The Debate Over Anti-Aging: Is it Time to Move Away from the Term?

The debate over anti-aging has been raging for years, with some arguing that the term should be banned and others claiming that it is an important part of the beauty industry. This week, Allure, the best-known beauty magazine in the US, announced that it would stop using the term anti-aging. But is this a lip service or have we really stopped worrying about looking older?The most visible aspect of this change is the success of the anti-aging industry that caters to the needs of older people. Like alternative medicine, it owes much of its success to its fundamental, albeit ambiguous, relationship with science.

This particular sector of consumer society is shrouded in an aura of science that is used for the promotion of a variety of goods. It thrives on the symbolic uses of science, while ignoring its requirements for experimental evidence, peer review and official regulations. The American Academy of Dermatologists (AAD) recommends that all adults use a moisturizer and sunscreen every day, two important anti-aging products that help protect the skin from UV rays and keep it soft and supple. People in their 20s and 50s can start using these anti-aging products in their skincare routine, but people in their 40s and 50s may notice the most effective results. To understand anti-aging products, you need to understand how the signs of aging manifest on your skin. To fully analyze the various differences between anti-aging and anti-wrinkle treatments, it is helpful at this stage to first examine how the skin is composed and then observe how the skin ages by analyzing some of the common signs of aging.

Read on to learn more about wrinkles and learn about the most effective anti-aging treatments available today. Any treatment that is described as anti-aging is a treatment that targets the signs of aging described above. Anti-aging treatments work holistically to treat MANY signs of aging, including wrinkles, while an anti-wrinkle treatment specifically targets wrinkles and aims to reduce the appearance of lines on the face. The industry claims it is moving away from anti-aging language and yet it sells the same products and ingredients. To see it cynically, marketing these products without focusing on age is a smart and diabolical way to get younger women to buy more, while subtly feeding them an anti-aging agenda. Allure's anti-aging ban sparked conversation for weeks later, both inside and outside the beauty industry, including a scathing New York Times article by Amanda Hess, whose biggest criticism was that not using the term “anti-aging” would only encourage the industry to use other euphemisms to sell products. These critics emphasize the distinction between the anti-aging industry and the scientific field of “biogerontology”. Anti-aging has been synonymous with beauty since the 1980s, when an advertising executive came up with it to sell products to older women. According to Cetina, it is from this new cultural matrix that the anti-aging projects of the present time take their utmost importance.

A range of anti-aging creams are available, including options for facial, neck, hand or full body skin. Age is the preferred spelling in North America (United States and Canada), while age is the preferred spelling outside of North America (Great Britain and Australia). Moving away from anti-aging language is a window into how the modern beauty and marketing industry works. But will this ban really make a difference? Only time will tell.

Kristen Barbre
Kristen Barbre

Incurable coffee junkie. Hipster-friendly organizer. Typical coffee expert. Passionate music enthusiast. Professional food scholar. Unapologetic pop culture junkie.

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