Fountain of Youth

May 14, 2011May 27, 2011

I propose a euphemism for “anti-aging” products: “youth enhancing.” A gorgeous 21-year-old at Origins was trying to huckster her old lady serums, but I told her they don’t work and that I’m proof thereof.

She said I was entitled to my personal opinion. I should have told her the tanning bed she seems to frequent would one day turn her skin to beef jerky no matter what lotions she applies.

But that would have been mean. I know she was just trying to make a sale. I bought the nighttime cold cream and a cleanser, and spent more that the total of my gift card, but I refused to give in to her pitch about wrinkles. Didn’t George Orwell say “At fifty, everyone gets the face he [or she] deserves?

Published by Christine

Christine Swint’s poems have appeared in Calyx, Birmingham Poetry Review, Slant, a Journal of Poetry, Tampa Review, Heron Tree, Ekphrasis, and others. Her poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best New Poets, and she has won first place prizes from the Georgia Poetry Society and Agnes Scott College. Her first collection, Swimming This, was published in 2015 by FutureCycle Press. She teaches first-year composition at a metro-Atlanta university and writes about poetry, art, hiking, and yoga at Balanced on the Edge, https://balancedonedge.blog Twitter @christine_swint View all posts by Christine

3 thoughts on “Fountain of Youth”

Deb says:
May 14, 2011 at 8:24 pm

Reply

I buy into your suggested euphemism wholeheartedly.

Love, your dear “old” friend. 😉

LikeLike
Lisa Nanette Allender says:
June 12, 2011 at 7:18 pm

Reply

In defense of Origins’ products:their “Plantscription” Serum is pretty awesome. 😀
I love your suggestion, Christine Swint, for the term, “Youth-Enhancing”.I say “Anti-Aging” is just plain wrong: we’re all PRO-aging, if we wantto LIVE, correct??

LikeLike
- Christine says:
  June 22, 2011 at 5:25 am
  
  Reply
  
  Lisa, I love many Origins products, especially their nighttime lotion and their cosmetics. I also enjoy their hand and body llotions that smell like ginger and lemon.
  
  LikeLike