As Old As You Feel?

Though I have been known to worry about a variety of things, I have never really worried about getting older. The physical part of getting older, I mean. Okay, to be more specific: wrinkles.
I suppose because I still feel so young, I just assume I still look young too.
So, when I ventured into a rather chic perfume shop last Saturday, to treat myself to a good quality face cream, it came as something of a shock to be told I have... wrinkles.

No, no, I'm being unfair. The pert, pre-pubescent French salesgirl who steered me swiftly away from the "young skin" aisle and into a more appropriate part of the shop never once pronounced the word "wrinkles". I guess that non-pronunciation of the word "wrinkles" is the first thing one learns on a sales course. No, she kindly suggested I purchase a cream that would help smooth out my "rides d'expression"*.
"Rides d'expression" is - I learned - the euphemism trotted out to 31-year-old sleep-deprived mothers by pert pre-pubescent French salesgirls.

Bon. Once I had got over the mini-shock of discovering I have rides d'expression requiring urgent treatment, it then transpired that such treatment came in the form of a teeny tiny yellow tube costing 69 euros. Tricky situation. Clever sales strategy. Frantic calculations flitted around inside my (old) head. The treatment seemed ridiculously expensive. But could I afford to let the damage continue? Did I simply have to accept that life gets more expensive as one gets older??

Luckily, pert salesgirl sensed my distress (probably, yet another wrinkle was forming on my forehead right there on the spot) and rushed to my rescue with a "more affordable" cream. This one cost a mere 35 euros and promised to give me a glowing complexion.
I clutched it gratefully. 35 euros was still more than I had naively expected to pay, but to protest would have been churlish.
"Does this one smooth out rides d'expression, too?" I asked hopefully.
Alas, no, she replied. But, because my complexion would be glowing, it would take the attention away from my wrinkles.
That sounded OK to me.

So, glowing complexion it is. It seems one cannot hope to have both a glowing complexion AND fewer wrinkles after the age of 30.
Well, technically, you can, of course... but it'll cost you.

Oh dear. There are so many more things to worry about as one gets older. Frown.



* This term in itself is a revealing indication of the differences between the British and French characters. What we would call "laughter lines" in English become "rides d'expression" in French. This would suggest that, while the British assume you get wrinkles as a result of many years spent laughing and joking in awkward social situations... the French assume they are the consequence of years and years of intense conversations...