5 min read
To be anti is to be against. So why are we still using the term anti-ageing when ageing is a common life experience, even a privilege, for so many of us?
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that ageing is a privilege, a luxury which many do not get. If we want to change the way we think and feel about ageing, we need to change the way we label, write and talk about ageing, by moving past terms like anti-ageing.
Over a decade ago, when I was working at beauty counters, one word that often rolled off my tongue was anti-ageing. It was everywhere - Anti-Ageing Serum, Anti-Ageing Wrinkle Repairing Cream, Anti-Ageing eye cream and the list went on. The word was so prevalent that after a while I felt so accustomed to it and never gave it a second thought. All I knew back then was that older people sure did like anti-ageing creams. Yet it never sat well with me, especially as I got older.
At the same time, I understood why marketers, ad agencies and storytellers used this term all those years ago - they wanted to give older people hope. Hope that they could regain their youth. Yet, can anything truly stop the inevitable passage of time?
The obsession with “regaining youth” still lives today and it is common to see many big name-brands use it in their marketing. Are we still truly youth-obsessed like consumers once were? In my opinion, the consumer has moved on and the industry is now left playing catch up. As a qualified esthetician for 15 years with a background in cosmetic chemistry and years of experience serving skins in salons and over counters, I have never seen a more remarkable shift towards the acceptance of the natural ageing process. I see older women grace the cover of magazines, older celebrities being endorsed in lead roles and campaigns across industries, and an overall increase in diversity and inclusivity across age, gender, race, and cultures.
I believe there is a gradual mindset shift toward desiring healthy hydrated skin that radiates vitality, rather than focusing on 'reversing' the ageing process. We may still find ourselves fighting to slow this process in our desire to hold on to our youthful glow for a bit longer, but there is now a level of acceptance. There's less fixation with wrinkles than there once was. A desire to nurture inner and outer beauty as well as gearing towards an interconnected well-ageing approach is now taking hold. We have to also recognise this interconnected approach has long been practised by eastern ancient philosophies like Ayurveda- the interconnectedness of the skin, mind, body and soul. Philosophies that are now being embraced widely outside of South Asia.
When creating Sachi Skin and working on the launch for Ursolic Acid and Retinal Overnight Reform, I sat down to write the copy of the packaging. It was at that moment I realised that I finally had the freedom to choose the words for the packaging and the website. The UAR is a phenomenal overnight gel cream that is potent and at the same time deceptively gentle in its approach to promoting firmer, plump, more healthy-looking skin. It is also loaded with 12+ antioxidants to target the damaging environmental, sun and lifestyle effects.
The language we used for the product was important, and I wanted to eliminate words that make us feel less than, like “whitening” or “anti-ageing”. So I decided to use well-ageing, clarifying & brightening for our retinoid launch because let's face it, ageing is a given. If anything, we just want to age well.
A teeny tiny step in what I felt was the right direction, now I just hope the industry can start to wean itself off words like 'anti-ageing.' I designed each and every one of Sachi Skin products with this new way of thinking in mind, to bring the skin to its healthiest, most balanced self, something I hope we can all get behind.
Now, how do you feel about the word anti-ageing? Join our Instagram community and let us know your thoughts. We would love to hear more small ways we can start to change the beauty narrative and make our personal beauty spaces a bit more reflective of how we think and feel.
Lots of love,
Farah (Founder)
