Attitudes on the Management of Aging Skin in Women over Sixty

The media’s obsession with a youthful appearance can have detrimental effects on older adults’ well - being. For many, and especially women, the expectation to conform to idealised images results in distorted body image, low self - esteem and poor health. It is clear that appearance matters and therefore many women manage their ageing skin by using cosmetics or medical interventions. The main aims of this study were: (i) to evaluate the appearance of skin following "medical" compared with "non - medical: treatments; and (ii) to investigate the attitudes and methods of managing skin ageing in women aged 60 or over (n = 21; mean age 65.38) by means of individual semi - structured interviews which were content analysed. This paper reports findings from the second aim. Most participants had become aware of the effects of sunbathing relatively recently and had since used sunscreen. All had used skin care cosmetics from different ages and just over 50% had not used any medical interventions (chemical peels, botox, skin fillers, cosmetic surgery, laser and HRT), but some would consider using them. Our findings show that desp ite ubiquitous media messages informing us that a youthful appearance is the goal, our participants were overwhelmingly in favour of looking good for their age, rather than looking young or even looking younger.

This paper was presented in the stream: Sociological and Demographic Perspectives on Aging