to think that good skincare and "tweakments" do make a big difference?

Private medical insurance doesn’t cover everything. It doesn’t really do the kind of preventative care that you might want )and which is more standard in the rest of Europe in their national health services) eg bloods, pelvic ultrasound, DEXA scan. If you have symptoms of course these may be covered by your policy where clinically indicated but if you don’t then no.

And few even top notch private dental insurance schemes cover the full extent of orthodontic work for bite correction or cosmetic bonding etc that may be required with age related issues.

Would you mind sharing which products exactly you used, please?

Korean skincare has faded my hyperpigmentation.

To those of you who use tret - has it faded your hyperpigmentation? I've been using it for approx 4 years and still have quite a few brown spots. I use it every night and I use the strongest option. I don't sandwich. I use SPF 50 every single day. Thank you.

I don’t think I’d ever apply the word ‘haggard’ to myself. It’s just not something I’d think about. Basic skin care so it feels nice. Wouldn’t pay for anything else. Don’t wear make up. Don't dye my hair (it’s grey).
Each to their own, but why so critical of yourself.

I'm not interested in looking younger but I do want to look my best. To look and feel good in my mid 40s, I've had to seriously improve nutrition, exercise and sleep. I do regularly have beauty treatments and have lots of skincare and gadgets to help make my skin and hair the best it can be. This has been much harder for me during perimeno as hair loss, insomnia and acne have been making this far more difficult than in my 20s when I could fall alseep drunk in my makeup at 3am and still look great the next day.

Hrtft but based on your op, Yanbu

we’re too old to worry about what we’re doing to the feminist cause girl, honestly, these women don’t care anyway!! 😂

I am saving for Botox myself - it’s been around for a while now so can be done well imo

🥰🥰

Honestly I think botox makes you still look your age but just with botox. You can always tell and people saying you can’t are lying 😂

I use rice and niacin skin wash and moisturiser, haruharu eye cream, and Skin1004 ampule. I think Korean skincare has slightly different focus - it focuses on maintaining skin balance, calming and refreshing. UK and US market is focused mostly on exfoliating, peeling and otherwise stressing the skin.
I'd say the only comparable products that come close are Aveda skincare but it's much more expensive.

I used to use retinol cream, Dermatica. Since I stopped it, my skin has never looked better!

I don’t think there is any miracle product or procedure. It’s a lucky match of product and skin. Which is why not everything works for everyone.

I am a bit odd perhaps and like my wrinkles. I feel they show the life I have lived at 55. Ha, I even think they sometimes look quite sexy. Deluded perhaps?!

See I disagree with this. I think older women who look their age are also visible and recognised in the culture, not just the young-looking women. The likes of TV presenter Mary Berry, historian Mary Beard, former prime minister Theresa May, journalist Kate Adie, photographer Annie Leibovitz, all women who have aged naturally but who are successful in their respective fields and are in the public eye.

There’s a tendency to focus on Hollywood and “celebrities” - a culture which has always been image conscious - when there are many other areas of public life.

I do have good skin , no spots acne or anything and it’s smooth

But I have Botox every 4 months
tiny bit of lip filler twice a year
eyebrows shaped monthly
Infills on my eyelash every 10 days
Nails / infills every 2 weeks
pedicure every month.

I use cocoa butter as my main moisteriser

coco butter bronzer to give me a bit of healthy glow
and body shop caminole cleanser which is amazing stuff

i eat well keep my weight around 9stone
I don’t smoke and rarely drink

Im not aiming to look younger although i do look a lot younger than my age
I just want to look good & healthy and put together

when I do look my age or older is when I’m tired or stressed so I try to get a good nights sleep and avoid stress

I never really understand it when people say that they use Botox to make them themselves look fresher and less tired but not younger. Surely there is a reason you’re doing it in your 40s and 50s and not in your 20s?

Anyway OP, it is really common to get Botox now. We all do things that aren’t particularly ‘feminist’. I shave my armpits. I am in my mid 50s and won’t ever get any Botox done and only one of my friends gets it. I think we all look pretty great whatever we do! I would say they avoid lip filler though. That is the devil’s work ;-)

Thanks for the heads up. I'll look into it some more.

I receive regular compliments on my skin and how young and smooth and glowing it is. I'm in my mid 40s. These comments come from: a former colleague in her 60s who I meet for coffee, my hairdresser, friends of friends, friends, teachers, mums at school, my husband's mate's wives.

What do I use? Micellar water to take my makeup off. Lidl moisturiser.

I'm also chubby which I genuinely helps my face look smoother with plump cheeks. And people have trouble saying nice things about how fatter people look unless it's their (my) lovely skin.

I've never had a skin care routine - I just wash and I moisturise because my face feels tight and dry otherwise.

I've never had botox or fillers or facials - I can't afford them!

I think everyone is entitled to do what they want with their own faces.

I don't agree with your theory that people who spend the money and have complex routines look younger and better because I don't always know who's had what and who does what and because I've done none of those things and it turns out that genetics are on my side skin smoothness wise.

Also, I don't mind that I'm getting older, it's a privilege we don't all get. And wouldn't it be boring if we all looked the same.

I'm sure genetics play a part and since I'm always doing some form of exercise I tend to have a nice healthy glow. I very rarely wear makeup either so do wonder if it is just better in general to put less 'stuff' on our faces, rather than more.

Or have private medical insurance like millions of people do already?

I did further up!

I'm similar. I do ALL the right things. Excercise, whole foods diet, no alcohol, no stress, early nights etc.
Unfortunately the youthful body, healthy hair, energy etc that all that has given me makes me look like I've borrowed an older woman's face if I don't have the odd tweakment to bring it in line with the rest of me.

Can any ladies share their favourite products? Particularly Korean skincare

I think everyone should be free to do with their own faces as they wish.
We're all going to age though. I'm accepting it as gracefully as I can and going down without a fight, because I was never attractive in my life so don't intend to start throwing money at my face now.

But if having things done makes you feel better about yourself - go for it.

There are many things I'd like to change about myself but I do have very good skin. I think people sometimes underestimate the benefits of exercise and a clean diet and look to treatments first. I workout every day and I would say my diet is 95% clean. I use Pears soap on my skin with a flannel, and moisturise with Aveeno Dermexa. Cheap and effective. I do use a decent SPF also.

I’m sure you’re right that people who look after their skin generally, whether that’s through diet, lifestyle, good products or some other interventions, do look better.

However, sorry to be a negative Nellie, but as you get older you may find like many in my comfortably off peer group, that the money you’d otherwise have spent on such things is eaten up by dental care ( your perfect teeth can move with age) and even private health services such as GP, menopause, gynaecology or scans that are just not available at all, or not within sensible timescales, on the NHS. I’d recommend that all women approaching menopause who are able to do so, set aside some money for this type of thing.

Yes, for every woman who looks like a fish, there are 2 who just look "normal"! There's a woman in my office who I worked out has had tweakments only because there is no way her skin is that good at her age! We've chatted about it subsequently.

@5128gap yes - my research also suggests that for mouth lines, filler is a better option which is what I'm considering. Botox seems to be a bit iffy in that area.