Paula Begoun has been skeptical of the beauty industry since she was 11 when she developed acne and was recommended solutions that yielded no improvement. “My acne either didn’t get better or it got worse,” she says, seated at Vogue Hotel in Montreal on her first visit to Canada in decades.

Begoun’s career took off after she became a makeup artist, but she always kept a cynical eye on the industry. Because of her “interesting position on skincare” she was soon invited on talk shows which turned into a regular gig on a Seattle TV station and, then came her books. The first one, Blue Eyeshadow Should Be Illegal, got her on Oprah, but it was the thousands of letters she received from women that inspired her to write Don’t Go To The Cosmetics Counter Without Me. By the ’90s she created her own skincare brand, Paula’s Choice, based on published, peer-reviewed research. “I still have a love-hate relationship with the industry,” she says, admitting how much she loves formulating skin care but detests the myths and trends surrounding it. So much so that she stays off social media to shield herself from it all. “I stopped a long time ago because it just was so difficult to listen to,” she says. “And I just couldn’t live my life that way anymore.”

Here’s five things we learned from one of the most vocal founders we’ve encountered:

Eye creams and face masks are optional

“Once in a while I’ll use an eye cream just because I made it,” says Begoun, but otherwise she doesn’t see the point in them. And the reason she did eventually create one is because she knew her customers were buying one from someone else. “There weren’t a lot of great eye creams,” she says. “They come in little jars, they’re 10 times as much as the regular product, are full of colouring agents and fragrance and who knows what.” So she figured if no one was going to stop buying one, her customers needed the best of what she could offer in one. And how does it sell? “So well that we have launched more,” she says. “I hate the world.”

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As for face masks, she doesn’t feel they can replace well-formulated skincare. “There’s nothing about keeping them on your face that would help absorption,” she says. “We know that absorption is about the size of the molecule, not about occlusion and about the delivery system. And a mask isn’t a delivery system. That’s just science.” And she hates sheet masks the most. “There’s an ingredient that they need to stay on so that they don’t slip off the face. And that ingredient generally isn’t good for skin.”

Take collagen-boosting treatments with a grain of salt

Begoun thinks treatments that cause wounds in an effort to create new collagen—like derma rolling—are a bad idea. “Skin goes into overdrive when you wound yourself [to increase] collagen,” says Begoun. Wound-healing collagen (also known as collagen III) isn’t “the nice kind”. In fact, it’s stiff and brittle, and when you intentionally injure the skin with tools like derma rollers, the skin responds to stress and inflammation and scar tissue is formed. “When you keep [picking] at a sore you get a dent. [The skin] never gets a chance to make healthy, beautiful collagen”. It’s the same with regular peels. “Your face can’t keep up with the constant wounding.”

It might be boring, but the best thing for skin is consistency

Wearing sunscreen, having a gentle approach (no hot water or harsh scrubs) and applying antioxidants are some of the best things you can do for your skin. Stay away from what she sees as gimmicks. “Your gua sha? That rough edge is bad for your skin. That jade roller is pulling at your skin. You see the skin move, and you’re sagging your skin,” Begoun says. She also thinks facials are a waste of time. “The problem with facials is it’s kind of like exercising,” she says. “Exercising once a month doesn’t do anything. It really is what you do every day, twice a day matters. That makes the biggest difference.”

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There are some thinks skincare can’t fix

“I know I don’t look 70 and I don’t want anyone to be under the impression that this is because of Paula’s Choice,” she says. “I think that that’s disingenuous.” In addition to two facelifts, Begoun has had her upper eyes done (blepharoplasty), serious laser treatments, her lips filled as well as her nasal labial folds. “And the elevens,” she says. “I still get Botox regularly.” She is adamant that no skincare can even vaguely replace what cosmetic procedures can do.

Aging sucks. So don’t waste time

“There is nothing graceful about getting to this age,” says Begoun, citing things like the loss of estrogen, painful knees and calcium scans of your arteries. “There’s no way around it. It’s a loss. I don’t go as fast. I can’t do what I used to do. I can’t do anything about that,” she says. She insists that it doesn’t mean she’s not happy and that she does lead a great life. “But if I have one message, it would be don’t waste a day,” she says, even an hour. Time waits for no one and if there is something you’re thinking of doing one day, don’t wait. “If not now, when?”

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