TOKYO: The Yokohama city government and companies are encouraging the elderly to apply makeup and care for their skin, hoping this will lead to good health and improved quality of life.

The city expects these efforts will get elderly people to go out more and prevent their health from declining to a point where they need nursing care.

Some cosmetics manufacturers are aiming to develop “cosmetic treatment,” which takes advantage of the positive feelings that many elderly people have when they wear makeup.

At a beauty care lesson in the Yokohama city government building on March 26, participants were told, “By talking to people with a bright smile, you can prolong your healthy life expectancy.”

Seven elderly men and women attended the event organised by Shiseido Co., in which an instructor had them do stretches and then try simple makeup and skin care routines.

“Usually I do my makeup alone,” said a woman in her 80s who participated in the event. “But learning with everyone else, my brain felt so stimulated.”

Shiseido has held these kinds of lessons for the elderly across the country since 2013, aiming to extend people’s healthy life expectancy through makeup.

So far, the lessons have been attended by 256,000 people. The company said that three months after an event, participants were twice as likely as nonparticipants to go out somewhere.

“It’s easy to make a habit out of applying makeup,” said Kazuyuki Ikeyama, a researcher at Shiseido’s Mirai Technology Institute. “Even for men who are not used to makeup, having that different experience is effective.”

According to the Yokohama city government, there were about 190,000 elderly people in the city who were certified as needing nursing care as of January this year, and the number is predicted to rise to nearly 250,000 in 2040.

The city has signed a cooperation agreement with Shiseido, hoping to use makeup to keep elderly residents healthy enough that they do not need nursing care.

Starting in April, the city plans to hold makeup lessons about 60 times a year, mainly in nursing homes for the elderly.

“I hope that, by applying makeup, elderly residents can spend every day in a positive mood,” said Yokohama Mayor Takeharu Yamanaka.

There are also attempts to use makeup to help disabled people and patients with serious diseases.

In January, Fancl Corp., a company based in Naka Ward, Yokohama, launched a website that gives advice to cancer patients about makeup and how to coordinate one’s clothes.

According to the company, radiation therapy can cause peculiar pigmentation of the skin. When this happens, many patients feel negatively about their appearance and become reluctant to go out or receive medical treatment.

The company is also holding makeup lessons for visually impaired people.

In the events, instructors apply makeup on half of a participant’s face, and the participant does the other half by themself.

The events have been well-received. “I had given up on makeup after I lost my eyesight, but now I feel like going out,” said one participant.

“We will continue to work toward a society in which everyone can be healthy and shine as they are meant to shine,” said an official in charge of the event. - The Japan News/ANN