For most of the late 20th century, anti-aging skincare sold fear and aspiration in roughly equal measure. The fear was of becoming visibly older; the aspiration was a smoother, firmer version of the face, often lighter-skinned in markets where skin tone was also being sold as something to improve.

We have been chasing youth for centuries. From legends of the fountain of youth to billion-pound industries built on the promise of turning back time, the obsession never went away. It only changed form. Today, it is bottled in “anti-ageing” creams, filtered selfies, and airbrushed campaigns that teach us that growing older is a problem to fix.