Woman’s Response To Salesman Trying To Age-Shame Her Is Perfect!

Have you ever been approached by those salespeople at shopping centres who try and palm off hand cream to you? They usually walk over and offer you a free sample before asking if you would like to improve the appearance of your skin, hair, teeth or whatever. Usually I just smile politely and say no thank you but occasionally I too get sucked into stopping and seeing what this new ‘miracle’ product is. Suffice to say it’s never anything life changing!

A mum in Canada (photo above) took it one step further when she fired back at a skin-care salesman who she felt was age shaming her. While heading to her gate at the airport, Annick says she was approached by the man who tried to lure her into his shop with a bar of soap.

Here’s how the conversation went:

Man: “Your skin is so natural-looking; you aren’t wearing any makeup, right?”

Annick: “Um, nooooo?”

Man: “Let me guess your age…” Proceeds to pull out a number 12 years younger than she is.

Annick: “I look my age and that’s OK actually.”

Man: Unsure how to handle that. “Let me show you our face serum, because if you aren’t careful to maintain your skin now, these wrinkles on your face will get much deeper; by 45, creams won’t help anymore.”

Annick: “What’s wrong with a woman looking 40?”

Man: “Well, let’s talk about the bags under your eyes, and smile lines—my eye cream could improve those in 15 minutes.”

Annick: “What’s wrong with my eyes? I have a miracle baby at home and haven’t slept in two years, so if I have bags I am grateful to have them, and my husband and I laugh a lot. Those are his fault. He loves how I look…I don’t think I need your cream.”

Man: (nervously) “They may be manageable now, but by 50, it’s too late to correct sagging skin and deep wrinkles; unless you act now, only surgery can correct those.”

Annick: “What’s wrong again with a woman aging? You know, my husband and I can’t wait to grow old together, we talk about it all the time, how we’ll be this funny wrinkled old couple. My husband is going to age too, we all are. It’s kind of how life works.”

Man: Glancing nervously at other customers in the store who are listening in… “Wait, if it’s the price that’s an issue, I can offer you our special this week: all three creams for $199—that’s cheaper than Botox!”

Annick: “I look fine now, and when I’m 45 I will look fine, and when I’m 50 I will look fine, because there is nothing wrong with a woman aging. Old age is a privilege denied to many, and I don’t appreciate you marketing youth instead of your products, and denigrating aging women as a sales tactic. Thank you, but I don’t want or need your cream.”

Annick continued her rant on Facebook saying, “I was so horrified by the normalcy of his sales pitch, and the sales ringing up at his cash register, that I took a picture of that wrinkled baggy face he was selling to, right on the spot. This is the face my children and my husband love. I think I’ll keep it.”

The mum’s post has been shared so far more than 25,5000 times on Facebook. It obviously struck a nerve with many women feel they are constantly bombarded with images of how they should look as they age. “I was really excited for a couple of minutes (that was my ego talking) until I realized what that meant,” she says in an update to her original post. “It means that in 2017, refusing to accept self-loathing as a beauty standard is a radical concept. And that is just depressing on a whole other level.”

While I agree it’s refreshing to hear a woman say she loves her face just the way it is I also don’t believe there’s anything wrong with a woman who chooses to make changes to herself as she ages. There is nothing wrong with botox, or fillers or expensive face creams if that’s the path a woman chooses to take. It doesn’t mean she has ‘self loathing’ or a low self esteem. What if it means she wants to maintain her appearance to a standard she’s been used to? There are always lines we as women have that we either cross or wouldn’t ever dream of crossing.

For example, some women dye their hair but say they would never wear fake eyelashes. Others spend thousands on expensive eye creams but would never get botox. Others will do botox and fillers but draw the line at a full blown face lift that requires surgery. We all have our comfort zones and do what makes us feel comfortable and look our best.

In the same vein, I don’t think women should buy into the notion that they aren’t allowed to age. That every single line and spot on their face should be wiped away by whatever means possible. Whether we choose to let our grey hair grow out in our 30’s or spend hundreds at the hairdresser’s every month it should be our choice and not one that we feel coerced into.

We are fortunate enough to live in an age of options, so how you age comes down to you. Whether you’re a self proclaimed high-maintenance chick who’ll botox every single wrinkle off her face or a natural type who is happy to wash her face and go, you should never be judged for your choices. Especially from pesky skin-care salesmen!

Images: Facebook