“Energized Skin is Younger Looking Skin”
Today I saw this slogan for Olay® Regenerist™ in a magazine. Beautiful full-color ad of course, complete with sparkly motes emanating from the open jar of product.
Specialty moisturizers appeal to the turn-back-the-clock vanity in all of us. Women are expected to hold onto youth as long as they can—or there may be consequences. Men also are using products to keep the outside more appealing to a wider age group. The fountain of youth exists. Billions of dollars in revenue speak for themselves.
There is a catch. When you stop using their $30+ product, the etching of emotion, exposure and time reassert themselves. I’ve indulged in one of these vanity-boosting creams. That was before my husband pointed out the inevitability of reversion.
My life has been physically demanding, emotionally varied and I’m not 17 anymore (please, oh please, don’t make me go back!). I often scrub at my eyes with my hands when I cry. I squinch my eyes because sunglasses aren’t something I am used to. I catch myself whole-face frowning. I turn my face to the sun. I’m not Sleeping Beauty, always sleeping face up to avoid the creasing weight of my head on a pillow.
And each time I smile there is an undeniable energy that exceeds the brightness any product could provide. My eyes shine with emotion. My skin is uplifted.
Our most regenerating, rejuvenating revitalizing product is payed for with genuine emotion that comes from spending our time among the people who love and accept us, creases and all. I can afford that for the rest of my life, and I’m pretty sure I’ll not abandon my smile at some future date.
©2014 Sandra R. Davidson
A Layering of Perception 