What is National Age Without Apology Month?
Working towards a more positive narrative around age, skincare brand Willowberry champions Age Without Apology.
The current age narrative in beauty can inadvertently make women feel bad about their age, due to age-resistant wording such as ‘anti-ageing’ combined with a need for more older women to be represented in beauty imagery.
In 2021, Willowberry surveyed 1,000 women aged 30-80, to discover their feelings on age in beauty: A huge 97% of women surveyed feel it important to see better representation of older women used by beauty brands and the media; 85% want to see more positive and realistic wording on age in beauty; 72% either don’t like the term ‘anti-ageing’ or don’t believe the anti-ageing claim; 50% even said that anti-ageing messaging makes them not look forward to getting older, demonstrating the wider impact that beauty messaging can have on our lives.
As an industry, we have a responsibility to make age visible and normal.
On 16th June 2021 Willowberry launched its Age Without Apology Pledge, inviting the beauty industry to join forces to make real change, by using better language around age and showing older ages within beauty imagery. A Founder Member Collective of industry peers support the pledge, including Millie Kendall, MBE, British Beauty Council; Jane Cunningham, British Beauty Blogger; and more.
To mark the anniversary of the Age Without Apology Pledge launch and to drive change to the age narrative in beauty, Willowberry is creating a National Age Without Apology Month, held annually in June to actively encourage people to celebrate age and ageing.
When is National Age Without Apology Month?
National Age Without Apology Month will begin on the 1st June 2024 and run for the entire month. This will become an annual event from 2024 onwards.
How to get involved in National Age Without Apology Month
Founded by Willowberry, National Age Without Apology Month provides an alternative to the current age message, to change the perception of age by celebrating age and the ageing process.
Willowberry invites you to take part in this age celebration on Instagram, by sharing who inspires you to Age Without Apology and why – whether it’s a relation, friend, colleague, celebrity, influencer, etc – simply upload a picture of the person onto your Instagram page, explaining why they inspire you within the caption, using the hashtag #AgeWithoutApologyMonth and tagging in @willowberryskin
Willowberry wants to fill social media with positive examples of age and inspire people on how to see age and the ageing process in a different light. After all, ageing is an honour and should be revered, not feared.
