Understanding the obsession with the “non-age” look Smoothing wrinkles, preventing them, stopping them

When we happen to see Jennifer Lopez or Anne Hathaway on the red carpet, or come across a video of a duet between Sabrina Carpenter and Christina Aguilera and wonder how old they might be, it’s not just a subjective impression: it’s non age. A definition that corresponds to a suspended aesthetic dimension, where chronological age loses meaning and faces seem to belong to an indeterminate age, ideally situated between 30 and 50 years. In this range, twenty-somethings try to look more mature, forty-somethings want to maintain a stable appearance, and sixty-somethings pursue the possibility of fitting into an interval that escapes chronological definitions. It’s not simply about looking young, but about appearing timeless, as if the signs of age could be diluted until they become almost imperceptible.

The phenomenon has also taken hold in Italy, where aesthetic medicine is experiencing a period of significant growth. According to Corriere della Sera, in 2024 there were over 1.3 million procedures, with a surge in non-invasive treatments, chosen both by young people using fillers and Botox as a preventive measure, and by adults wishing to maintain freshness without radical changes. This pursuit is no longer exclusive to celebrities: it is becoming a widespread behavior, legitimized by a social context that considers aesthetic care an integral part of personal well-being, reshaping the aesthetic imagination of our society.

The success of non age is also fueled by a visual culture made omnipresent by social media. Faces are constantly under scrutiny, transformed into a digital business card that amplifies details, wrinkles, or imperfections. The pressure of comparing oneself to filtered or retouched images pushes many to seek treatments that do not erase identity but make it harder to place in time. Not being too young and not being too old thus becomes a shared aesthetic goal, a zone of neutrality that protects from judgment and provides the reassurance of remaining within a socially recognizable code.

Technology also supports this transformation. Techniques like the deep-plane facelift, described on The Cut as one of the most requested procedures in the United States, work on the deep tissues of the face, lifting muscles and anatomical structures without pulling the skin on the surface. Unlike traditional facelifts, often criticized for producing unnatural faces, this approach restores authentic expressions, as if the face regains its original shape. It embodies the concept of non age: not rejuvenating at all costs, but recovering an appearance that (does not) betray chronological age.

The trend is not a media invention, as numbers show. According to Statista, in Italy in 2024, there were almost 495,000 non-surgical treatments, of which approximately 397,000 involved injectables such as botulinum toxin and fillers, while facial rejuvenation procedures exceeded 48,000. On the surgical side, there were about 262,000 operations in the same year, with facial procedures led by blepharoplasty, which alone exceeded 31,000 cases, followed by rhinoplasties and lip enhancements. The global market is no less significant: according to Market.biz, in 2024, over 35 million aesthetic procedures, both surgical and non-surgical, were performed, with «an increasing weight of minimally invasive treatments.»

Non age seems to be changing the beauty paradigm, which makes it more important than other fleeting trends. Yet this aspiration for an indeterminate age is not without contradictions. The social pressure toward a neutral appearance can generate anxiety and dissatisfaction, imposing standards that are difficult to achieve. Moreover, the economic and emotional costs remain high: not everyone can afford repeated treatments or specialist procedures, and the fear of disharmonious results is always present. As many experts note, the real challenge will be maintaining balance and professional ethics in a sector where demand grows faster than patient awareness.