Avene, ageing and The Wardrobe Angel

After casting around online for my 'tribe' I stumbled across the 30+Blog Collective the brainchild of London Beauty Queen. Fist pumping all the way to London I went to the panel discussion a few weeks ago hosted in conjunction with Avene skincare. On the panel were Jane Cunningham (The British Beauty Blogger), Linda Papadopoulos, a leading Psychologist and Doctor Sam Bunting, cosmetic dermatologist.

Various charges were levelled at the beauty industry including:

• Fetishing youth
• Considering ageing to be a flaw
• Patronising tone towards older women

So here's where semantics can get you into trouble - what constitutes an 'older' woman? Am I an older woman at the grand age of 35? Apparently so. I'm not a beauty blogger and honestly, I've never bought an anti-ageing product, I don't use eye cream and I have never considered Botox. I use Dermalogica face wash and Nivea moisturiser, I don't drink, I don't smoke and I watch my sugar intake. So in my eyes I reckon I'm in pretty good knick for 35. I have previously looked at anti-ageing products and just accepted the wording describing skin on the boxes purely because I didn't really think they applied to me:

tired, dull, sagging, wrinkled, lined

Then amidst the lively debate on anti-ageing I realised those products were targeted at me and a hella load of other women as well: this homogeneous mass of women over 30 at different stages of life, with different skin needs that the beauty industry has conveniently mashed together in 1 pot for ease. 

Jane Cunningham noted the lack of positive words to describe ageing skin translating into 'flaws' which those products would 'fix'. Claire Roper of  the blog Country Mouse Claire suggested turning those words around and tuning into the benefits of the products instead, highlighting the effects those products would have:

glowing, plumped, fresher, firmer

Bit of a difference, hey? I loved the take Avene had on their latest PhysioLift products which uses all the words above as well as this strapline:

Ageing skin is not a flaw

Ageing skin has specific needs

The blogger Patent Purple Life nailed the essence of the evening in her blog post Ageing is Normal which I urge you to read. 

Til next time...

The Wardrobe Angel x