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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, March 4, 2002

Boomers splurge to look young

Associated Press

NEW YORK — When lotions failed to smooth the crow's feet around Cheryl Hoover's eyes and restore the firmness to her skin, she turned to Botox, collagen and laser treatments to ease the effects of aging.

Cheryl Hoover, 41, spent $1,500 last year on facial treatments. So far she has tried Botox, collagen and laser treatments.

Associated Press

"I try to be proactive in heading off things," said the 41-year-old customer service manager from Austin, Texas, who spent $1,500 last year on facial treatments. "Within the last couple of years, the skin around my cheekbones has started to sag, and with my eyes, the crow's feet started about five years ago. These treatments seem to help."

Other baby boomers, particularly women, share Hoover's desire for skin care treatments. And manufacturers and retailers expect the multibillion-dollar skin care market to expand as the 76 million boomers born between 1946 and 1964 begin wrinkling.

Creams and potions cater to boomers' desire to look young. And the number of medical practices specializing in skin care procedures is growing around the country.

"This is a category where women know no bounds with what they'll spend," said Candace Corlett of WSL Strategic Retail, a marketing consultancy. "Boomers differ from previous generations in their intensity to look as great as they can and to age differently."

Indeed, more boomers are turning to skin treatments such as laser, dermabrasion and Botox, a drug that temporarily paralyzes nearby muscles and erases wrinkles. Walk-in skin care clinics now compete for customers with dermatologists and plastic surgeons.

Most boomers seeking skin care improvement rely on over-the-counter treatments. Sales of skin care products at department stores reached $1.8 billion in 2001 according to NPD BeautyTrends. That is a 3.5 percent increase from 2000.

The fastest growth is at drugstores, supermarkets and discounters, which recorded sales of skin care products of $3.6 billion in 2001, a 7.6 percent increase from 2000, according to ACNielsen.