For decades both men and women have been in search for the fountain of youth. But since no has been able to discover this fountain of youth, concocting potions and mixing ingredients will have to do for now to be able to reverse the signs of aging. Dating back to 1923, Boncilla was one of a few makeup brands promoting youth in a bottle. In this 1923 Boncilla ad, it portrays women in the sense that they had to be beautiful. The modern woman in the 1920’s did not want to look “old”. They wanted to be young and in style, and this Boncilla ad shows just that. It shows two women sitting in a room in front of a mirror, putting make up on. It appears as though they are about to go somewhere. One of them has the Boncilla in her hand, and her reflection in the mirror makes her look like a confident woman. The other woman looks as though she is not so sure about herself however. The confident lady looked older than the other lady as well. On the right side of the ad, it says, “If you are fifty, and your skin is clear and fresh, and your facial contour firm and youthful, you are young.” It also says, “If you are twenty, and your skin is dull and lifeless, and the outline of your face is drooping, you are old.” This is exactly what is going on in the picture. The older lady who has the Boncilla tube in her hand looks more confident than the much younger lady who is just sitting there watching the older lady apply her Boncilla. This makes an incredible statement, as it is implied that the Boncilla gives confidence. In the 20’s, confidence is something that women were keen on. They had recently won the vote, and were moving up in society. Looking good was simply another means of feeling good about oneself. By showing an older, better looking woman with a tube of Boncilla, it made the Boncilla look responsible for the confidence. That was enough to sell the product to newly liberated women of the 20’s look and feel more confident about themselves.

Now fast forward to the year 2007. In the media today, everybody is still out to promote looking young, but at a different angle. We live in a world where women and men are put on the same pedestal, where high fashion from Hollywood gets plastered onto glossy magazines such as Vogue, Instyle, etc. and women around the world try to emulate, and where even teenagers as young as 13 start wearing makeup to beautify themselves.

In this modern Christian Dior ad is a picture of Hollywood icon, Charlize Theron promoting the brand’s perfume and makeup. As you can see, just from the head shot of Charlize Theron one can say that she is definitely confident but she is also using her sexuality to promote Christian Dior’s products. As I mentioned before, in the society that we live in today, women don’t have to worry about being put down just because we are women. The concept that Boncilla created to boost up women’s confidence is still evident in this modern day ad for Christian Dior, but minus the worries.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12668431@N02/sets/72157603136333560/