Do Wrinkle Creams Work? Who Cares?
Women in their early 20’s are now buying anti-aging potions. Used to be, the serums were sold to middle-aged women and older. But why start so late when there is money to be made?
Of course, “It’s hard to know if a wrinkle cream is working when there are no lines yet to erase,” Christina Brinkley of the Wall Street Journal points out.
But that’s an advantage to the sellers. No evidence that their products don’t work. Good thing for them, since they probably don’t.
Much of the medical establishment says anti-aging potions are ineffective. Consumer Reports has tested several and agrees:
After six weeks of use, the effectiveness of even the best products was limited and varied from subject to subject. When we did see wrinkle reductions they were at best slight.
Even the best performers reduced the average depth of wrinkles by less than 10%, the magnitude of change that was, alas, barely visible to the naked eye.
According to the National Institute on Aging we should be skeptical:
Despite claims about pills or treatments that lead to endless youth, no treatments have been proven to slow or reverse the aging process.
Instead, the Institute offers this advice on aging well: eat healthily, exercise regularly, don’t smoke, and of course, protect your skin from the sun.
We are a world that worships youth. But age was once valued when it was harder to survive and when a long past meant great wisdom and great skill. But now it’s ordinary to live long, higher education can give us more knowledge than our parents, and technology mass-produces high quality work.
Baba Cooper wrote a piece on becoming old women. Old age shouldn’t be feared, she says. It should be a final ripening, a meaningful summation, a last chance for risks and pleasures.
There are different ways of seeing. Does age erase our beauty? Or does it show off the laugh lines of our happiness? And might the wisdom we have gained be more worthy, worthwhile and fulfilling than the outer shell that contains it?
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Posted on June 27, 2012, in body image, feminism, gender, psychology, women and tagged aging, anti-aging products, body image, feminism, gender, psychology, women. Bookmark the permalink. 5 Comments.
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I feel that we shouldn’t be ashamed by our facial lines but i also feel that women should always take care of themselves. Not just their face but their body as well. There’s definitely no cream that will bring back time but there are creams that will better your skin’s appearance, but like i said, beauty is not just from the outside, it’s from the inside as well. I also think it’s not right that women so young are using anti wrinkle cream because we don’t suffer from them at this age. But it is right that we start taking care of our skin with a basic cleansing routine since we enter teenage years.
Such a good article. Their really isn’t a fountain of youth at the make up counter.
Beautifully said! I am proud of the laugh lines I have earned at 45–no way I am going to erase them!
Yes. And since people once actually tried to look older with powdered wigs, whose to say that age and beauty can’t go together?
They most certainly can!