Gary Lyon Addresses Tired Skin Topic In Monthly Column
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Gary Lyon-
I looked up when she nudged my arm. She asked, “Does my skin looked tired in the morning?”
I sensed that I may entering a verbal mine field. I kinked my brow in a quizzed fashion. Keeping all traces of humor emitting from my voice or facial expressions, I asked, “What on earth made you ask that question?”
She handed me the magazine she was scanning and pointed to a full page ad. The ad was for a skin cream that contained a new formula of natural ingredients. This cream was developed to “refresh and revitalize” tired and aging skin. There were two photos in this ad of the same woman. One picture supposedly taken four weeks prior to her using the cream. The second photo was dated four weeks later as proof of the benefits a person could expect if this cream was used on a daily basis. Any viewer of the second photo would conclude that the cream was a miracle breakthrough for skin care. In the second photo, all of the woman’s sagging skin, crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes and facial wrinkles seen in the first photo had disappeared. She appeared to be twenty years younger in the second photo.
Hoping that I would not hear a clicking noise as if I had just stepped on a mine, I replied somewhat queasily, “Hon, I think these photos were altered digitally to convince the viewer to use this product. If you would use it and it worked as this ad suggest, we would have identity problem. People would think I am your sugar daddy if you looked twenty years younger than you do today.” Truthfully, Mrs. L has aged gracefully thanks to her DNA.
What is it with the American psyche? Why is there so much inferences placed on the physical beauty of the individual? I read an article that the author estimated U.S. citizens were going to spend $60 billion dollars in 2016 for age defying products or procedures. To me, real beauty and attractiveness is to be found in the persona of the individual. People should focus on having an engaging and infectious smile, being genuine in acts of caring, kindness and love.
As for me, I decided not to mess with Mother Nature. I readily accept what my DNA or genetics has given me. My hope is that people will remember me for my persona and not my lack of physical attractiveness. Then, when I am laid out in a casket, I want the people who file by say, “My, doesn’t he look natural.”
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I looked up when she nudged my arm. She asked, “Does my skin looked tired in the morning?”
I sensed that I may entering a verbal mine field. I kinked my brow in a quizzed fashion. Keeping all traces of humor emitting from my voice or facial expressions, I asked, “What on earth made you ask that question?”
She handed me the magazine she was scanning and pointed to a full page ad. The ad was for a skin cream that contained a new formula of natural ingredients. This cream was developed to “refresh and revitalize” tired and aging skin. There were two photos in this ad of the same woman. One picture supposedly taken four weeks prior to her using the cream. The second photo was dated four weeks later as proof of the benefits a person could expect if this cream was used on a daily basis. Any viewer of the second photo would conclude that the cream was a miracle breakthrough for skin care. In the second photo, all of the woman’s sagging skin, crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes and facial wrinkles seen in the first photo had disappeared. She appeared to be twenty years younger in the second photo.
Hoping that I would not hear a clicking noise as if I had just stepped on a mine, I replied somewhat queasily, “Hon, I think these photos were altered digitally to convince the viewer to use this product. If you would use it and it worked as this ad suggest, we would have identity problem. People would think I am your sugar daddy if you looked twenty years younger than you do today.” Truthfully, Mrs. L has aged gracefully thanks to her DNA.
What is it with the American psyche? Why is there so much inferences placed on the physical beauty of the individual? I read an article that the author estimated U.S. citizens were going to spend $60 billion dollars in 2016 for age defying products or procedures. To me, real beauty and attractiveness is to be found in the persona of the individual. People should focus on having an engaging and infectious smile, being genuine in acts of caring, kindness and love.
As for me, I decided not to mess with Mother Nature. I readily accept what my DNA or genetics has given me. My hope is that people will remember me for my persona and not my lack of physical attractiveness. Then, when I am laid out in a casket, I want the people who file by say, “My, doesn’t he look natural.”
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