The evolution of the well aging, anti-aging or post-aging is a science story wrapped in a wave of shifting consumer perceptions. First the science.
At the dawn of the DNA-age, it was widely thought that chromosomal factors were the leading determinants of aging. Today, however, research is finding a more comprehensive array of factors impacting the process.
In 2017, a team of researchers published an influential paper, “The skin aging exposome,” which sought to lay out which factors impact the visible, if not chronological, perception of age. The authors defined the “exposome” as “the totality of exposures to which an individual is subjected from conception to death.
Causes of Aging
It includes both external and internal factors as well as the human body’s response to these factors.” These exposures include UV and IR, air pollution, lifestyle factors such as tobacco use and nutrition, stress and sleep deprivation, cosmetics and more.
In total, these insights point to a more nuanced mindset on what contributes to age perception. As the scientific focus around aging has broadened, consumer perceptions and demographic realities have shifted significantly.
By 2022, 32 percent of the U. S. population will comprise women aged 55-plus, according to a summer 2018 briefing by Sharon Kwek and Sarah Jindal, both senior global analysts, innovation and insights, beauty and personal care, for Mintel (www. mintel. com). It’s no surprise that mature women are therefore critical for the beauty industry because they represent an affluent and growing demographic.
These older consumers have more money than their younger counterparts, but they’re also working longer, dating more frequently and remarrying later in life. This revamped sense of vitality among older consumers has reshaped thinking on aging and self-esteem and requires new approaches by beauty product developers and marketers to offer clear benefits and relevance to a vibrant population that would rather enhance than mask its natural look. Read the entire article here.
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