Wrinkles.
We're all gonna get 'em, every last one of us; even Mila Kunis and Amanda Seyfried and every other perfect-skin starlet who seems frozen in a state of eternal youth — they're eventually going to wither up into an bundle of sagging skin and age spots just like the rest of us. Heck, even Cameron Diaz doesn't look nearly as flawless as she did in her Charlie's Angels days. And you'd better believe she's tried every $400 wrinkle cream on the planet (granted, she's still way hotter than most 25-year-olds).
My point being this: While it's possible for skincare products to moisturize your skin, change the color of your skin and even clear up the occasional pimple, is it really possible for a $50 cream to prevent the natural aging process?
I have news for you: No one really knows.
Nearly every skincare company on the planet claims to hold the secret to fending off wrinkles, but not a single one can actually show us concrete results. Why? Because such a thing is impossible to measure. You'd need to clone one person and have her live the exact same life twice — once with regular application of a wrinkle cream and once without, then compare results.
Not to mention that every person is different. What works for one woman's skin might not work for another, and lord knows lifestyle choices — smoking, sleeping, sun exposure — have a huge impact as well.
And yet, as my friends and I approach our thirties (and forties), we're gobbling up every anti-aging product we can get our hands on, exchanging notes on collagen, elastin and peptides. We don't know what the heck we're talking about, but you gotta do something, right?
Maybe I'm just being pessimistic, but part of me feels like a fool for giving so much money to skincare companies that can't say much more than, "Trust us; we have Julianne Moore in our ad." Wouldn't the smart thing be to just wear sunscreen, drink lots of water and hope I got my Aunt Mary's genes? (I've determined that Aunt Mary has the nicest skin of all my female relatives. And we have the same name — maybe it's fate!)
And yet, my bathroom vanity is overflowing with anti-aging samples and half-empty bottles of expensive creams. I may be pessimistic, but I also live by the motto "It can't hurt to try."
How about you? Have any anti-aging products found their way into your skincare routine? And if so, do you believe they're going to do anything?
