Sophia Kibler

   Walking down the skincare aisle of the average drugstore, one can find a wide array of anti-aging creams, serums, and treatments. Seeing shelves stocked top to bottom with products promising a face free of wrinkles and rejuvenated skin leave many consumers (especially older women) feel as if there is an inherent problem in their natural appearance. With the feeling that time has worn down their looks, and in tandem their worth, it seems that the only solution is to buy a cream that will smooth things out. These supposed magical age reversal skincare products typically catch the eyes of middle-aged women, but in recent years, young women and girls have jumped on the anti-aging skincare train.

   Girls as young as twelve have shared their meticulous multistep anti-aging skincare routines on social media, eliciting reactions of shock and confusion. Audiences pointed out that using retinol to prevent potential fine lines at age twelve is impractical and a waste of money. Though the logic behind using anti-aging products seems skewed at this point, this doesn’t particularly matter for the company selling these products. It seems as though major skincare companies have left the scope of the intended middle-aged demographic through new marketing strategies. 

   Women of all ages are bombarded with advertisements for all types of skincare products. It’s near impossible to go online as a woman without the algorithm trying to sell a product that preys on an insecurity. The incessant advertising from these beauty companies has become covert over the years through brand deals with young influencers. Brand deals don’t feel like the typical advertisement since they use a spokesperson that’s deemed to be relatable so people younger than the target audience are getting reached. These companies rely so much on advertising because they are aware that their products are a complete gratuitous marketing gimmick. The model of a lot of these skincare companies is to get consumers to spend real money on solutions for manufactured problems. 

   Anti-aging beauty products completely rely on society’s casual contempt for aging women. Especially in Western culture, youth is the standard of beauty while aging is deeply feared. The appearance of a woman does not exist in a vacuum, it’s tied to her worth as a person. In movies, we portray monsters as ugly elderly women. We ascribe evil traits to women who aren’t considered young or attractive enough in fairy tales. Living in a world that has deemed aging for women to be equivalent to a steady loss of value, it’s no wonder why twelve-year-old girls post themselves feverishly cleansing their face with anti-aging products and see nothing wrong with it.

   By convincing women to fear the natural process of aging, major beauty companies make a profit off of the passage of time. These products masquerade themselves as self-care, but in reality, they are attempting to be the remedy to a problem that they contributed to creating. The normalization of anti-aging trends has led girls, younger and younger, to fear stages of life that could be celebrated. Smile lines are just marks of happiness, and deep wrinkles show that you’ve lived a long life. Aging is not a problem to reverse; it’s an ongoing stage of life that deserves to be appreciated.