Skin Longevity: Anti Ageing Repackaged

Welcome the new age of anti-ageing

Image credit Liz Kornita via Pinterest

This article was originally published in Off Chance magazine.

It’s the week before my birthday, and I’m staring at my reflection in a magnifying mirror. In the name of research, I find myself examining my face, pulling at my skin in all directions, in a bid to identify markers of another year around the sun. I think I can make out the slightest creases forming around my mouth. I wiggle my mouth around. I smile and then frown, smile and then frown again. By now I’m convinced that I am in the early stages of smile lines, and will have to live out the rest of my life with permanent etchings around my mouth, like commas.

According to the beauty industry timeline, I have well and truly hit the anti-ageing red zone. The beauty industry has a rich and complicated relationship with anti-ageing and more recently, the focus, ever so slightly shifted away from the quest for an eternally youthful appearance to one that is more embracing of ageing, or so it seemed. For many it was nothing more than a temporary plaster to satisfy a cultural demand for inclusivity and diversity. Despite ageing being one of the most natural human experiences, particularly for women, the beauty industry works extra hard to mass produce antidotes for an affliction it creates.

Meet the latest anti-ageing iteration, longevity. “Longevity is broadly used to describe the length of a person’s life and is commonly used in the context to mean the extension of lifespan while improving healthspan '' explains Dr Eugene He, founder of Invity. Longevity is not a new concept and one that is hugely common among tech bros. You might be familiar with Bryan Johnson, who has become a sort of poster boy for longevity, it was reported he spends almost £1.6 million a year to expand his lifespan and maintain an appearance that of an 18-year-old and positions himself as evidence for how well longevity routines work.

But what does longevity have to do with beauty? While not the same science as anti-ageing, longevity has very quickly swept the world of beauty, boasting promises and scientific evidence to suggest that it’s the new and improved way to do anti-ageing. From drips for an instant pop of glow to serums that work to increase cell function, longevity is revolutionising anti-ageing with the promise of a regenerative approach.

Discussing the relationship between beauty and longevity, Dr Eugene He explains “it’s the modern-day wishlist and perhaps obsession - largely based on cultural and media influences.” Further adding “there’s a definite need to have youthfulness, vitality, health and beauty happening in tandem. Getting older is heavily associated with a loss of ‘beauty’ since youthfulness is a beauty ideal and many traits associated with being young – soft smooth skin, thick flowing hair, physical vigour and vibrance are all considered beautiful. As our knowledge of science and ability to understand and manipulate the human body increases, there is a natural goal to ensure that innovation can lead to us retaining this ‘youthfulness’ for as long as we can. And since ‘youthfulness’ is first perceived visually, the association between longevity and beauty becomes deeper.”

The beauty industry was able to build a very lucrative promise of eternal youth based on appearance, now it can do one better and promise eternal youth dressed up as a wellness and health goal. The arch that is anti-ageing was never going to go away so easily, estimated to reach 120 billion dollars globally by 2030, anti-ageing is a lucrative investment for the beauty industry.

Could longevity in beauty be another effort to expand the anti-ageing agenda?  Within the private health sector, anti-ageing and longevity research has accumulated large amounts of funding, it’s estimated that by 2030 it will be worth $44.2 billion.

Estee Lauder recently presented their longevity research findings, with plans to adopt the approach across their brands. “As we live longer, research on health span and longevity will only accelerate. To meet these innovation challenges, we are thinking differently and in a manner enabled by novel science across all our global laboratories and clinics,” says Lisa Napolione, SVP of global R&D at Estée Lauder. For the average consumer, this is exciting as the appetite for longevity and autonomy over our health both internal and external grows, it forms a practical pathway to building progressive and innovative ways to look after your skin. “With rapidly emerging knowledge and advancements from the dermatologic and scientific communities, skin care science has never been more important.”

And it’s not just brands adopting the idea, we’re seeing an influx of longevity brands within the beauty space. Take Invuity, developed by longevity scientists, it uses NAD+ technology to re-energise skin cells to promote a youthful and healthy appearance. Dr Eugene He adds “These developments will eventually redefine and take over the ‘anti-ageing’ category that we currently know in the beauty industry, and will also influence satellite industries like wellness, aesthetic medicine and even food and nutrition.”

But not everyone is convinced, that "Longevity" is a futuristic way to say "anti-ageing." It's nothing more than a tech-inspired reimagining of the beauty industry’s decades-old anti-ageing ideology, says Jessica Defino, beauty editor known for her criticism of the beauty industry and  “because "longevity" sounds like a more scientific goal, it's helping to spread classic anti-ageing ideas to groups beyond the beauty industry's target demographic: men, academics and intellectuals, etc”  she adds. Science talks, such as biohacking and genetic screening do very little to disguise the function of longevity in beauty. Jessica goes on to explain, “I think it's obvious that "longevity" is just a fancy word for "anti-ageing" when you look at the material goals of the product the term is being used to sell. “Longevity” products target the same “problems” that anti-ageing products target. They seek to fill in fine lines soften wrinkles, plump your skin tighten your skin brighten your skin and reduce age spots. The point of the products being sold is the same. The only thing that’s different is the language.”

If this is the beauty industry’s grand plan to revive anti-ageing, it may just be working. Dr Euguene disagrees, for him ‘’the meaning is almost similar, except longevity has to be associated with a measurable extension of chronological age or reduction of biological age. The goal is that one must ‘gain’ more time.

As we enter this new era of anti-ageing and longevity, does the shift in language only represent a mere camouflaging of anti-ageing within the industry? There is a reason why the beauty industry has remained loyal to the anti-ageing framework. The fear of ageing is deeply entrenched in our society, our survival instinct has become to inject, cream and peel our way away from the appearance of old age. Straying too far can feel like a dangerous pursuit. Although we might think we have moved past our complex ideas around ageing, whilst it's still semi - normal to say I would “eat poop every single day” if it meant looking younger (Kim Kardashian) we’re probably a long way off.