Avon survey shows teen girls are worried about signs of aging

19-Sep-2005 - Last updated on 19-Jul-2008 at 10:53 GMT

In an-depth look at the purchasing habits of women a bi-annual
survey from Avon reveals some interesting contrasts from
country-to-country, but with girls in the 14-24 age bracket stating
that they are already worried about signs of aging, the
preoccupation is with finding that illusive 'fountain of youth'.

The Avon 2005 Global Women's Survey finds that women still want to 'stay young and healthy', but that alongside this they are prepared to do more to maintain this, by incorporating life style changes and skin care products into their daily regimes.

"As the company for women, this global dialog is important to us as we continually work to identify key insights about women's beauty needs and attitudes," said Debbie Eisser, vice president, Global Marketing Research for Avon.

"While there are some interesting differences by geography and age, this fourth bi-annual survey reveals once again that women are overwhelmingly united in their views on beauty."

The survey took into account opinions on three areas: self-indulgence, physical appearance together with aging and skin care.

Perhaps one of the most striking findings presented by the results was the fact that 80 per cent of women aged 15-24 said they had already experienced signs of aging, a sure sign that the preoccupation with youthful looks is not just confined to those in the older age categories.

Likewise, more than half of the women surveyed said that they would go out and buy an appropriate skin care product to counteract fresh signs of aging - preferably one that contains both natural herbs and medicinal plants, combined with advanced active ingredients.

Emphasizing the fact that natural is best, the survey also revealed that cosmetic surgery is not a consideration for the vast majority of women.

Opinion on self-indulgence seemed to hit a universal chord, with 42 per cent of women saying that they liked to buy clothes. Having their hair done appealed to 30 per cent of women, whereas buying make-up was a the best thing for 23 per cent.

There was one regional variation, with women in Eastern Europe reporting that buying make-up and eating sweets was more popular than buying clothes to indulge themselves.

With regards appearance, the survey revealed that 93 per cent of women say they put effort into their appearance, with 38 per cent saying that a facial care routine formed part of that effort.

Looking specifically at the skin care regime, 48 per cent of women said they have started to notice wrinkles, most commonly around the eyes. The top sign of aging amongst younger women was dry, flaky or chapped skin, along with sunken under-eyes.