But, to add insult to injury, these baby-faced models in adverts are 'beauty washed', that is to say the photos are retouched until their faces and skin have a
perfection only possible in a two-year- old
At last something is being done about this great con trick. This week, the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) - the watchdog that protects the public against false claims - ruled against one of these companies.
The advertisers had claimed that the firm's anti-cellulite contouring serum could not only destroy cellulite but that its exclusive ingredients could actually 'melt away' the fatty look of cellulite.
The ASA concluded
the ads were misleading, making medical claims they could not stand up, and ordered a recall of the product off the shelves.
What sane woman is going to believe that a certain lotion is going to 'refine, renew and transform your skin in ten minutes'? Or that 'it melts luxuriously into your skin and creates a younger, revitalised look instantly'?
The advertising agencies must be laughing their heads off at the thought of their target customers believing and buying their
products, thinking that 50 or 60 quid is going to change her looks and her life.
It's really quite sad to see some lady earnestly discussing with the makeup 'expert' at the beauty counter how a particular miracle cream is going to erase the 40 years of abuse hanging on her face.
THE
ageing process of the skin is attributable to so many factors - the pollutants we have to cope with, air conditioning, heating, general exposure to the sun, wind and the elements, not to mention the various toxins we tend to put into our body voluntarily.
Take those anti-cellulite creams as an example. These are one of the great mythical jokes perpetrated on the modern woman.
The only way to reduce cellulite is, radically, to banish junk and fatty food from your diet, take
copious amounts of fish oil and other supplements and, yes, dear reader, 'exercise, exercise, exercise' until your derriere and everything on it falls off.
We all know what a drag that is, but there's really no way around the drudgery of reality.
The sad fact seems to be that we live in a quick-fix society where we want instant gratification for everything, including whatever ails us.
Too fat? Get lipo-sucked. Stringy hair? Glue on those spicy extensions.
Wrinkles and lines? Head to the beauty shop for that pot of the latest miracle skin stuff. The fact is that it's all a beautiful billion-pound con trick foisted upon insecure women by canny big- business cosmetic conglomerates.
Now, please don't get the impression that I'm against any skin- protecting beauty product ever produced. Au contraire: since my early teens, my mother, aunts and even my grandmother encouraged me to take care of my skin by proper cleansing, moisturising and
protecting. This was long before the sophisticated products of today - which boast they can do everything except whistle Dixie - became available.
I used the simplest products - cold cream, baby oil, Vaseline, rose water - all the generic skin products available at the local chemist and then a low-priced foundation base usually from Woolworths.
Mummy also didn't let me have too many sweets or chocolates and made me eat all my greens and insisted on a teaspoon of cod liver oil
each day - ugh! It worked for Granny and Mummy and it worked for me.
Although I was making a lifelong commitment to skincare, I still baked my face and my body in the sun at every possible opportunity, until one day, recently arrived in Hollywood, my socialite friend Cappy (whose skin was like porcelain although she was almost 30) berated me for my sunbathing habits.
'Do you want to look like them when you're 30?' she asked, indicating a posse of darkly tanned lizard-like
women lounging by the Beverly Hills Hotel pool.
'God, no! That couldn't happen to me!' I replied with all the cockiness of a 21-year-old.
'But it will if you don't quit putting your face in the sun,' said Cappy sternly. 'Once you get those sun lines, there's absolutely nothing you can do to get rid of them, so stop now or you'll regret it.'
SO I TOOK
her advice, and since then I have been fanatical about protecting my face, if not my body, against the sun's rays in both summer and winter.
After moisturising, I slap on foundation, which protects the skin far more efficiently than any of the so-called miracle creams. And I always wear a hat or a baseball cap because, even on the darkest of days, the sun's rays can penetrate through the clouds and cause damage.
That's my answer to a 'miracle cream'. It's the same for many of
my friends who have followed the same regime, taking good care of their skin by eating properly and using simple products.
I strongly believe in protecting first, rather than shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted, and with the harmful UVAs and UVBs, it is essential to start your regime as young as possible.
Some Fleet Street witches have mocked me for always wearing makeup, but they had better take note: I can absolutely assure them that if you take two women
over 40, one of whom has always protected her face and one of whom has never done anything other than wash with soap and water, guess which one will look better?
And not just slightly less lined, but miles and miles better, with healthy glowing skin.
As long as you always put something moisturising on your face and then the buffer of foundation on top, you will avoid the wear and tear that ageing brings.
Men are getting in on the act as well.
There are now as many facial products for the guys as there are for us.
Of course it's not possible to retain the dewy look of a two- year-old, but it is possible to look good after un age certain, as the French say.
However, even the most costly miracle creams used remedially are not going to erase a lifetime of living on your face if you didn't start in your teens.
So mothers (and fathers), teach your children well: it's never too early to start, as the amount of
creams and lotions aimed at babies' delicate skin can attest.
I'm often amazed when some lined, red-faced, blotchy-skinned woman proudly announces that she's never allowed an ounce of makeup to touch her face.
Well, bully for you, ma'am, if you want to go to the grave looking like Dracula's grandma.
As for me, I'll keep the slap on, and try not to think about how much the cosmetic companies have made from me over the years. After all, after a certain age, you get the
face you deserve. |
