Early last September, actress Salma Hayek turned 60. Whoever looks at her face can hardly believe the number. The same is the case with Jennifer Lopez, who is over 57 years old, but she still looks in her forties with her fit body and fresh skin. As for Brad Pitt, who would believe that he is 3 years over 60?
Not long ago, even the most beautiful Hollywood faces reflected their true age, or perhaps more. Sophia Loren's features, for example, at the age of 60 are not like Salma Hayek's features now. The matter is not limited to screen and stage stars, as it is enough to browse through family albums to discover that the mother, at the age of 50, looked to be in her fifties, and the uncle, in his forties, reflected his real age, and sometimes more. Currently, fifty-year-olds appear to be 40, forty-year-olds appear to be 30, and so on.
Were our parents young and old?
It is true that Hollywood stars are privileged in terms of luxury and the ability to take care of themselves, but the phenomenon of slow aging, or the absence of signs of aging in appearance, is no longer limited to famous actors and singers.
The first explanation for this transformation has visual and psychological dimensions. When we look at pictures of people from the past, we see them wearing old-fashioned clothes and hairstyles, and we think they are old. It is enough for a person in his forties to look at a photo of his parents when they were his age, to be amazed at how much older they look than him in that photo.
From a technical and aesthetic standpoint, image culture has undergone radical transformations over the years, especially in this digital age. Today's photos are much higher resolution than those taken with traditional cameras, and we must not forget the extensive use of beautification, retouching and filtering programs on social media platforms, which makes the skin and features appear fresher and more youthful.
Chronological age < biological age
Never in human history has there been such a difference between biological age and chronological age as is recorded in our current time. If chronological age is that which is calculated starting from the date of birth, then biological age is measured based on how quickly cells, tissues, and columns age.
According to a study conducted in Sweden and published by the American platform “Health Digest”, older Swedish men are biologically 3 to 4 years younger than men of the same age from previous generations. The matter is not limited to Sweden, Europe, or the United States, but rather extends to all parts of the world, where people enjoy a fair degree of medical care and health awareness.
The second reason, then, for the noticeable difference in age features between yesterday and today is progress in the fields of medicine, nutrition, and lifestyle in general. This means that people are becoming more aware of what they eat, treating their diseases with appropriate medicines, and compensating for what they lack in vitamins by taking nutritional supplements. As for women, they no longer give birth to a large number of children as was the case in the past, and this also helps them maintain a more youthful appearance.
In addition to this, there is a reduction in smoking and an increasing interest in sports, as evidenced by the fact that sports clubs invade every street in the world and are always full of exercisers who want to improve their fitness and agility.
Don't neglect sunscreen
It remains that the main reason why people appear more youthful than they were in the past is skin care methods and cosmetic interventions, which have now taken up an essential part of the daily lives of people, both female and male.
In the past, skin care was limited to moisturizing cream. Today, the daily routine ranges from vitamin C serum in the morning, retinol in the evening, and anti-aging products in between, filler injections, Botox, collagen drinks, and many others.
This is accompanied by a growing awareness of the fragility of the skin and the importance of protecting it. While some of the previous generation used to apply tanning oil on their faces when they went to the beach, the new generation does not leave the house before applying sunscreen.
Healthy aging is more important than eternal youth
Beyond sunscreen, and less severe and expensive than plastic surgery, there are methods to maintain more youthful skin that skin treatment specialist Salam Morgana talks about in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat.
Morgana points out that the current popular concept is well aging, meaning aging well. “The goal is no longer limited to appearing younger. The basis is to grow older while maintaining healthy, radiant, and natural skin.”
Investing smartly in healthy skin is based on certain steps listed by Morgana. “First, it is inevitable to adhere to wearing sunscreen, to avoid the effects of ultraviolet rays, which increase the possibility of wrinkles, pigmentation, and loss of skin elasticity.” The choice of skin care products should not be random, but must be in line with the nature of the skin and what it can tolerate. Morgana focuses on the most effective products in correcting the signs of skin aging, led by antioxidant retinoids and peptides.
Each age group has its own treatments
The matter does not stop at creams and serums, as the world of beauty today offers endless possibilities of non-surgical treatments that support the freshness and youth of the skin.
Morgana uses fractional laser technology, which activates collagen production, treats the beginnings of wrinkles, scars, and pigmentation, and improves the texture of the skin. Then the skin treatment specialist explains that each age group has its own non-surgical treatments:
* From 30 to 39 years
The most important thing is prevention by using sunscreen and moisturizing antioxidants in the morning, especially vitamin C serum, and retinoids in the evening if it suits the skin, and without neglecting professional cleaning treatments.
* From 40 to 49 years
Protection continues, and treatment begins, that is, not dispensing with sunscreen, vitamin C, and retinoids, with intensive care for wrinkles, dark spots, and dehydration. Here peptide and hyaluronic acid come to play an additional role. Non-surgical treatments are also recommended, such as BBL, which uses high-intensity light pulses to repair, rejuvenate, brighten and even out skin tone.
Among the non-surgical treatments that can be performed at this stage is microneedling, i.e. micro-needling. It is a slight penetration into the surface of the skin that stimulates the production of collagen and elastin.
* 50 and above
Supporting hormonal changes begins with intensive hydration and anti-aging care, while maintaining all of the above preparations, and without neglecting the evening routine.
As for treatments, Morgana recommends Ultherapy, which is a non-surgical cosmetic procedure that uses ultrasound supported by direct imaging technology to tighten and lift sagging skin in the face, neck, and chest areas.
Sudanese actor Amin Bin Rashid said that he did not want to present the character “Othman,” which he embodies in the movie “For Who Dares,” as a man waiting for pity, stressing that his fragility in the face of the conditions of exile does not rob him of his dignity or his ability to love and choose.
Bin Rashid added, in his interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, that what attracted him to “Othman” was his insistence on continuing life despite fear, and his desire to love and feel loved, pointing out that exile explains part of his experience, but it does not sum up his identity; Because the character's search for love is also linked to her attempt to regain her freedom, and the feeling that she is still able to dream and make decisions.
The Lebanese film “For Who Dares,” which was shown at the last edition of the Berlin Film Festival and was recently shown at the El Gouna Film Festival, deals with a relationship that develops in Beirut between “Susan,” played by Palestinian actress Hiam Abbas, a widow in her sixties, and “Othman,” a young Sudanese man who lives without official papers. Between the age difference, the difference in backgrounds, and the rejection of those around them, the two try to protect their relationship, while the turmoil of the reality around them doubles the difficulty of searching for a shared life. He puts their feelings to tests that go beyond his desire to stay together.
Bin Rashid explained that understanding the character of “Othman” required imagining a life that preceded his first appearance on screen, with its losses, memories, and things that he kept to himself, noting that he searched for what these experiences left in the character’s looks, movement, and way of approaching others, so that the viewer felt the presence of a past that affected him, without the film needing to narrate it in its entirety or explain every action taken by it.
He pointed out that Othman's legal status imposes on him a constant feeling of uncertainty, the impact of which extends to the simplest details of his day and his ability to imagine the future. He explained that he wanted to keep this anxiety present in the performance without showing it at every moment, so he continues to love, desire, and make decisions, while the possibility of losing what he builds remains present, which is the tension that he found essential in understanding the character.
Amin bin Rashid added that the intersection of love with the need for security was one of the aspects that he was keen to leave open within the character. An emotional meeting can become a refuge for a person experiencing instability, without this negating the sincerity of his feelings. Explaining that “Othman” has needs that go beyond his relationship with “Susan.”
He pointed out that the age difference was not the starting point in building the relationship with the heroine, but rather the history of each character and the wounds, loneliness and desires they carry, and what they can find in the other. Pointing out that achieving convincing intimacy requires listening, being present, and preparing for surprise, because he is convinced that the sincerity of the relationship in front of the camera arises from the interaction of the actors and their confidence in what happens between them during the scene.
Bin Rashid recalled a directive from director Danielle Arbid that remained present in his mind during the work, when she told him that she wanted to show love, explaining that this vision affected his dealings with scenes of emotional closeness, pushing him to search for tenderness and the need of each character for the other, and to pay attention to the looks, the spaces of silence, and the way “Othman” is next to “Susan,” so that their feeling reaches the viewer without direct confirmation.
He continued that working alongside Hiam Abbas reinforced to him the importance of the actor remaining open to his partner, no matter how prepared he is for the scene, noting that preparation gives him an understanding of the character, but during filming he needs to receive what is happening in front of him and respond to it, and this experience deepened his confidence in a performance that allows the scene to develop.
Regarding “Othman’s” anger in the face of others’ rejection of his relationship with the heroine, Bin Rashid explained that it is linked to his feeling that they are judging him before knowing him, so he finds himself divided between defending his dignity and protecting his relationship with Susan, pointing out that he tried to express this tension in different degrees, so anger sometimes appears, and remains repressed at other times, while “Othman” tries not to give the looks of those around him the ability to decide the fate of what he has in common with the woman he loves.
He stressed that he was not required to agree with all of the character's decisions in order to perform them, but rather to understand his motives and what makes them possible for him, especially since an act that appears mysterious from the outside may become understandable when looking at its owner's history, fears, and desires.
Bin Rashid expressed his hope that the viewer will see in “Othman” a man who loves, desires, and doubts himself, and he imagines that he carries both his pride and his weakness, away from the classifications that sometimes precede knowledge of individuals, stressing that what matters to him in cinema is its ability to bring us closer to people whose stories we do not know, and to allow us to learn about what brings us together with them, while preserving the privacy of their experiences and what distinguishes their paths.
Regarding his future ambitions, he said that he is looking forward to complex characters that undergo profound transformations, and that allow him to escape from the image that others may expect of him. He expressed his desire to engage in historical and psychological roles, and experiences that require different physical performance, or belong to imaginary worlds, as he seeks to build an international career that accommodates characters with diverse origins and stories.
