A half-used bottle of “slimming” cream has been sitting in the bathroom for quite some time, and we cannot resist the temptation to buy another, new one … Why does the same scenario repeat itself every year?
Even for those who are sane about the perfection of their own body, sometimes it’s so hard not to succumb to the tempting appeals of advertising … It seems that this new cream is really different from the rest. He promises “smooth skin without traces of cellulite” – one has only to apply it to the body once or twice a day, and the unaesthetic friability that upsets us will turn into the desired elasticity. And the extra volumes will melt away… without any effort on our part. Starting, abandoning and again buying the latest products, many women involuntarily move along some kind of internal spiral: “What if this gel really helps?”; “No, this time I will finish everything to the end” … Meanwhile, the remedy, alluring with magical lightness (like Azazello’s cream), loses the effect of novelty and remains a silent reproach for a good undertaking not brought to mind.
Eternal Call
36-year-old Natalya regularly buys anti-cellulite creams, and in the spring a couple of new jars invariably appear in her bathroom: “I use them for two weeks, and then somehow I forget the course I started. But that doesn’t stop me from buying a new cream if it seems more effective. And I’m not the only one who behaves so illogically – most of my friends find themselves in the same situation. The most beneficial season for dreams and caring for one’s own body is spring, which day by day opens it more and more to the views of others. Even the most skeptical woman finds it difficult not to slow down near the departments offering various body shaping products. “The dormant libido in winter is awakening again,” comments sexologist Martine Potentier. – We react more sharply to the views of passers-by, reflecting in them, dreaming of catching interest in ourselves, desire. Since there is never enough time to correct what we consider our shortcomings, we place our hopes in a remedy that promises a quick and sensational result. These hopes usually turn into disappointment. Moreover, its real cause is rather not the absence of the promised effect, but the collapse of the very idea that the ideal can be achieved without any effort on our part. To stop using the anti-cellulite cream you have started and immediately buy a new one means to keep the illusion that a miracle can still happen. The same mechanism makes us abandon what we started under the pretext of the ineffectiveness of the means.
(Not) expecting miracles
The never-ending quest for the miracle cream may be hiding bigger questions, says plastic surgeon and psychoanalyst Rebecca Lustman.
“Many women experience difficulties in their personal lives – it is not easy for them to build strong close relationships. Like many men, they are involved in finding easy, non-committal ways to boost their self-esteem. Feeding fantasy (and in fact often meaningless) consumption of products “for weight loss” helps them to cope with dissatisfaction for some time. Although in fact it only masks the real problem.
step towards you
The recipe for the real benefits of such products … you should not look on the label. It consists in learning to treat your body with attention and love – fully aware of how much time and money we spend on its improvement. “The degree of awareness of the choice of this kind of product will determine the result,” says psychotherapist Stephanie Hahusseau (Stéphanie Hahusseau). – It is worth carefully and thoughtfully studying everything: the promised effect, the mechanism of action, the method of application. It may make sense to opt for a more expensive cream – with the idea that you deserve the best treatment, and knowing that the money spent will help you take care of your body more seriously and attentively.
The way we apply the product to the skin says a lot about our relationship with our own body. “Someone mechanically smears with cream, much like furniture polish is applied during normal cleaning,” Stephanie Ayusso reflects. – But we can give our body a few minutes of true care and pleasure. In the first case, a person seems to be looking at him from the side, assessing and criticizing his slightest shortcomings, and in the second, he feels his integrity, which helps him listen to himself (a bodily being!) and treat himself with more sympathy.
With common sense
Another factor is also important – a rational attitude to the entire procedure: we can honestly fulfill all the conditions and instructions, but do not hope for a magical result. “Try to be realistic,” advises Stephanie Ayusso. – Does it say on the package that you will lose so many centimeters and gain smooth skin? Well, check it out! Such a sober approach will allow you to break the vicious circle of mindless consumption. Only by checking the effect on our own experience, that is, methodically using the remedy in accordance with the instructions (for example, twice a day for at least 28 days), we will be able to understand whether this cream can really help achieve the desired result or is it just advertising tricks. It is this attitude that is called “conscious consumption”.