Poor Mariah walks the streets in ragged clothes. Men with silver hair scoff at her, children squeal and run away because Mariah’s sheer ugliness is just too overwhelming to them. This poor woman walks this world alone because her wrinkles have overtaken her face.
Her features have caused her to lose her friends, her boyfriend and even her mother denied her asylum out of the pure shame of being associated with a “wrinkly aging” daughter. Mariah thinks in her misery “If only I had started using those anti-aging products when I was 25, I wouldn’t be 26 1/2, all alone and hideously wrinkled.”
Perhaps this seems like an exaggerated example. Let’s provide a real life one. The scene is a group meeting together in Austin Hall for a “beauty consultation” to help some friend (who works for a cosmetic company) meet her quota of people so she can make some money.
I was there to witness the warning signs of unavoidable wrinkles and of my own slowly aging skin. The excitement of being able to play “make up” created an electricity around the room when the “beauty representative” took her place in the center to address us all.
“Did you know that once you hit your 20s your skin’s elasticity diminishes and you start to age, ladies?” The sales representative looked solemnly into the eyes of every girl in the room for dramatic effect. The once-giggly crowd of girls who were told that they were coming for a “girls night” slumber-party-feeling event are now quiet. One girl even starts to feel her face self consciously. It’s obvious that this isn’t an escape or opportunity to experiment with purple lipstick for fun, it’s an all-out attack upon the confidence and self-esteem of each person present. She continued to tell us that even though our skin is deteriorating by the second, there may be a small sliver of hope.
There is a chance that we might be able to reverse “uglification.” A solution that is so graciously being offered to us by the cosmetic company she represents? Yes! Sweet salvation! All you have to do is spend $39.95 on a cleanser that prepares your face for the $49.99 moisturizer that helps the anti-aging overnight cream take its full effect. Oh yeah, and since she’s nice it comes 50% off, so it’s only $25.99.
Of course you will need the mineralizing foundation as well. Apparently, if you do all this you will be able to put off mandatory BOTOX for a few years. Wonderful! Now, these college-age girls are essentially told that if they already don’t look like crap now, not to worry, they will soon and they need to drop serious cash every month for tiny, over-priced bottles filled with lightly-scented lies.
The clear message from magazines, billboards, T.V. shows, you name it: fix your face ladies, or die alone.
No one will marry you if your smile betrays a single line on your face — wait doesn’t that happen naturally? Yes. But apparently if you’re a woman you should resent anything that doesn’t mirror the photo-shopped images that pepper advertisements everywhere. There is an advertisement that is running the Oct. issue of InStyle that shows a large Iguana that reads “shed wrinkles.” That’s right: if you don’t use anti-aging products, then sooner or later you will turn into an iguana-like creature and everyone will hate you.
The fact is, cosmetic companies are making tons of money every year by telling women of all ages that showing any sign of age outside of pre-teen youthfulness is a mortal sin. It’s worse than robbing a child of candy. Even at the age of 19 I was offered a product by a certain “beauty representative” that guaranteed users “20 years off your skin!” You know I always wanted to have the skin complexion of an embryo! The womb really does have a lot of anti-aging qualities!
The truth is, these seemingly harmless “beauty representatives” are manipulating a fact. They tell you that by your 20s you start aging because your skin stops producing collagen, which will immediately result in an “aged” appearance. The unadulterated truth, however, is that your skin produces natural collagen and elastin slower in your 20s than it did earlier in life. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, “While these changes usually begin in our 20s, the signs of intrinsic aging are typically not visible for decades.” That’s right: not visible for decades.
I have yet to meet a 25 year-old who is wrinkled, let alone wrinkled so much that they must seek immediate treatment through BOTOX or daily creams.
But I have met plenty of people our age and beyond who are beautiful and have been effected by condescending looks from the perfectly plucked and powdered eyes of “beauty specialists” so much that they can’t throw their money away fast enough to get their hands on the newest miracle serum. It also seems ridiculous that women subject themselves to so much panic over the dreaded “age monster” when men are able to embrace their aging. A close up of Brad Pitt’s wrinkled face graces the cover of magazines. There is even a line of men’s hair coloring that leaves enough silver in the hair to evoke respect from colleagues and younger women who slather themselves with anti-aging moisturizers everyday.
Why can’t women embrace and love their aging as much as men do? Women must ignore the voices that tell them to ignore their beauty as they progress in life, if not for the sake of their self-esteem, then for the sake of their own sanity.
So the next time you encounter an advertisement or “well meaning” cosmetic salesperson, tell them where to stick it and what they can kiss: your wrinkly face.
Nicole Robinson can be reached at nrobinson@spartans.ut.edu.