The point of moisturiser is to make you feel good – not look younger

Like everyone, I've been ageing since the day I was born. Why would I want to back to my self-doubting, hangover-riddled 20s?What is the point of moisturiser and can you recommend any decent ones?Cheryl, by emailThis is the point of moisturiser, Cheryl: to make your skin feel good. This is not the point of moisturiser: to make you feel like a baby.You might think that is something of a straw argument. You might even think that I have spent too much time inhaling scented cosmetics and am making up this idea that moisturisers claim to make you feel like a baby, but I can assure you they absolutely do. They also claim to be able to reverse time, stop time, even defy time. In fact, I don't think there's a single product in the entire cosmetics industry that prompts as much guff from advertisers, PRs and shop assistants as moisturisers, and that really is saying something.But let's start with the baby issue. I honestly can't remember the last time I read an article about moisturiser, let alone a press release about moisturiser, without being promised that this product will make my skin "baby soft". Now, as regular readers will know, this column disapproves of many things. So many things. Really, we're like the dowager countess of fashion columns. But the one thing we disapprove of above all others is infantalisation. I will not stand for others infantalising me and it drives me to the brink of hysteria when I see women willingly infantalising themselves. Therefore if you...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Skincare Beauty Fashion Life and style Ageing Biology Science The Guardian Features Source Type: news