This is what 70 looks like - patronising shite about beauty in old age.

What specifically don't you like about the lipsticks you've tried, placemats? Knowing that might help any resident makeup lovers steer you towards something that would work better for you.

(Personally I like makeup for going out in the evening but usually don't bother with it otherwise, so it's kind of an all or nothing thing. In no way am I under the illusion that my decision to wear it when I do is feminist or empowering or any of that guff, but you can never fully take the goth out of the former Manic Panic loving girl no matter how old she gets.)

I’ve never worn make up and I’m 62!
I certainly won’t be starting when I’m 70, either. When will the Guardian be running articles telling 70 year old men how to groom their nose and ear hair? Oh, silly me - appearance only matters for us empty headed shallow little women, doesn’t it.

Make up geek here. placematshave you tried nars audacious lipsticks? They're exceptional in texture and have some incredible colours.

Why shouldn't a 70 year old woman be interested in how she looks? I'm sure I will be, whether that includes using make up or not. I think the idea that you should be above such things by then is quite an insidious piece of ageism.

Although to be fair the women I most admire never wore it in the first place.

I'm so thankful I have makeup free older women to model myself on, to aspire to have their wisdom and mental stature, to emulate their contribution to society. Looks are becoming less and less important to me as I age and grow. I hope I will have completely abandoned make-up for good by the time I am 70 as all the women I most admire of that age have.

The older you get the more the foundation you wear emphasizes every line. That is a simple fact and also the main reason for two things.
1, sales of "age defying" products is on the increase.
2, many older women stop wearing full face make up because it makes them look older.
It is an odd curve we go through. When we start at 13 the makeup makes us look older, and then when we reach middle age it makes us look younger, after menopause it makes us look older again.
That is the consensus of my over 70 age group.

I can't get worked up about this one.
It's an article about beauty and make up vloggers and there aren't a great number of men of any age who do that let alone a 70 + year old man!

To me the most patronising bit is the tagline ... the most exciting new voices in beauty vlogging are over 60.

When they actually mean product plugging.

It's more ageist than sexist.

I post quite a log in MN about the need to check your mirror not your calendar when making decisions about your appearance.

Yes, sometimes such pieces are thinly veiled marketing. But actually there's no real need to change the number or type of products you use on your skin because of age (though 'richer' formulations seem to increase in popularity as hormone levels change from perimenopause onwards). Just as there's no need to change the way you dress, if you still like it.

I think rejecting the ageism is an important step in loosening all the other unnecessary 'what women should' guff. It won't ever go away completely - we're talking about a multi-million dollar international business sector. But it could be made to work in ways that are more diverse.

I think it’s the assumption that because I’m female this stuff should occur to me that winds me up.

If someone wears makeup, doesn’t, does skincare, doesn’t, wears skirts or doesn’t, that’s all fine.

Expecting me to give a shit about what I look like because society demands it, pfft no chance.

I’d describe my style as deliberately inconspicuous.

I'm not sure it's down to sexism.

Perhaps I misunderstood what you meant by this then : "Not one of them is a man of course. It's all down to women to hold on to that beauty ideal. Whatever your age."

Mainstream media will always cater to mainstream interests unfortunately. They're not in the habit of encouraging diversity, rather reflecting back at the reader.

By contrast, whilst it has its drawbacks, social media has been very democratising in terms of people of "non-typical" profiles promoting the stuff they're doing/ interested in (e.g. 50 year old Crossfitters, 70 year old surfers, overweight marathoners) and of course there's marketing to be done there - old surfers/ runners/ still buy stuff and they're more likely to buy it if it's endorsed by someone who they relate to rather than 20 year old pro-surfer Brad from California with his chiselled jaw and 6 pack abs).

I really enjoy following people achieving a lot in sports and fitness in their 40's because it makes me realise that it's ok to redefine goals and their challenges/ advice are more relatable.

Therefore, bit torn on this. I don't really like the article but it is in the fashion section so...... and I think the bloggers are addressing ageism, even if not sexism. So much "anti-ageism" is actually a kind of "age denial" whereas this isn't.

But the vast majority of media content on makeup and skincare is aimed at women, including ones aimed at younger audiences. It's all sexist to a degree. When I read this article, I was thinking that the writer had just discovered an interesting angle on beauty vlogging that perhaps a lot of people were unaware of and decided to write about it.

This is how it goes, every single time: fashion written off and belittled because it's seen as a women's interest.

I'd rather go clothes shopping than rock climbing any time so sue me.

There are actually quite a few YouTube videos on aging surfers, including those over 70. Y'all just need to do a little googling

Didn’t say there wasn’t. Just that the guardian wouldn’t think 70 year old surfer blogs worth featuring. Because beauty is far more important to women, of any age, than any physical or educational achievement.

It’s yet again reinforcing that looks and beauty are the only thing about women that anyone is interested in.

Lets go “man who has it all” for a minute. If the same article was written about 70 year old male bloggers, what do you think they’d feature? Men’s fashion? The best moisturiser or how to style receding hair? No, it would be 5 men who go sailing, or skiing, or rock climbing. Doing stuff, not figuring out how to sit around looking more decorative.

I think the skincare industry is run by liars and charlatans and I hate the way looking good is conflated with looking young. But I love clothes and I like playing with my appearance and always have done.

Whenever there's a thread like this, there is always an undercurrent of 'you can do what you like but I've got better things to do with my time.' I remember being regarded (in some circles) as too flighty to be a feminist when I was 19 and, 40-odd years later, it sometimes feels as if little has changed.

I agree about bloggers by the way. There used to be some really interesting ones but it's mostly furtive PR these days.

There are actually quite a few YouTube videos on aging surfers, including those over 70. Y'all just need to do a little googling.

There would be blogs for 70 year old surfers if they had something to sell. point is its all about selling products. The bloggers are the salespeople or as is termed "influences" all wrapped up in a lifestyle blog aimed at the targeted demographic.

I'm a dyed in the wool second wave feminist, which, by definition, makes me an older woman. I wear makeup (sometimes). I use skincare products. I am interested in fashion. I do sometimes watch YouTube videos that are aimed at older women, and I have found a few of them helpful.

I am not aiming at looking younger (and I don't like vloggers who mention this with every other sentence), but I do want to look well put together, especially for work.

I think some of these women are actually pretty brave, putting their unmade up and unadorned faces out there for all the world to see. And some of them get online nasty ageist comments for doing so.

*I'm 59. I wear make up. Is it OK with the posters on here that I might be interested in knowing what products will work better for me at 59 or 69 than the ones I used at 29?

You (general you) don't like make-up - fine, find an article you are interested in*

That isn’t how I read the o/p?

The point of the thread is not if women of a certain age should wear or like make up, but that the guardian felt the need to write an article focussed on women “staying young and beautiful”. Women, and only women, trying to live up to some beauty ideal. Who gives a fuck if they’re retired astrophysicists, look, a beauty blog someone your age should be interested in!

The goal of every woman, even older ones, is to draw attention to their looks. We have to be old and still beautiful.

Fuck that. When I’m 70 i want to be travelling the world, surfing and being active. No blogs featured for 70 year old surfers though, is there.

Oops double negative - indeed had the OP in her indignation not brought it to my attention it is an article I wouldn't even have read normally.