too harsh for my undereye area, I apply a moisturizer first and then layer on the active ingredient-containing cream or go to using it every other day in that area. That usually takes care of it for me," she says.

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Take a gander at any drugstore or department store and you'll quickly be overwhelmed by the number of hydrators available — from facial creams and neck lotions to hand and foot and beyond. But cosmetic dermatologist Jeanette M. Black, M.D., says all of the options make the process of keeping our skin healthy more complicated than it needs to be. More often than not, one for your body and one for your face will do just fine. "Some enjoy having separate creams formulated specifically for different areas but, in general, having a different moisturizer labeled for different body parts is not necessary and it is smart to find one great moisturizer that works well for you in many places," she says.

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Ever find a hole-in-the-wall burger joint that far exceeds any overpriced patty you've ordered at a steak house? Sarkar recommends applying the same logic to super-luxe beauty products that promise different results than affordable varieties. "It can mean more cosmetically elegant or prettier packaging, but if you're looking for healthy skin, there are plenty of great quality products that don't come with big price tags. The trick is finding the products that work for you," she says.

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