People saying you look young for your age

I get it a lot too…especially when people find out how old my kids are they say “ooh you must have started early!” (I was 30 when I had my first 😂)

I used to get a bit embarrassed and didn’t know what to say but now I’ve started telling anyone who asks that I was a child bride.

I also openly admit to my Botox use (if asked about my age directly)

The human body has some very distinct jumps in terms of ageing. The next one for you is also considered one of the most dramatic - 40-45. So you probably won’t have this for too much longer. After that the next ones are 60 and 75.

I get told the same thing. I’m 50, and I often get told ‘“wow, you don’t look FIFTY!!” As though it’s some bad thing to look 50. Or even worse “oh my gosh, you look AMAAAAZING for FIFTY!!” Which I find particularly rude.

I usually say something along the lines of “oh I get told that quite a lot, I’m trying not to thank people for saying it as I don’t think it’s a compliment to look younger is it it’s just a fact”

If I’m feeling particularly salty I’ll say something like, “younger people are generally not as wise as me, so why would it be a compliment to look stupider than I am?”
but I’m trying to get out of that habit as although I don’t think anyone’s taken offence (I do say it quite jovially, not how it looks written down) I worry about the sensitivities of younger people and one day I’ll offend someone! 😂

Your dentist thought your 20 year old son was your 8 year old son's dad? Eh?!And that a woman in her mid 40s was too young to have a 20 year old? Again eh?

I would be very reluctant to let this person near my teeth with a drill to be honest, if he thinks a 20 year old is the father of an 8 year old, and a 44 year old woman 'doesn't look old enough' to be the mother of a 20 year old.

Also genuinely wondering why you took your 20 year old son to the dentist with your 8 year old son. Why did he need to be there?

I have a baby face and I accept that. My sister who is three years younger than me looks her age, and she does look older than me.

Like several others on here, I have HSD (I don’t meet the criteria for EDS by one point) and when people tell me I look young for my age, I tell them I’ll trade them the HSD and the pain and the fatigue that comes with it to look my age! That shuts them up fast.

A lot of baby faces on here. 👶

Yes, it's quite an odd story. Medical practitioners rarely have time for this sort of thing.

Your sister "looks her age"?
Well, that means absolutely nothing if you read this thread!

OP; you're only 35. You are young.
If you're bored or frustrated by people's reactions, just ignore them or find new friends.

It's quite the epidemic. They all hate it.
Although getting a child fare on public transport at age 47 has got to be a bonus.

My cousin who is a doctor used to jokingly act like I was a freak show for looking so young and that I should be studied scientifically. But funnily enough last year I was told I was hypermobile which I’m now hearing can make people look younger ! So maybe they were onto something 😂

I had always just thought it was purely a family thing since both the men and women in my family look quite young until they start to properly age at like 65+

I've had comments like this for most of my adult life. I got asked for ID in Tesco once when I was in my early 30s; I looked at him incredulous, thinking he was joking, but he was being deadly serious!

I'm in my mid 50s now and don't get it so much (thanks, menopause!) but on the whole it never really bothered me. The only time I hated it was when I was in my teens and would get mistaken for being much younger. My 2 daughters, both in their mid 20s, are the same and could easily pass for being 10 years younger.

I'm in my late 50s and have quite big eyes (like a baby,) do you reckon I could get a Young Persons Railcard if I go to the train station with no make up on and my hair in pigtails?

Wow. you posted this. Just wow.

Are you for real? People’s faces don’t melt when they turn 50? You sound up your own ass and a bit ridiculous if I am honest

Just laugh it off. There will come a time when you catch up and no-one will say that any more!

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.

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?

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

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.

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!

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.

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

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

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.