Harris Interactive(R) Survey for Aesthetic Laser Manufacturer Cutera, Inc. Charts Women's Attitudes as they Approach Milestone Birthdays

05-18-10 | Posted by Dorene Kaplan

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It turns out women approaching big milestone birthdays actually have positive feelings about it, whether they are nearing 30 or 60, according to a survey by Harris Interactive(R) on behalf of aesthetic laser company Cutera, Inc, the California-based manufacturer of devices for hair removal, skin resurfacing, skin laxity, and vascular disorders. In an effort to help doctors understand and meet the needs of their patients, Cutera comissioned the study to look at attitudes of women ages 25-29, 35-39, 45-49 and 55-59.

“Typically, women approaching 30, 40 or 50 will visit our office to celebrate an upcoming ‘big’ birthday and treat themselves to a series of laser treatments or a dermal filler,” said Debra Jaliman, MD, Assistant Professor Mount Sinai Medical Center. “These milestones can be traumatic for some women but certainly not for all. The survey validates what we’ve seen – that women are opting for aesthetic solutions because they want to invest in their appearance as a gift to themselves.”

Among the notable (and sometimes surprising!) findings from the study:

Women approaching 60 were most likely to want the gift of “looking 10 years younger” (18%)
Women approaching their 30th birthday are actually more likely than those approaching their 60th to say they are anxious about getting older (30% vs. 14% respectively)
Over 4 in 5 women approaching a milestone birthday (81%) say they want to improve something about their skin’s appearance. Those approaching 30 or 40 would most like to improve their uneven skin tone and texture (23% and 15% respectively), while those approaching 50 and 60 want to improve wrinkles and/or fine lines (33% and 30% respectively). Also, women approaching 40 are more likely to want to improve facial redness (12%) than those approaching 60 (3%).
The majority of women approaching a milestone birthday (64%) say they do take steps to look younger, including nearly half of women approaching their 30th birthday (45%) and over 3 in 4 approaching their 60th birthday (76%). Popular strategies include coloring their hair (43%), wearing make-up (36%) or purchasing expensive skincare products (16%).
Other approaches used to look and feel younger: shopped in the juniors department (7%), lied about their age (5%), dated someone younger (4%) and simply stopped celebrating birthdays (2%).
When presented with a list of popular activities and asked what they would be willing to do to stop the aging process – 36% say they would give up alcohol for 5 years, the number one choice for all age groups. Other answers included giving up watching TV and going on vacation for 5 years (19% each), and giving up a favorite food for 5 years (16%). More women are willing to give up sex for 5 years (12%) than give up the Internet for the same time period (8%) if that would stop the aging process.

Read the full study, visit Cutera.