Mirror Mirror: cosmetic advertising and the perception of ageing beauty.

Apparently, nobody likes to grow old and yet ageing affects us all. Indeed, the changes linked with advancing age can be usefully examined from many different perspectives: sociological, financial, and psychological or at a personal level by simply looking in the mirror. Ageing on a personal and societal level is persistently associated with decline. Is this a cultural imperative or is it ‘normal’ to fear ageing? What is normal and natural about age and ageing and how does the cosmetic industry influence our views of later life? These are some of the questions that will be addressed in this presentation.

With an apparently youth-obsessed media constantly reinforcing the negative aspects of ageing, it is no surprise that there is a strong market for products which claim to slow, or even stop, the ageing process. As science comes to a greater understanding of the ageing process, more and more sophisticated ‘anti-ageing’ products and treatments have been developed. The pace of change quickened with the licensing in 2002 of botulinum toxin A (Botox™, Allergan, United States) for the reduction of facial wrinkles, followed in 2005 by Restylane® (Medicis Aesthetics Inc., United States), the first of the injectable fillers containing hyaluronic acid, which can replace facial volume lost due to age.

This is the contemporary cultural background that forms the background for our research that has investigated cosmetic advertising and its putative role in shaping our expectations and understandings of age and ageing. The authors will present findings from their analysis of the changes in the language of advertising before and after these transformational developments in aesthetic dermatology.

The exciting and provocative paper will stimulate new perspectives on the role of the body and beauty in later life and above all present a critical review concerning some of the ways in which ‘age’ is marketed in the 21st century.