90% Women Put Beauty Over Bill

MUMBAI: The Indian eve is changing, or so it seems. Whether due to increasing affluence that makes treatments with premium tags welcome, or the attitudinal shift (a grandmother in jeans is no longer an exception), Indian women are more willing than ever to experiment to look good, a new survey reveals.

The survey finds that women also gave a big thumbs up to the use of technology
to arrest ageing.

The four-metro survey of 800 women in the 18 to 50 age group found that over 90% of the women surveyed would spend on beauty treatment and products that worked, regardless of the price. Mumbai's status as financial capital is endorsed by the following finding: about 61% of women surveyed in Mumbai were willing to splurge on beauty treatment and products as against 41% in Delhi, 31% in Chennai and 24% in Kolkata.

In a reflection of shifting social attitudes, respondents felt that age was no longer a barrier to looking good. While a huge percentage was concerned about ageing (over 70% of those surveyed in Delhi and Kolkata), over 50% of all women surveyed said they took small steps such as staying out of the sun. There also was a huge acceptance for the use of technology to stop the ageing process.

The survey, carried out by consulting firm AC Nielsen, said, "Significantly, 6 out of the 10 women surveyed were unafraid of ageing because they were confident they could fight the ravages of time."

However, one thing that hasn't changed among women is the desire for clear skin. About 90% of the women said that a clear skin helped them get noticed. The Nielsen survey said, "Regular skincare tops the list of age-fighting measures, with 85% of the women surveyed believing in it. About 77% give credit to anti-ageing technology and 73% of them believe technology can even help them look five years younger."

According to social psychiatrist Dr H Shetty, "There is now a social sanction to efforts to looking good. No longer do parents want a shy bride for their son, they want a bright and beautiful daughter-in-law. People are taking care of themselves. A generation back it was all right to be overweight
, now women are anxious about every extra kilo and work out towards knocking it off."

Posted in: World News