Opinion: Women shouldnt feel like they won’t be accepted once they start ageing

Ageing is something that scares a lot of women, but why are we so fearful of getting older? Beauty therapist Valerie O’Donovan comments on why we all need to accept the wrinkles and grey hairs.

The pressure to look ‘perfect’ is something women have had to deal with for generations. We are expected to remain slim, have flawless skin and how dare we have a single grey hair on our head. Didn’t you know ageing is a crime? Valerie has advised women to channel the motto, ‘we are changing, not ageing.’

She shared, “Women have a universal feeling that once they start ageing, they won’t be accepted anymore. They feel pressure at every corner to appear eternally youthful. I encourage all my clients to feel good about themselves as they age.”

We should look to celebrities like Helen Mirren, Diane Keaton and Jennifer Aniston who are ageing naturally, instead of those who go to drastic measures to look ‘young’.

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Photo: Jason LaVeris

“Society puts pressure on us to look good constantly and most media publications and social platforms associate people not looking good with ageing. We need to change the conversation and encourage others embrace who you are and age with grace, be your best self in your own skin,” Valerie explained.

Obsessing over our looks can drain us both mentally and physically. It can take us away from the present moment, “This obsession of comparing ourselves to younger women can rob us of our energy and vitality which in turn makes us unhappy and less productive in all areas of our lives.”

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Getting procedures like botox and lip fillers are only temporary ‘fixes’, Valerie explains. “We cannot depend on them to give us youth forever and it can lead to reliance on more and more cosmetic enhancement as the years go by,” she stressed.

Ageing naturally eliminates risks, sometimes when we interfere with nature it can go wrong.

Valerie O’Donovan is a skin care technician and beauty therapist with over three decades experience working in the industry and runs a skin care business named Skin Deep.

Her ethos is to put the 'care' in 'skincare' and making people feel good about themselves has always been her passion.

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