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According to a new study, Mad Men’s 32-year-old January Jones is a year past her prime.
Another day, another ridiculous “scientific” report. According to a study commissioned by British shopping channel QVC, a survery of 2000 people determined that women reach their peak of physical attractiveness at age 31. The theory is that at 31, a woman is more confident than fresh-faced teens, but still retains more of a youthful glow than her fine-wine over-40 counterparts.
And if 31 seems a little high to you, given the way our culture values and even worships youth, the article mentions that ten years ago the same survey reported that the ideal age for women was 38.
But what constitutes attractiveness?
About 70 per cent of respondents cited confidence as a key factor in making a woman attractive, ahead of 67 per cent who said physical beauty and 47 per cent who looked for a sense of style.
Ah, yes. Inner beauty. Which would explain the next comment from Fashion magazine’s beauty:
[W]omen today are looking better every year, thanks to a slew of products, rooted in science, that are beating back time.
“Products do work. I know people think it’s bunk and we’re just blowing smoke in the beauty industry, but they do work,” says Ermter.
“It’s not just skin care, it’s hair care and makeup.”
I worked for about a year and a half at a store that sold high-end facial care regimens. I owned a moisturizer …
… that cost $85 before tax. Customers would rave about how effective our products were. As someone who tried nearly everything in the store, let me tell you: the difference is negligible. Products are not going to take you from wrinkly to smooth or blemished to clear. They can help a little bit, but at the end of the day your face is a record of years and years of care — the good (exercising, drinking plenty of water, getting good vitamins and nutrients) and the bad (sun exposure, yo-yo dieting, stress). There is no cream in the world that will undo twenty or thirty years in a couple of months. Skin creams? No. Plastic surgery? Yes.
And besides, if this is supposed to be about when a woman naturally looks her best, why are we talking about skincare? Oh, right. Because it’s a study commissioned by QVC.
But what is the point of trying to pinpoint the age at which all — or even most — women are supposedly at their best? Julianne Moore is 50 and she still looks fantastic, Catherine Zeta-Jones looks great at 40, yet Britney Spears is 28 and her looks have faded considerably from the height of her celebrity in her teens and early twenties. Does it matter if the “average” woman looks best at 31 if you don’t, didn’t or won’t?
Do you think there is an age at which most women look their best, or does it naturally and necessarily vary with each individual person?
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I am 41 but can easily pass for 28. I stayed out of the sun (esp. in my 20’s!), I stopped smoking & drinking, I exercise, eat decently, etc.
Here is my question: why would ANYONE in their right mind listen to a study from QVC? Seriously…
i know the whole schtick of this website is that feminism can encompass anything – but really, what is the point of this post???
I don’t think that any product can remove wrinkles or turn back the clock.
But I do believe that mindful practices, and probably some products, can prevent or lessen the damage in the first place. It’s just hard to do studies on that.
The only product that does anything is sunscreen, but that’s hard for a lot of people to accept because they don’t realize it until they already have the leathery skin and sun spots from the tanning they religiously partook in during their youth.
Prevention is what works for skin care, not treating the symptoms that result from years of abusing one’s skin.