One in five New Zealand women feels "sad'' about wrinkles but
only a third would consider cosmetic surgery, a survey has
found.
More than three-quarters thought it was best for people to
age naturally and one in five thought Kiwi celebrities had
"too much work done''.
The online study of 1000 respondents, commissioned by skin
cream manufacturer Olay and produced by Perceptive Research,
also found that a quarter of women said they would be
offended if someone asked if they had undergone cosmetic
surgery. Nine out of 10 said they would consider a face cream
over a cosmetic procedure.
More than half the respondents thought wrinkles were the most
obvious sign of ageing, followed by sore joints (24 per
cent), grey hair (21 per cent), hair loss (7 per cent) and
weight gain (6 per cent).
"The survey highlights how appearance can affect a
significant proportion of people, which is often unsaid. A
majority of women want to age naturally, and having effective
face creams is an acceptable method,'' said Auckland
appearance medicine expert Dr Garsing Wong. "Ageing
gracefully does not mean neglecting yourself.''
Psychologist Sara Chatwin says New Zealand women may prefer
to take a more holistic approach to health and beauty before
contemplating surgery or other procedures.
"Perhaps we are a little more relaxed and happy about the way
we look.''
While the majority of Kiwi women would prefer to age
naturally, more than one-third (38 per cent) said if money
was not an issue they would consider having a cosmetic
procedure, compared with just over a quarter (26 per cent) of
men.
The president of the New Zealand Association of Plastic
Surgeons, Dr Howard Klein, questioned the validity of Olay's
research and said that over-the-counter face creams hardly
ever delivered what they promised.
"If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.''
Dr Klein said that if he was able to offer his clients a
cream to fix their deep wrinkles, he would happily do so but
the truth was they did not achieve the same results as
surgery.
"And if they do show some improvements in the skin, they're
almost always temporary, for example local inflammation of
the skin.''
About 60 per cent of the people who saw him were treated with
prescription creams. "I would much prefer for my clients not
to undergo surgery if they can - but in some cases it's
necessary to get the results.''
- Lincoln Tan, New Zealand Herald
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