The Science of Cosmetics

The Science of Cosmetics

The Science of Cosmetics

Women today have a great deal of pressure to deal with. They often have to worry about their careers, relationships, and appearance. A woman's appearance is often one of her primary concerns. Whether she is a cold corporate executive or common housewife, she is always striving to meet society's conception of beauty.
This ad is for the Glycel skin revitalization system. It is a product developed by the Schaefer Institute in Switzerland. Glycel uses a type of patented compound in the Glycosphingolipid category, to make old skin look younger. There are five Glycel, products all of which contain the mysterious Glycosphingolipid compound. The Cellular Toner, Treatment Activator, Cellular Eye Creme, Anti-Aging Creme, and the Glycel lotion.  
This ad is sending a disturbing message to women. It is advertising five different products, all of them having the sole purpose of changing the way she looks. It states, "It is, in fact, on the skin that the effects of aging are most visible and perhaps most disturbing." What kind of message is this sending to women? It is saying that a woman must look good to be appreciated. Women have gained a status nearly equal to men in the last twenty years. They hold a variety of high level positions and surpass men in many ways, but they still look to their appearance as a primary source of self-esteem. Susan Douglas writes, "Lasch identified what he saw as a new trend, the emergence of people who seemed self-centered and self-satisfied but were really deeply anxious about what others thought of them."p119 This statement effectively describes today's woman. She is independent in many ways, but still consumed with self-doubt when it comes to her appearance. Every day she gets up to see an aging face in the mirror, but instead of seeing a mature independent woman she sees an old hag. The lack of self-esteem is startling when compared to other cultures. Many cultures see aging as a positive thing, as one gets...