Talking about ageing with 30 Plus Blogs and Avene

Last week I was invited by Hayley Carr aka London Beauty Queen and the brains behind the 30 Plus Blog Collective to attend an event.

Brought together under one roof with three powerful influencers and experts on beauty Jane Cunningham, Dr Sam Bunting and Dr Linda Papadopoulos as well as a representative from Eau Thermale Avène, we 30 plus bloggers were there to discuss our thoughts on attitudes to ageing.

We also got the chance to get a first look at the new Eau Thermale Avène PhysioLift skincare range and of course, we caught up on all the beauty gossip and news over a glass or two of champagne.

This talk about ageing, anti-ageing and looking young has caused a lot of debate across social media in recent months. There was some great insight from the experts and a lot of strong feelings from the audience who had a whole range of views that made for a healthy debate. We all understand that brands need to separate us women into various demographics so that they can target their sales and marketing to make the most bang for their buck but how does that make us feel? And when I say “us” who do I mean?

From my point of view, I’d like to be thought of as a woman with a variety of beauty needs and not as an older woman – I mean older than what? I always think that an older woman is anyone that’s ten years older than me. That way I can never be old in my own eyes – of course, I realise I fit that category for many people. Even within the room on the night when we were discussing how older women want to be spoken to and about there was a tendency to say “they” and not “us”. It’s not an easy concept to get your head around so I do sympathise with brands that try to get it right.

We spoke with the Avene representative about how we respond better when brands promote positive messages about their products like lifting, plumping and moisturising rather than pointing out all the issues that you need to fix – like sagging, lines and dull skin.

A lot of us felt that we don’t mind ageing, we’re not Peter Pan like characters that don’t want to grow old but we do want to take care of ourselves, look our best and have the tools to treat any issues that arise.

We don’t want to be constantly told to look younger, we just want to be ourselves. We want to see every age group represented in beauty and fashion and I don’t see the need for us to be segregated by age. I might want my lips to look plumper because mine have thinned with age and some younger people want the same thing (think Kylie Jenner) so there’s no reason why we can’t buy the same lip-plumping serum – it’s not even a gender thing.

Products should be aimed at achieving positive changes for those who want them. We shouldn’t be made to feel that lines and grey hair are something that we should be ashamed of. We all want to feel good, but that doesn’t mean we want to change how we look or who we are.

Ooh now that was a bit of a rant, sorry, but that might give you a little bit of a flavour for how the debate went on the night. The 30-plus bloggers have a lot to say for themselves. We don’t all think the same or want to look the same but we do want to be respected and we’ve got money to spend too – so isn’t it time brands started to listen to what we’re saying instead of telling us what to think?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Hazel

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