Allure’s Ban on Anti-Aging
I’ve been an avid Allure reader since I was 13. I literally skipped past the Seventeen, Jane and Tiger Beat (ok, maybe I owned a few Tiger Beats, because hello… Johnathan Taylor Thomas) and went straight to the good stuff. I loved reading about the fancy creams, cutting edge beauty treatments and haute couture that I could never afford.
Allure rarely shocks me anymore, but it did just that when the September 2017 issue proudly announced they would be discontinuing the use of the word anti-aging in every future publication. The rationale was that for too long the word aging has been villainized. Using that word immediately suggests that aging is something to avoid at all cost and panic ensues whenever the first signs of aging appear.
The pretext “anti” immediately conveys a feeling of negativity and avoidance so they found it difficult to express their message of aging with grace so long as that word was collectively infiltrating the magazine’s jargon. Mind-blown! It’s such a simple concept and really, why didn’t any other publication think of this sooner. I applaud this unconventional decision and really, as the forerunner for trends in the beauty publication industry they are truly leading by example.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the word slowly dissipated from the collective psyche of the beauty industry in general, as it’s not that helpful or empowering. Am I scared of aging, yes of course I am but like most other women I always look for hope and guidance as opposed to wallowing in mutual misery whenever the word anti-aging is brought up. Great call Allure, great call.
Read More here: https://www.allure.com/story/allure-magazine-phasing-out-the-word-anti-aging
