ASCP Skin Deep

JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2019

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www.ascpskincare.com 55 With a backlash against the term antiaging, how should estheticians talk to a diverse, aging population? by Lisa M. Crary Antiaging. Pro-aging. Age defense. Age reverse. There's a plethora of advertising jargon out there to describe products and services designed to delay or "reverse" the signs of aging. But let's face it: aging is an inevitable part of life and if we're lucky, we're all going to age. We live in a society, however, that puts a ton of emphasis on youth. The fact is, ageism is rampant in America. A recent New Yorker article reported that 65 percent of Americans over the age of 45 reported they have experienced age discrimination and 45 percent report they feel bad about aging. It may seem a bit contradictory or hypocritical for me to say this—after all, I'm in the business of manufacturing and selling products intended to delay the signs of aging—but when some in the industry decided to take a stand against the term antiaging, I was actually a bit heartened. In fact, we banned the use of terms such as youth or youthful for all of our brands years ago. We don't feature photos of 20-year-old women that would insinuate our products can make you look that way or, for that matter, that you should even want to. Having said that, when all the backlash against antiaging began, I had to take a step back and ask myself if it was a real cultural shift or just more marketing hype designed to exploit generational attitude swings. As professionals in an industry that's focused on outward appearances, can we shift that conversation? Do we even want to? Does it hurt our profession?

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