Secret to Youth Is in the Stars
By Kimberly Lilly, 02.15.07
Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Lopez, Halle Berry, Demi Moore and many other women in the entertainment industry who looked fabulous in their younger years are looking just as fabulous in their older years.
So is the average Jane these days. While being fit and glamorous for most female celebrities is a part of their job, they indirectly have a positive effect on their viewers and fans. Many modern day women choose clothing styles and define beauty standards by watching TV and movies.
In 2006 cottonic.com ran an article entitled “Fashion’s Red Carpet Ride: Under the Celebrity Influence.” In the article, director of research and planning for Cotton Incorporated, Kim Kitchings, shared her beliefs that women are below the threshold of conscious perception when it comes to celebrity influence in their life.
“While many women are not likely to directly or openly credit the stars with influencing their own wardrobe selections, these women have already been affected in several ways,” Kitchings said.
She admitted that women usually credit fashion magazines, catalogs and store displays with influencing their choices.
“But ultimately it still goes back to the celebs,” Kitchings said.
While Kitchings’ comments were about fashion influence, her observations can also apply to health and beauty, particularly on looking and feeling young.
For example, the January 2007 issue of Essence magazine ran a story on female celebrities between the ages of 20 and 50. The headline on the front cover read, “Look Beautiful in Your 20s, 30s, 40s, & 50s.” In the article Kelly Rowland (Destiny’s Child), Wendy Raquel Robinson (CW’s new sitcom, “The Game”), Vanessa Williams, Patti LaBelle and Nancy Wilson shared their secrets on looking young.
After reading the magazine, my desire to look and feel twenty at thirty years old and thirty at forty years old increased.
My increased desire is not influenced by their success nor my admiration for them. But rather because I hope to have an active life like each of the ladies when I am their age—and older. I also wish to look and feel just as good about myself as I do now at any age.
Recent high school graduate, Tiffany Dumas, said that female celebrities have also influenced her.
“I’m inspired to take better care of myself because of older celebrity women like Madonna and Halle Berry,” Dumas said. “[It’s] not because I want to become like them, but I want to look good as an older woman too, and they motivate me to work towards that.”
Carman, a cosmetic consultant at a Clinique store in Virginia Beach, said that she has noticed an increase in the sales of skin care treatments which enhance natural beauty. Even products created for older women like the “All About Eyes Rich” are best sellers among younger women.
Thanks to celebrity influence, many average Janes are now motivated to make self-improvements that will allow them to look beautiful regardless of their career path, lifestyle and most importantly - their age.
