The adventure begins...: Love the skin you're in

Friday, 22 August 2008

Love the skin you're in

A couple of months ago, an evening lounging with Becky was interrupted by an advert - nothing new in that except in this case I really listened and realised with horror and despite apparent sexual equality, how we are still so easily manipulated. Here's the advert:

" I'm Eve Cameron, beauty journalist. Women who aren't ready for cosmetic injections constantly ask me to recommend a skin cream which really works. So I was excited when this study, revealed at the World Congress of Dermatology, showed that pentapeptides are effective in reducing the appearance of lines and wrinkles. So if you're not ready for cosmetic injections, but want dramatically younger looking skin, try Olay Regenerist with pentapeptides. Look for the new pack, and love the skin your in."

Now, as many of you know, I often complain if I receive crap service but this was the first time I targeted the advertisers. Yes, I probably do have too much time on my hands but anyway I wrote a letter outlining my annoyance at how the advert implied cosmetic alterations were a natural or inevitable step for women as they got older...How depressing! More depressing though is the fact that although enough complaints were received by the Advertising complaints authority, to warrant a case, I was one of only 40. It seems magic potions promising eternal youth are still eagerly coveted by us girls, sadly. So who really puts pressure on women to 'stay young?'

Of course, it's the advertisers job to create insecurities but things like this really piss me off. We're human for god's sake we're meant to age and what's more men do too. I just think if we genuinely just accepted this, maybe even embraced it the world would be a happier, more attractive place.