Beauty Digest: Are You Afraid of Aging? Do You Prefer to Believe that Aging is “Optional”?

There were several interesting articles addressing the issues of aging in November and December beauty magazines. Amelia McDonell-Parry wrote an article titled “Age-Orexia” (Marie Claire, UK Nov.2007) which focused on the recent trend for young people between 18 and 34 to resort to invasive cosmetic procedures including fillers, Botox, liposuction etc. in order to prevent signs of aging or to enhance their looks. Alison Admond, Harper’s Bazar creative/fashion director, expresses her views on Botox and states her desire to “try never to resort to the face-freezing charms of Botox” in an article “Saying No to Botox” (Harper’s Bazar, Nov. 2007). Marie-Luise Wenzlawski writes about the new trends in Botox industry “Botox for Breakfast” or so-to-say “Botox to Go” (Myself, Germ. Dec 2007). Nora Ephron expresses her feelings about aging and dealing with observing those signs of aging in the article “Throat Never Lies” (Cosmopolitan, Germ. Nov.07).

The thought that I see going through all of these aging related articles is the growing fear of aging among women, and unhealthy perception of the process of aging due to the contemporary beauty standards. Aging is viewed as a disease that can and should be treated and “prevented”. Young people who are only in their early 20s are afraid of aging, get obsessed with retaining their youth as long as possible and try to prevent any signs of aging before they happen. They turn to the popular cosmetic procedures such as Botox injections or fillers. This trend is growing not only in the USA but in the UK as well. Amelia McDonell-Parry quotes data from American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPs): “more than half a million Americans aged 19 to 34 had non-surgical cosmetic procedures in 2006. Younger patients accounted for 317.000 doses of injectable facial fillers…An additional 8.000 Botox treatments were administered to people under 18”. As for the UK according to approximate estimations, Britons spend 225m GBP (appr.465m USD) a year on cosmetic surgery and other anti-aging procedures and a quarter of those treatments is for people aged between 19 and 34. (Marie Claire, UK Nov.2007)

Is this an unhealthy trend or just a natural development due to the progress in the modern world? Why is this happening? What are the reasons for this trend and the obsession with Botox?

Alison Admond from Harper’s Bazar thinks women resort to Botox and get addicted to it because of “their level of self-esteem”. She writes that she knows gorgeous
women “who think so little of themselves that they become obsessed with looking younger. Their self-image becomes distorted from the reality… The inevitable comparisons follow, and self-criticism takes over, unless you are strong.” Alison speaks about her daughter being one of the main reasons why she doesn’t want to have Botox injections. She wants her daughter to have a template of natural ageing like Alsion had in her beautifully and elegantly aging mother. She writes about the “incredible and unrealistic pressure to look perfect” by the society. However the author does not think that media, beauty magazines in particular, featuring young women with perfect youthful skin is the source for those unhealthy comparisons and distorted self-image. “It’s important to remember that we photograph these girls because they’re beautiful, because they make the clothes look the very best they will ever will – not to force the comparisons of age.” Yes, of course this is very logical, for example, nobody wanted young teenage girls to start obsessing with model looks. However many did fall into extreme dieting and finally developed anorexia. The thing is because you think “these girls” are beautiful and because you fill the pages with their images, we receive the visual message of what is the beauty standard and form our perception of it. It is very natural for people to desire to possess the values that are perceived by the society as important, favorable and successful. It is also very natural to form one’s perceptions on certain aspects of life based on the society’s perceptions on these aspects, otherwise there would have been anarchism and chaos in the world.

I agree it is really helpful to have strong self-esteem and clear independent vision so that you can separate yourself from the world looking at you from the glossy glamour pages. But it is just not possible for everyone to shut out those visual messages and form independent perception and values. Also this statement that one can be “strong” and not start to do associations and comparisons seems to me contradictory and conflicting. So, on the one hand, we should follow the fashion featured on the pages of magazines and accept it as the current standard for beautiful looks, but at the same time we should ignore and shut out the images of young girls who are actually modeling those trends.

Of course obsession with looking forever young is not only due to the images in glamour magazines. Sources for this obsession involve role-models from Hollywood who are openly having surgeries and who start to resort to cosmetic procedures at younger age now. Another aspect supporting the trend is how socially acceptable cosmetic procedures are and the way that invasive procedures are pitched to women by experts like something completely normal, easy treatment that will give you the looks of your dream. I am not advocating the other extreme to feature wrinkled aged people only, but wouldn’t it be healthier to have a balanced visualization of a human face and more images featuring women older than 25 with some signs of aging.

Women are afraid of aging because of society’s negative views on it. Nora Ephron describes her aging related negative emotions in the article “Throat Never Lies”. She writes that at certain point of her life she started to avoid looking in the mirror, and now tries to do it as seldom as possible. (Cosmopolitan, Germ. Nov.07.) It is obviously quite hard and it seems at times painful for her to deal with the signs of aging that she has developed and is developing. Is the same going to happen to me? Because I do have fears of looking one day into the mirror and seeing those feared signs of aging. I do hate the unfavorable light in the bathroom and I do think I look best in dimmed evening light. How can I develop healthy perception of aging when everyone around me says aging is bad and you have to fight it. And again I don’t want to go to extremes and I do not have anything against anti-aging cosmetics and beauty treatments such as peelings, massages, acupuncture etc. I don’t think we need to just stop taking care of our skin and do our best to delay those premature sign of aging. However I don’t want to obsess about it and focus on retaining something that I will inevitably loose.

Right now it seems like the trend of looking forever young and Botox obsession will continue to gain momentum. Trying to imagine what will happen, I think that eventually Botox will become like a normal anti-disease injection that most of us will get around our 20s. Then the much feared frozen Botox face will not only become accepted by society but actually will be the must-have look.

Beauty Digest: Sugar in Competition with UV Light for Number One Cause of Aging

Bitter news for Sweet Tooth!

Sugar is in spot light as a leading cause of aging. The first time I got a premonition that some negative energy was gathering around sweet things in life when reading a German issue of Elle for November 2007. The statement that sugar “gets converted into Glucose in the blood that attacks collagen fibers” caught my attention. I just could picture my collagen fibers under attack and felt very curious about what exactly is the physiological process referred to in the article. However, I did not start to look into it till when a couple days later I saw a headline on the cover of a Harper’s Bazar November British issue reading: “WHY SUGAR IS YOUR SKIN’S WORST ENEMY”. Then, I knew I was in for a piece of bitter-sweet news.

It appears that when we eat sugar-containing products as well a simple carbohydrates, sugar turns into glucose in our blood and binds with protein or lipid molecules. This binding process is called glycation. As we know, collagen and elastin are the proteins in our skin vitally important for having wrinkle-free, elastic, young looking complexion. As a result of glycation skin becomes stiff and loses its elasticity which leads to the formation of wrinkles. In addition to this as Dr.Maes, Vice-President of global research and development for Estée Lauder, explains “Glycation impairs the body’s ability to produce and utilise antioxidants.” ( see article by Notebook Magazine)As a result we become more vulnerable to the damage from free-radicals.

Many other well-known skin experts and dermatologists have expressed their concerns about sugars in our diets and the glycation as a process extremely damaging to our skin including Dr.Perricone, expert on facial rejuvenation and author of “The Wrinkle Cure”, and Dr.Brandt, New York Dermatologist and Author of “Age-Less”. (You can see their opinions quoted at the end of the post)

Let’s Not Go to Extremes
Glycation does not mean that we should exclude all sugar containing products and all the carbohydrates from our diet. In fact, our body does need sugar for normal function. Besides, our body is very smart and has a way to control the level of sugar by means of insulin. Where the danger lies is in a rapid peaking of blood sugar level when we eat simple sugars (like sweets, chocolates) or simple carbohydrates (like potatoes, bread) that quickly get converted to glucose in our blood. Because of the rapid increase of blood sugar level, our body does not have enough time to react to the and balance it. That is when the damage happens.

What shall we do about our diet?

Experts recommend:
1. Do not indulge into simple sugars and carbohydrates like cakes, chocolates, potatoes, pasta, bread etc.

2. Watch out for hidden sugars

Dr.Maes stresses that “It’s the hidden sugars” that we should watch out for in our diets as “These add up, giving us an excess of sugar, and that’s where the damage starts.” Those hiding sugars are especially dangerous and hard to control as we don’t even realize that we are consuming them. They can be found in very unexpected products: low fat foods, cereals, yoghurt, processed meats etc. (British Issue of Harper’s Bazar, November 2007)

3. Learn to read the label
First of all, it is helpful to know various names the sugars are hiding behind. The ending –ose (as in fructose, glucose) is a good hint.
In addition here is a list from Harper’s Bazar:
glucose, glucose syrup, corn syrup, dextrose, maltose, invert sugar, treacle, golden syrup.

It is also recommended to become “GI-Aware” – the less GI the better. GI stands for Glucaemic Index and shows how quickly certain foods get converted into sugar in the blood. GI's of 50-55 or below are considered low, and 70 or above are considered high.

4. If you are a sugar junkie
You must be quite upset by now. Coming to your rescue: Dr.Perricone recommends a way to get out of the loop of rising and falling sugar blood level and rising and falling along with it moods. You need to get your sugar blood level under control and just for a couple days “stay away from bad carbohydrates and eat more protein”. As soon as your blood sugar stabilizes you will feel free from those cravings and will be able to control sugars in your diet. Interview to Health and Beauty

How to fight the damage?

1. Remember about anti-oxidant protection such as vitamin supplements

2. Counteract the damage by using topical antioxidants
There is a big selection of antioxidant serums and moisturizers on the market nowadays so you won’t have a problem finding one. In addition, Dr.Brandt came up with “Lineless Anti-Glycation Serum” in response to the sugar danger – “a powerful serum targeting collagen and elastin to prevent and minimize the effects of glycation”. (More about this product at Dr.Brandt Skin Care
In some press reviews it has been mistakenly ascribed the power to completely “prevent glycation”. Which is impossible taking into consideration that glycation is a chemical reaction in our body that cannot be controlled topically.

What Experts Say:
Quotes on Glycation

What Dr.Perricone, an expert on facial rejuvenation and best-selling author of The Wrinkle Cure and The Perricone Prescription, says about sugar in his Interview to Health and Beauty
“I believe that inflammation is at the basis of aging in all organ systems, including the skin. One of the reasons inflammation occurs is from a rapid rise in blood sugar, which causes biochemical changes in the cell that result in accelerated aging”…. “Of the internal causes of inflammation, one of the big ones is diet. In addition to biochemical changes, sugar causes damage to the skin in another way: When blood sugar goes up rapidly, sugar can attach itself to collagen in a process called "glycation," making the skin stiff and inflexible. Losing this elastic resilience of young skin will give you deep wrinkles and make you look old.”

What Dr.Maes, vice president of global research and development for Estée Lauder is quoted to say about sugar in an article by Notebook Magazine

"We’ve all heard the saying ‘You are what you eat’. Now we believe ‘You age as you eat’"

"Glycation impairs the body’s ability to produce and utilise antioxidants”… “The effect on the skin is the deterioration of collagen and elastin, which ages the complexion."

And talking to Harper’s Bazar (British Issue for November 2007) Dr.Maes says:
"We now know that between 40 and 50% of skin ageing is cause by glycation - the damage directly resulted from eating sugar. It’s one of the worst skin agers; more than sun, more than the environment."

Additional resources on Glycation:

Glycation explained by Wikipedia

Glucaemic Index explained by Wikipedia
Harper’s Bazar, British Issue November 2007, Article "Sweet and Sour"