Beauty has always been in the eye of the beholder. And youth, throughout the centuries, has been considered the epitome of beauty. Younger looking skin remains a huge market valued at millions of pounds in the UK every year, as men and women look for new ways to combat the signs of skin ageing. As a result, a plethora of anti-wrinkle, anti-aging, and skin care products regularly flood the market. But is this youthful skin obsession a new phenomenon?
The simple answer is no. The ancient Egyptians and the Chinese were the first to document their attempts to stop the relentless passage of time, noting the effects of certain types of herbs, mineral treatments, diet, and exercise on the condition of the skin, all aimed at stopping the inevitable first. . wrinkles and stay young and beautiful. But the study of anti-aging techniques is not just vanity: it has been developed over thousands of years in a complex study of molecular biology, botany, and even philosophical and psychological research.
During the ancient Egyptian dynasties, olive leaves were promoted as an anti-aging remedy. Vedic culture focused on diet and exercise as a means of halting the aging process, and in the Indian subcontinent, Ayurvedic medicine focused on the youthful effects of yoga, meditation, and once again herbal remedies. herbs and anti-aging potions and poultices. . That research continues today, with the “next big thing” proudly announced by leading manufacturers. These ‘magic’ ingredients include everything from ginger to caffeine, but is there any basis to these claims that a product will reverse the skin damage that is an inevitable part of life itself?
Alchemists spent centuries searching for the ‘Elixir of Life’, a mythical ingredient that would grant them access to the ‘fountain of youth’ and eternal life. At this point we did not understand about molecular biology and that the aging process is genetically encoded in our DNA. Even today, however, modern genetics is still seeking to unlock the key to longer life, concentrating its studies on people over the age of 100 to try to discover what makes their bodies more resistant to cellular breakdown. associated with ageing. This includes a study of the skin and how its structure alters over time. This research was not available to our ancestors, who instead searched the natural world to find an ingredient that would work every time to keep skin looking young and beautiful.
But repeatedly, modern skin care products look to these ancient civilizations for inspiration, and olive oil has made a comeback as an anti-aging ingredient in many modern products. Looks like the Egyptians were onto something. But instead of basing our confidence in these new wrinkle creams on mythology and esoteric reasons, science is now playing a major role in a multi-billion dollar industry to find a modern day ‘Elixir of Life’. Much of it is pseudoscience, designed to separate a society desperate to maintain its youthful appearance from its cash. But among all the pepto tidbits and ‘here comes the science’ hype that has little or no meaning to the average person on the street, there may be an ancient remedy that actually conditions the skin, reduces the signs of aging and improves getting rid of those annoying wrinkles. While no one can beat the clock, perhaps by looking back at ancient civilizations we can slow it down a bit.