People saying you look young for your age

I am amazed that people are so utterly obsessed by their own looks. Imagine even starting this thread, Jesus fucking wept 😆 I just cannot fathom being this completely and utterly self obsessed, I can't imagine the thought processes of anyone so deeply self involved they even thought about writing this down - and then actually did it! I thought this was sort of conceited behaviour was confined to the utter narcissists who grace our presence through Hollywood and the likes of the Kardashians. Turns out they walk among us 😅

My nana used to say “I’m as old as my tongue and a little bit older than my teeth”. In her day (born around 1900s) it was rude to try and learn a lady’s age.

From mid 40s I have had a lot of “you don’t look your age”. I think it is just something polite to say. My 97 yr old mother says that people say it to her. I would have said ten years ago it was not true, but sadly she does look her age.

My default response is “thanks”. If pushed it would be “good genes I reckon”. It is a bit like when people ask how are you, they really don’t want to hear about your hernia surgery.

To be fair, you could have been.

😆

Just say thankyou.. l get it a lot and im 67.. but l take after my Gran who always told me to drink loads of water and moisturise.. moisturise and moisturise.. which l have. I also cannot raise my eyebrows so no frown lines. I don't smoke or drink alcohol.. Last weekend l went to a Cure concert with my 21 year old Grandson.. three times it got mentioned that l was his Mum.

I get that and I’m 45

They're always enjoyable though! Someone inevitably jumps the shark.

I get this constantly and I bloody love it 😂

Give it 10 years , enjoy it why you can !

It's a while since I've seen one of these really, really believable "I'm ## years old but people keep saying I look like a foetus and I HATE it!!" threads

I used to get this when I was in my 30s. Whilst it was flattering I found it frustrating in a work setting. Meeting with external people, particularly men, involved being patronised or ignored because I was assumed to be young and inexperienced. There was one occasion when a salesman literally laughed in my face when he found out I was the Head of Department!

I get it. When I was 35 people throught I was 25, and I had the same reactions from people as you. It's difficult to know how to react, and can feel uncomfortable. It may not last much longer though, I'm now 41 and had a difficult few years (close bereavement x2, caring for terminally ill Dad, and i got divorced) so I have definitely aged in the last few years. Nowadays no one is ever surprised by my age when they ask, and it does sting a bit considering I used to find it so uncomfortable by being told I looked so young. I now can't remember the last time I was told I looked young for my age, so do try to enjoy it whilst it lasts. I must be fickle because I miss it now 😂

This made me chuckle, I always used to get told I look way younger than I am, around 10 years knocked off.... loved it 🤣 even after having children.
I hit 40 and I felt like I aged over night but then I somehow managed to attract my DP who is 10 years younger than me.....so that was an insane boost lol

Clearly, the only solution to this dreadful problem is to horribly disfigure yourself.

They definitely can be linked. hEDS specifically causes you to have soft velvety skin because of a lack of collagen, but it obviously isn’t as durable as normal skin so aging often happens all at once as you’ve described. I remember going on a work placement from my university when i returned to education as a mature student. I mentioned something about my daughter and a woman said ‘as do you have a toddler’ and i said no she’s 12 and she just stared at me and blurted ‘You must have had her at 9 years old??’ 😆😆😆 I said how old did you think i am? she replies about 20? I was 39 😆

I have similar but just say thanks and joke that it was rubbish looking younger than my age in my teens

It’s got a whiff of misogyny, we’re all meant to be dying to look younger and so when you do it’s treated as an achievement.

Don't worry OP, people will stop saying it in a few years when your age finally catches up with you.

I get this a lot from new work colleagues in their twenties, the mouth drop! I just laugh and move on, they are mostly basing their assumptions on what their parents look like, I'm in my sixties

I get it as well. It is genetics from my mums side. When my gran died a lot of people were shocked at her age. My mum doesn't look her age either.

The older I get (62) the harder I find it to assess the age of people younger than me. I will assume someone is in their mid twenties and they are actually in early 40s. I know it's a cliche but my GP looks about 15!

Where on earth do all these baby faced people live? I don't think I know anyone who looks particularly young for their age. Are you all child sized, perhaps?

To be honest, I don't really know how old anyone's supposed to look anymore. My aunties don't look in their 80s to me, but neither do my neighbours. They all look like the way 60 used to look. So 60 looks like 40 and so on. Which means I look early 30s.

I say go for it 👍🏼.
Bonus points if they ask you where your parents are 😜

I think that perhaps you need to work on your assertiveness if that's the case. You're clearly an adult woman in the workplace, why would colleagues not respect you?

This is my exact issue. I'm mid 40s but probably look 25. People just assume I'm young and not experienced so it takes a lot of extra work to be listened to when I meet new people at work (which I do all the time). I am pleased to not look old but I wish I didn't have to constantly work harder than my colleagues to be respected.