Why are young women so concerned about wrinkles?

Yahoo

3 days ago

Nine out of 10 of my friends have had Botox at least once. We're in our early 30s. Suffice to say, I'm not exactly surprised by a recent Yahoo News/YouGov poll that found that nearly half (49%) of women between the ages of 18 and 39 say they're concerned about wrinkles. What is startling, however, is that younger women appear to be more worried about wrinkles than older women.
According to the poll, which surveyed 1,677 U.S. adults in late March, a majority of women aged 40 and older (55%) report being "not very" or "not at all" concerned about wrinkles. The same poll also found that just 20% of women over 40 said they would consider getting a cosmetic procedure (such as Botox or fillers), whereas 34% of women between the ages of 18 and 39 are open to it.
It's refreshing that older women aren't so hung up on having wrinkles or feel the need to have work done. On the other hand, why are these signs of aging such a heightened source of anxiety among women who are less likely to have the fine lines or crow's feet that come with age? There are a few culprits.
Bianca turned 26 during the early days of the pandemic and the consequent pivot to remote work and Zoom meetings. "Prior to that, I had never had anything done to my face," she tells me. "Not that I didn't think about it — quite a few of my friends who work in beauty had tried filler and Botox and raved about it, but I just didn't feel it was necessary yet. Then Zoom became a thing."
All that time on camera had Bianca, who is now 31 years old, scrutinizing her looks. "I swear I started to see my face changing right before my eyes, which freaked me out a bit,' she says. 'I started to hyper-fixate on lines that hadn't been there before, especially on my forehead and around my eyes."
She was 28 when she "finally bit the bullet and got Botox." While Bianca is happy with how it turned out — "I was worried it might make me look frozen or unnatural, but it simply smoothed out my forehead skin and made my eyes look more open," she says — the Botox wore off after just a couple of months. These days, she has a treatment once or twice a year to, she says, "feel more refreshed and look less tired." But, Bianca adds, "it's definitely a long-term investment and a part of me wishes I never started because now it's hard to stop."
This shift to video meetings gave rise to not only "Zoom fatigue" — feeling drained after being on camera for most of the day — but also a form of facial dysmorphia some call "Zoom dysmorphia." According to Hilary Weingarden, a Massachusetts-based clinical psychologist with expertise in body dysmorphic disorder and body image distress, constant exposure to our on-camera selves can cause many of us to pick apart our appearance.
I started to hyper-fixate on lines that hadn't been there before.Bianca, 31
'We're looking at our own faces much more than we did before 2020,' Weingarden says. 'It's become really common to sit on video conference calls for hours of every work day. While we do this, we're often staring at our own faces. Naturally, looking at your face for hours a day leads to thinking more about your physical appearance than you might have done before, and it can be common to start comparing your appearance to those depicted in the media or ... peers. This constant self-viewing, self-judging and [comparison] to others can lead to body image dissatisfaction, stress and anxiety.'
Some, like Bianca, turn to cosmetic procedures as a result. A 2023 commercial for Botox Cosmetic noted the Zoom effect. "I've been given the opportunity to work from home, so that means lots of video calls," a woman named Kim says in the ad. "I see myself more, and I definitely see those deeper lines."
Instagram has evolved from a photo-sharing platform touting grainy filters into a slick, highly curated marketplace where most selfies appear to be filtered and Facetuned. Ads for skincare products claiming to turn back the clock on your face are pervasive, and many of the game-changing serums or night creams flooding your feed can be purchased right in the app with just a few taps. Click on those links, and the algorithm adjusts accordingly, sending more skincare content your way.
And while beauty standards have always been unrealistic — I myself grew up comparing myself to actresses and models — social media has paved the way for even more comparisons. On YouTube, celebrities walk viewers through their personal beauty routines for Vogue, while paid influencers on Instagram and TikTok name-drop anti-aging retinols and skin-smoothing treatments and break down buzzy trends like glass skin (in which the skin is so dewy and radiant it looks like, you guessed it, glass). Dermatologist influencers have also entered the chat, normalizing preventative Botox for younger women. How could anyone consume this content and not become, well, influenced?
'We are definitely seeing an increase in younger women becoming more focused on skin aging and wrinkles, in part related to social media and the numerous products targeted for skin aging," says Dr. Marisa Garshick, a board-certified dermatologist. "Social media has made information more accessible and provided a platform for products to get more exposure." Seeing someone else — be it a celebrity or your favorite beauty influencer — try out a skin care product or treatment, she adds, provides a sense of "comfort and relatability."
There's also a pressure to participate, and it skews even younger than 18. Speaking to Yahoo Life last year, dermatologist Dr. Nava Greenfield noted that "social media and trends play a large role" in the current obsession among many adolescents — the so-called Sephora kids who drop their allowance (and then some) on luxury creams
"Young women are always looking for ways to improve their appearance, and media has convinced young people that focusing on skin care is a way to tweak their appearance in a way that gives them some feeling of agency," Greenfield said.
Once upon a time, if you had a question about your skin, you had to turn to a professional or seek out advice from friends. Now there are not just search engines, but entire skin care communities (SkinTok, Reddit groups like Skincare Addiction, which has a whopping 4.8 million members, etc.) where you can express your concerns, ask for advice about specific products and treatments and commiserate with other young women about "premature aging."
'Are these lines normal for 22? Should I get Botox?' one redditor asks, posting a series of close-ups of her face to the group. While these forums can offer a sense of feeling less alone, they also beget more comparison. (I admit that I've been prone to my own insecure thoughts, like: At least my face looks better than hers.)
The information-sharing in these communities will inevitably also teach you terms you wish you never knew existed. As someone with a chronic skin condition, learning about "inflammaging" — aka accelerated aging due to chronic inflammation — sent me into a bit of a spiral. The thought that my skin could age faster than others because I'm often inflamed is terrifying.
It's not just what we see on Zoom and what pops up in our social media feeds. It's the proliferation of medspas offering microneedling and Botox, two of the procedures Garshick says is popular among many young women. It's the movie stars who suddenly look half their age. It's even, as Weingarden points out, the people we know and love.
"We're also seeing — in the real world, off the TV screen and magazine pages —altered versions of what aging looks like all the time, even amongst our peers," she says. 'This is likely contributing to changing cultural beliefs about what aging 'should' look like and expectations that we 'fix' natural aging.'
All this is to say, it's tough to be a young woman today. I'd like to say we are enjoying our youth. But in a society so fixated on fighting the signs of aging, it feels like we're more afraid of losing it.