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FROMANTI-AGING
TO AGING-WELL
Well-being and
optimism rejuvenate us
Cutaneous aging is determined by an individual's genetic predisposition, the variations in
structural and molecular character resulting from the passage of time and environmental factors.
The battle against skin aging is a long-term fight. It is the reason cosmetic skin treatments are
continually being brought out whenever new skin-aging mechanisms are discovered.
At the same time, new manual techniques and others using specialised instruments are being
developed, some more invasive than others.
T “ANTI-
AGING”. This event hails the start of
Further information: Begoña Sanjuán, Co-founder of bit: Beauty
Intelligence SpecialistIntelligence Specialist
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DOSSIER
Do you want to know what
state your skin is in today?
Remember what you thought
and felt yesterday.
Want to know how it will
look tomorrow?
Pay attention to what you are
thinking and feeling today.
Today, breakthroughs in neuroscience and
the integrated vision of psychodermatology
have refocused our view of old age. At this
particular time, we are witnessing the death
throes of one of the most pervasive
archetypes in the beauty market:
tangible changes in cosmetic formulas, explanatory discourse,
and product marketing. The war against aging, established to a
great extent by the mass media and beauty industry, will be
replaced by the modern, integrated approach to beauty that
embraces a lifestyle which helps us grow old gracefully,
opening the door to ““AGING WELL”.
“Well-aging” encompasses terms like “pro-aging” and “trans-
aging”, quite the opposite of “anti-aging”. In fact, it is not about
going "against" anything, but is rather "in favor of" or "accom-
panying" the process, rather like coaching. Aging is cumulative
and through time, damage builds up in a person's skin. This is
why treatment requires a holistic and continuous approach. It
has also been shown that the sooner care begins, the more
positive the results.
The Akita project is a good example of this. It is a 10-year-long
Japanese study on 108 women, aged 15 to 75. The results
demonstrate that the volunteers who had more hydrated skin
when they were younger aged significantly better and had
fewer wrinkles after 10 years. So when we consider how we
would like to our skin to be in the future and see ourselves
getting older optimistically, as well as consciously improving
our quality of life and accompanying the process with appro-
priate care right from the start, we are embracing the basics of
WELL-AGING.
The skin-brain connection is much stronger than many people
think. They communicate directly with one another through the
nerves and indirectly via chemical messengers. Our thoughts
and emotions can be decisive in stimulating the production of
certain substances that can influence our skin. There is ever
more scientific data on the existence of this interaction and,
even more surprisingly, the fact that our mental activity can
affect our very essence, our DNA.
A study carried out by the Nobel prize-winner Elizabeth
Blackburn found that of the 30 participants on a 3-month
meditation retreat, the activity of telomerase (an enzyme
known as the fountain of youth) was significantly greater in
those that meditated. For this reason, the tendency to treat
skin aging is evolving into a new culture of integrated care, with
a much more inspirational message, meaning people adopt a
more positive stance when it comes to the signs of aging and
they are encouraged to take care of themselves every day, in
order to feel good and radiate beauty.