Has Lockdown Made Us Look Older?

Our lives were completely overturned when the country went into lockdown in March and we all changed the way we lived. For many of us, the way we view how we looked changed too. In fact, 27% of women in the UK felt like lockdown had aged them. This was especially true for younger women, with 44% saying that they felt they had aged.*

It’s no surprise that the way we looked changed. With our daily routine completely turned on its head, we may have let our skincare routine slip, and may have been drinking or eating more. We are spending more time in front of screens with blue light which has been shown to cause skin damage over time. Our greys started emerging and not all of us were able to cover them up. We also may have been wearing less makeup than usual. Add all this in with the fact that our usual pick me ups – haircuts, facials and treatments – were unavailable for 5 months!

The Zoom Botox Boom

Combine this with zoom calls and you have a perfect storm for low self-esteem about our looks! During lockdown, we spent more time than ever on video calls. Work meetings, family catch ups, zoom quiz nights – we were overloaded, and they still continue. The problem with video calls isn’t seeing the other people, its spending too much time seeing ourselves! We’re sure we’re not the only ones whose eyes tend to fall on themselves once in a while (or a few times in a while). We end up obsessing over our greys, the bags under our eyes, whether our nose has always been that shape – we’re definitely over analysing our looks now more than ever. Everything from our shoulders up has suddenly been thrust into the limelight.

Since lockdown, there has been a surge in Botox appointments. Clinics have seen an uptick in requests with one reporting a 40% rise in requests for Botox. There has also been a 20% rise in people looking to have a rhinoplasty.

Protecting Your Mental Health

All this time analysing how we look can be damaging for our mental health. How we see ourselves informs how we feel. We live in a world that puts a high value on appearance and not being able to present ourselves in the way we do can make us feel like we are not in control. This can lead to us more fixated on the way we look.  With social media still throwing images at us of perfect women, its no wonder we have been feeling bad.

Whilst some people have taken the opportunity to go grey completely or enjoy wearing less makeup, it’s not for everyone. As the world feels chaotic and strange, a treatment to make us feel better and make us feel more in control. If you’re embracing the ageing post lockdown, that’s great. But if you still feel like you need a little bit of help, that’s great too. Self esteem is complicated – do whatever you want to do to make yourself feel good!

*Glowday Survey, 2020

2020-08-25T14:10:51+00:00

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