{"id":5203,"date":"2023-07-17T05:38:08","date_gmt":"2023-07-17T05:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsmooh.com\/?p=5203"},"modified":"2024-04-15T21:46:42","modified_gmt":"2024-04-15T21:46:42","slug":"wellness-beauty-industry-is-taking-anti-aging-too-far","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsmooh.com\/wellness-beauty-industry-is-taking-anti-aging-too-far\/","title":{"rendered":"The Beauty Industry’s Obsession with Anti-aging"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
It\u2019s no secret that the beauty industry can be an oppressive force in a young woman\u2019s life. These days it may be starting even younger, as a 2021 poll<\/a> showed that women ages 18-24 in the United States started wearing makeup at just 13 years old, And once you\u2019ve been initiated into that world, it can be difficult to remember life before it\u2014to imagine a life where you don\u2019t feel the constant pressure to enhance your appearance through the purchase of various products, tools, and procedures that are incessantly being marketed to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beauty processes like putting on makeup or following a skincare routine can be fun mediums for self-expression or self-care, but they can also exacerbate insecurities and make women believe they\u2019re somehow deficient if they don\u2019t follow current beauty trends. The hottest trend in the beauty industry at the moment? Anti-aging, a purported \u201csolution\u201d to the natural process of aging. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I first started worrying about incorporating anti-aging products into my skincare routine at the ripe age of 22, which is, frankly, a ridiculous sentence to type. But it was the height of the pandemic, and with that came Zoom face syndrome<\/a> and ample time to scrutinize my appearance and dive deep into skincare lore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m not the only one, as the global anti-aging products market size was valued at 40.49 billion dollars<\/a> in 2020. And women are starting to use anti-aging products earlier and earlier\u2014one poll<\/a> reveals that 30% of women under 35 regularly use anti-wrinkle products, and this includes one in five women under the age of 24. How did we get here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like any other consumer industry, the beauty industry cycles through trends. These trends are both shaped by consumer behavior and artfully designed by marketing consultants, creating a feedback loop where beauty brands are able to claim that their products, and their focus on a particular aspect of appearance, are only responding to the demand in the market. While there\u2019s some truth to this, our demands as consumers don\u2019t spontaneously arise in a vacuum. Much of the time, they\u2019re a result of an industry selling us on not just the solution to a problem, but the very existence of a problem itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With this, the beauty industry\u2019s obsession with anti-aging relies on propagating the assumptions that aging is bad, and concealing the ways it changes your appearance is desirable. Even if these assumptions are shrouded in more empowering, positive language, like offering women the opportunity to \u201cage gracefully\u201d, the underlying message is the same: you will never look as good as you did when you were young, and you should spend money and energy on your skincare to mitigate some of the visible effects of growing older. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Human\u2019s interest in anti-aging and preserving youth can be traced back millennia, to when the Ancient Greeks searched for a Fountain of Youth<\/a>. Youth can serve as a symbol for health, strength, and vitality, causing both men and women alike to chase it, but the focus for men has traditionally been less on appearance and more on preserving their body\u2019s abilities. In contrast to women, men are often considered more attractive as they visibly age\u2014one study about online dating<\/a> that assigned people \u201cdesirability scores\u201d (based on the activity their profile received) showed that women\u2019s desirability peaked at age 18 while men\u2019s peaked at 50. As actress Carrie Fisher once said, \u201cMen don’t age better than women, they’re just allowed to age.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the social pressure for women to appear young or else forfeit their desirability may date back a long time, the pressure has certainly intensified with the development of new anti-aging technology, the rise of social media, and the recent shift towards more openness when discussing anti-aging treatments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think that the interest has always been there but in the last few years it has become more acceptable to talk about anti-aging,\u201d says President of The Dermatology Institute of Boston, Emmy Graber, MD, MBA<\/a>. \u201cTen years ago, no one wanted to tell their family and friends that they had Botox and now, people are posting on social media and announcing to their work colleagues that they had Botox!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This process of changing the conversation, what some might call \u201cnormalization\u201d or \u201cdestigmatization\u201d, can certainly serve to eliminate shame or a need for secrecy for individuals who choose to get certain anti-aging treatments. On the other hand, it can also create new benchmarks for what is considered a standard, or aspirational, beauty routine for women, and reinforce the underlying belief that visible aging should be hidden and delayed. Today, 28 percent<\/a> of women under 25 admit that they \u2018regularly\u2019 worry about their signs of aging, and this number increases to 42 percent for those aged 25-34 and 54 percent for those aged 35 to 44.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anti-wrinkle cream, firming moisturizers, fine lines moisturizers, retinols, and more\u2014if you\u2019ve decided to explore anti-aging skincare, how do you know what really works? First, it\u2019s important to know what\u2019s really happening to your skin as you grow older.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur DNA in skin cells becomes more damaged due to cumulative damage from ultraviolet light (i.e. sunlight) and pollutants,\u201d says Dr. Graber. \u201cOur elastic fibers become more broken and our collagen breaks down more easily leading to sagging and wrinkles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Skin aging can also be caused by irritants in skincare ingredients<\/a> like sulfates and artificial fragrance, so ironically, using certain skincare products can actually age your skin even more. This, coupled with the fact that some anti-aging skincare products use unsubstantiated claims<\/a> in their marketing, means your best bet is discussing your skin concerns and potential products with a dermatologist. Plus, much of what you can do to take care of your skin goes beyond what you put on it, and a lot of it is just plain out of our control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe can try to control or coat it with topical products, but [skin] is ultimately a force of nature reacting to the constant signals coming from underneath and outside of it, as it evolved over millions of years to do,\u201d writes Dr. James Hamblin in his book, \u201cClean: The New Science of Skin and The Beauty of Doing Less\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In terms of preventative care, Dr. Graber says the \u201cbest thing to do is to start wearing sunscreen every single day. Eat a varied diet rich in antioxidants and minimize processed foods and sugars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr Graber also suggests those concerned with signs of aging, \u201cuse a topical retinoid cream (a prescription one from a board certified dermatologist) to help build collagen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Notably, retinoids have been shown to reduce wrinkles<\/a>, though they should be used with caution, because they can cause skin dryness, irritation, and increased sensitivity to the sun (leaving you with another potential cause of skin aging to worry about). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Fixating on anti-aging has consequences beyond just the money and time you might spend trying to appear more youthful. For one, having a negative attitude towards aging (a natural process you ultimately can\u2019t stop) can impact your health and ultimately your lifespan. Research found that older individuals<\/a> with more positive self-perceptions of aging, measured up to 23 years earlier, lived 7.5 years longer than those with a fear of aging and negative self talk.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Anti-aging Hype<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Do Anti-aging Products Work?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Consequences of Anti-aging Fixation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n