Beauty is everywhere. From magazines to social media, girls can't help but get hooked up to fashion, colors, makeups, glamour, plastic surgery, and luxury. Who wouldn't right? With a staggering worth of $532 billion and counting as of July 2019, according to Business Insider, the beauty industry is no doubt becoming a necessity nowadays.
But, have you ever noticed how the industry is focused mostly on younger women? This tends to make older women feel isolated, which would eventually decrease their self-esteem, confidence, and positive view of their gorgeousness.
The study entitled "Mirror/Mirror: Survey of Women's Reflection of Beauty, Image and Media," which was posted by the Inquirer, revealed how older women who were born between 1946 to 1964 (Baby Boomers) and 1965 to 1980 (Generation X) felt "underrepresented" by beauty business with rates of 64% and 74% respectively. The study also revealed how 53% of these Boomer and 40% of Gen X women oppose the thought that says "beauty and personal grooming product industry creates products with people my age in mind".
The study came up with these results after a survey was conducted with almost 2,000 women. The study is composed of three groups: millenials aged 22 to 38, women aged 39 to 54, and those aged 55 to 73.
When asked whether or not they prefer to shop to brands that focus not just on the Millenials but also different variety of ages, 85% of all the participants responded positively. They claimed they want to support businesses that showcase not just a specific group of people but also can portray every image of them.
Based on the statistics, older women spend an average of $29 per month on products that could improve their beauty such as makeups, masks, creams, oils, and lotions. With this pace, they will be able to spend an estimate of about $22 billion annually. Given this information, age diversity is crucial to the beauty industry.
Though most of the businesses are focused on the Millenials when it comes to their products and advertisements, some brands such as StriVectin, Dame Helen Mirren, and Andie MacDowell have already stood their grounds and showed their support over the years. Other beauty companies who have also embraced age diversity are RoC Skincare and CoverGirl.
In 2017, RoC Skincare signed up the then 45-year-old Thandie Newton as their ambassadress amid the potentially negative reaction from their market. It was also in the same year that the American cosmetics brand CoverGirl let the 69-year-old Maye Musk become one of their brand's ambassador.
