In a new episode of the Well Enough podcast beauty journalist and presenter Nadine Baggott and aesthetic doctor and longevity expert Dr Sophie Shotter discussed the longevity movement and the double standards associated with it. Host Emilie Lavinia asked, “is it just anti-ageing repackaged for the new generation?”
“Longevity would be about skin vitality and anti-ageing would be skin vanity. But from a beauty perspective I only see people jumping on the longevity bandwagon in the sense of re-branding what is a politically incorrect term,” said Baggott.
“The beauty industry has taken something that should be a scientific background and are blurring it, and are essentially just rolling the politically incorrect turd of anti-ageing in glitter.”
Dr Shotter said: “I have to be honest, I hate the term anti-ageing. It’s so negative. Ageing is inevitable and actually a privilege so much that comes with ageing is a positive. So for me that’s outdated language, although we still see it in so many places. For me, longevity encapsulates something different. It’s the fact that we’re talking not necessarily about how to live longer, but how to live better for longer.”
“Lifespan is how many years we live but healthspan is how many of those we live healthily. If you think about many people who have become elderly and passed away, maybe the last five years or ten years of their life weren’t spent in good health – maybe with limited mobility or various health conditions. So healthspan refers to the period of time where we’re living at good function and can enjoy the activities of daily life, we don’t need support to do them and we can live independently,” Dr Shotter who hosts the Age Well podcast explained.
Both guests discussed the intersection of wellness, beauty and health with the social pressures associated with looking young and vital. The pair unpacked how much of our obsession with youth is innate and normal versus how much of it is socially conditioned and unreasonably heightened, driven by biohacking influencers, celebrity tweakments and health anxiety.
Emilie Lavinia asked whether misogyny and gender stereotyping had a part to play in how men and women approach trends like biohacking and whether women might be judged more harshly for wanting to reverse their biological age. “Is a facelift considered biohacking? Plenty of male biohackers are having them. But would society judge a woman for calling a facelift biohacking?”
Baggott explained men and women are still held to different standards where concepts like beauty and ageing are concerned. She also explained that in the US, regulations and ethical concerns don’t match those of the UK and that beauty treatments using factors like human growth hormone and human-derived exosomes are common. This blending of medical bioengineering with beauty is unlike anything we’re seeing in the UK due to legal restrictions.
Dr Shotter explained that actually, “the best biohacks are free” and explained how basic health habits are the most important elements of any longevity journey. Both guests and the host went on to discuss the often exorbitant costs of many procedures and products labelled as “longevity tools” and how most are inaccessible to the average consumer.
The podcast also explored the influence that the longevity movement is having on teen consumers, how the landscape of beauty advertising has changed and whether celebrities owe us transparency around their beauty treatments.
“The movement is elitist” said Baggott. Who went on to share her top affordable tips for healthy skin as well as products she personally recommends. Dr Shotter also made recommendations for at-home treatments, lifestyle changes and in-clinic skin treatments worth investing in, and what to avoid.
“Everyone seems to be anti-science, anti-expert, anti-doctor, anti-big pharma and the wellness industry is three times the size and it’s completely unregulated.” said Baggott.
“There is absolutely no getting around the fact that any quick fix is not a shortcut,” agreed Dr Shotter. “You can’t circumvent the need to live a healthy lifestyle if you want to age healthily.”
Both guests also shared their own wellness non-negotiables and insights on new product launches, industry standards and the societal pressures faced by women, particularly during midlife.
Listen to the episode here and watch the full episode on YouTube. Well Enough is available wherever you get your podcasts.
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