One white hair and a milestone birthday prompted senior beauty editor Josefin Forsberg to delve into why ageing well beats anti-ageing. Here, she discovers the L'Oréal Paris 'Age Perfect' products that have helped generations of women grapple with their fine lines
I found my first white hair last week. It was long, bright and sitting dead centre in my scalp as though it had always been there, which, given that I apparently missed it until now, it probably had. I'm turning 30, and something about staring down that particular number has me examining my face with a level of forensic attention I haven't previously applied to it. I am now eagle-eyed for those fine lines I'm convinced appeared overnight, cheeks that feel less full than they once did, and, of course, the white hairs. All of it held up to the mirror with new and slightly anxious scrutiny.
What I've realised, though, is that the anxiety isn't really about getting older. It's about recognition. Whether you're 30, 50 or 70, the question, I can imagine, is essentially the same: is that still me looking back in the mirror?
The narrative we've been sold about ageing is that it is something to resist, reverse, and eventually defeat. Here's 100 products to help delay the inevitable. Anti-ageing was the lingua franca of every moisturiser launched between roughly 1985 and last Tuesday. Not only is it exhausting, it's also factually incorrect. The women I know who are in their 60s are, without exception, the most settled, sharp and unapologetically themselves they have ever been.
Photo: L'Oréal Paris
Photo: L'Oréal Paris
When L'Oréal Paris launched its Age Perfect line it built a dedicated franchise for mature skin on a straightforward and unglamorous truth: after 50, skin loses up to 30 per cent of its collagen, and the products designed to address that should be formulated and tested accordingly.
The newest additions to the line are worth knowing about. The Retightening Instant Firming Serum works with Collagen Peptide Fractions (estimated at three nanometres, small enough to actually absorb into the skin) that address the loss of elasticity directly, resulting in plumper and firmer looking skin. The Age Perfect Day Cream, reformulated with a higher concentration of those same peptides than its predecessor, showed measurably firmer skin after a single use in clinical testing on 40 women. Truth be told, it is a claim I'd normally approach with some scepticism, but the instrumental data makes it harder to dismiss.
Then there's Rosy Radiance, one of the brand's most popular creams in the Nordics, and based on every conversation I've had with the women in my life who use it, something close to a cult object. It contains collagen peptide fractions and Peony Native Cells, an exclusive L'Oréal ingredient secured until 2032, extracted via biotechnology and designed to activate the skin's very own rosy glow after four weeks in clinical testing. Every one of the matriarchs in my life, personal and professional, noted how the rosy pigment is a pick-me-up regardless of what age your driver's licence lists.
Growing older is, it turns out, something that tends to get easier with age, ironically enough. If you're looking for somewhere to start (or something to gift to someone who is further down the journey) the bathroom shelf is not a bad place. Especially not if the product in question is from L'Oréal Paris. We're all worth it, after all, no matter how old we are.