And again, what about the rest of the post? You know, this bit...
No you turtle.
You agreed with me on the point that the wrong use of cosmetics can cause detriment to your skin, and MAY only give any meaningful benefit in the short term. Hence why you say "i'm talking about people who seem to have used the stuff for years and it's gone horribly wrong".
And that's my only point.
My follow-on is that yes, the wrong use of cosmetics can cause detriment to your skin in the future, but the sparing use of moisturises and anti-ageing creams which contain, for example, vitamin B and C, can help the skin be healthy.
It is in turn this health of the skin that causes it to endure less blemishes, heal quicker when damaged and therefore age less. The less your skin has to work because it's in top notch condition with all the internally derived (nutrition) and applied (topical vitamin/minerals) building blocks, the better your skin is going to be in the future.
It's why people with acne have skin that ages faster.
Using minimalistic SPF (protection from UV), anti-ageing (topically absorbed vitamins/minerals that aid with skin health), and light diffusing tinted (which help even the skin tone the same way foundation does, yet not over-the-top) products can significantly help reduce the rate at which your skin ages, whilst also making it look slightly better in the present.
Yes, the media is causing people to go over-the-top on cosmetic products, but if you understand even a small part about the role of nutrition and basic medicine, you can help your skin through both internal and external (which are ultimately internal - absorption) mechanisms.