By Jui Bhatia, Managing Editor

Just yesterday, TikTok showed me a video of a woman drinking something through an “anti-wrinkle straw.” Barrett Plastic Surgery, a clinic based in Berkeley Hills, posted the video, and the idea of the straw was to avoid wrinkles to keep looking younger for longer, because apparently, normal straws cause wrinkles earlier.

A 2016 study by market data company Stella Rising shows that 18% of the women under 34 surveyed are using anti-aging products, including creams and gels. This is not an isolated case of increased concern over aging. As teenage girls see videos like the one put out by Barrett Plastic Surgery, they are influenced to go down a similar path. The obsession with looking younger must stop, and we need to learn to embrace aging.

Exposure to anti-aging primarily occurs through filters and editing on social media. Many of the pictures that celebrities post online are edited using apps like Facetune, if the built-in filters on TikTok and Instagram are not enough. As older celebrities edit their pictures, they look younger than they are which building a skewed perception of what a certain age looks like. This directly affects girls and women 16-23 years old, according to data company Market Charts. As teenage girls see these seemingly young-looking older women online, they are set up to want to keep looking young as they age. It sends a message to these young girls that they need to look young to stay attractive.

Looking young or wanting to continue to be healthy is not bad. There are many ways to maintain oneself that do not involve contributing to the anti-aging industry. Exercising is one of the most effective ways to keep oneself energetic and fit. Sunscreen and basic skincare are a few other ways to maintain your skin and protect oneself from the effects of air pollution and UV rays.

Anti-aging influencers are gaining popularity on platforms like TikTok, with hashtags like “skinfluencers” gaining 66.9 billion views. According to social media marketing company Fanbytes, Gen Z makes up about two-thirds of their viewerbase. These influencers inform teenagers about the various components of their everyday lives that could be making them age faster. Worrying about aging, ironically, makes one age faster according to a study in The Journals of Gerontology. By promoting anti-aging tools, these influencers ensure that they, along with the companies they partner with, are profiting off of these girls and making them lifelong customers. This tactic works: in 2020, the Anti-Aging Products market was estimated at $11.6 billion, and is estimated to reach $47.8 billion by 2027.

However, the most important way to keep fit is to embrace aging. Worrying about aging causes you to age faster and most anti-aging tools are not certified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Jui Bhatia can be reached at [email protected].