Is anti-ageing getting old?

Whilst writing this year’s Premium Market Report, I realised that anti-ageing is a trend I’ve been commenting on in every single edition over the past 19 years. So much has changed, yet at the same time nothing has changed. Women, and increasingly, men, don’t want to look old for their age and will go to great lengths to stave off the ravages of time.

I remember when Dior launched Capture in 1986 –they were the first company to bring high-tech anti-ageing skincare to consumers using liposome technology, a delivery system for active ingredients. Since then, there have been hundreds of launches using this same technology, but do they work? This is a question I am repeatedly asked as a journalist and researcher, and the honest answer I give is: “No cosmetic can get rid of wrinkles, if that’s what you’re asking. But should you use anti-ageing products? Then the answer is yes.

”I’m convinced that the new technologies that are coming onto the markets really will make a difference. The multi-nationals, including P&G, L’Oreal and Estée Lauder Companies, are investing heavily in a new generation of high tech ingredients and technologies borrowed from the medical and pharmaceutical industries. “Omics’, is a brand new science, bringing with it exciting possibilities within the area of anti-ageing.But it’s not just the science that these companies need to work on. They need to find ways of convincing consumers that their products really do make a difference. Too many claims over the years have brought too much disappointment. The time has come for change.The “miracle in a jar” is something that women have always been looking for, and maybe, just maybe, we’re a few steps nearer to achieving it.