High Street Store removes 'anti-ageing' narrative

The Body Shop is known for its ethical stance on skin care and cosmetics. When its founder, Dame Anita Roddick opened the first little green shop in Brighton in 1976 she intended the business to be a force for good. Products sold would be free from testing on animals and not exploit the world’s resources. She was also concerned for justice for people, too, in 1993 running a high-profile campaign to raise awareness of the plight of the Ogoni people, who were persecuted for protesting Shell, the oil and gas multinational, and the Nigerian dictatorship for overexploiting their homeland. Now Body Shop is turning its energy to removing ageism, beginning with rebranding its ‘anti-ageing’ skincare products. Join me in the queue!

The global anti-ageing market is predicted to be worth $421.4 billion (approx. £306bn) by 2030. According to P&S Intelligence, the market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.1% from $191.5bn (approx. £139bn) in 2019 to $421.4bn by 2030.

Beneath the figures are the billions of people who don’t want to die young and who are very likely to live to old age, but want to stay looking young. Dig deeper and you’ll find a fear of old age itself, seeing ageing as an inevitable process of physical and mental decline. People who absorb these negative beliefs when they are young tend to have poorer health in old age than those who don’t, and die an average of seven years earlier. It’s almost a Job-like self-fulfilling prophecy of ‘that which I greatly feared has come upon me’! (Job 3:25).

And it’s far from the reality. In both the old and New Testaments, old age was seen as a time of ripeness and fulfilment, and I’ve seen examples in my work with the Pilgrims’ Friend Society. The first care home resident I met was Mrs Joan English, age 92. She had been a missionary in India for many years and now, living happily in the home, was translating the Old Testament into Tamil Nadu. (When I put this story into one of my books the copy editor queried it.) There are many others whose stories I’ve written: ordinary people living fulfilled lives. And what about Dame Mary Berry, 87, who is presenting her latest TV show after travelling around the UK to share favourite recipes? Dick van Dyke of Mary Poppins fame was still singing and dancing at the age of 95 and had no intention of retiring. And 90 year old evangelist David Hathaway, till running his ministry across Eastern Europe.

To change the skewed view of older people we need to change the way we talk about them, and about ageing itself. It is going to be an uphill struggle because beliefs become embedded, reflexive and invisible. Most of the time we don’t realise we have them. A recent study showed that our views of old age can change as we grow older, but adds, ‘It’s getting the young to realise it, too!’

‘The Centre for Ageing has published an excellent report, based on research, showing how we can change the narrative. You can download it here.

In the meantime, I’m backing the Body Shop! My first purchase will be from the rebranded Drops of Youth skincare range, now renamed Edelweiss – not because I believe it will make me look younger, but instead of the moisturiser I already use.