How attractive do you consider yourself to be

[thinkingisharderthandoing]

For your age, have you aged well, given up, had help, feel inner beauty, always felt ugly, means a lot to you, means nothing to you? Do you have good days, bad days?
Also any tips and advice to share.

But beauty is a societal judgment. Different kinds of looks were valued at certain times in history, and in different cultures, it's not even a stable idea to apply in judgment. So are we to internalise this, and judge ourselves accordingly? What if in 10 years time, opinion changes again, fashion changes, as it inevitably will, must we then change ourselves to fit in and feel " worthy"?
You can see on this thread, women that feel bad about themselves because they fall so far from what is now considered beautiful, because beauty ( which is a genetic accident) is the determiner of a woman's worth.

It doesn't take much to feel judged though does ut? There's not much point in saying that no one is judging anyone, when this entire thread is just a continuation of pressure that already exists. Why can't we base our value on intelligence, or athletic prowess, or artistic talents?

I’m a straight up 11/10.

Would you instruct your daughters to place a value, and base their own self esteem on what they look like?

No . In reality beauty is in the eye of the beholder and in how you behave towards others .

Beauty is as important as anything else and if I gave birth to a child who was stupid but beautiful, I'd encourage her to celebrate her advantageous looks as well as cultivating traits such as kindness, fairness etc.

I didn't choose my IQ level at birth any more than I chose my face or my body type. If some people, by chance and practice, are very good athletes, why is their strength praised while someone born beautiful who hones their aesthetic by taking care of their body is seen as being vain or inferior, that the things they are good at are 'not important'?

To answer the original question, if I am lazy and don't put any effort in (no thought into clothes, glasses on as they don't flatter my face but sometimes can't be bothered with lenses, no makeup at all and hair looking scruffy) I look quite plain, not ugly but very 'meh'. If I put the effort in- contacts really change my face as I have big eyes and a smallish mouth in comparison, bit of makeup on to lift things, at the very least freshly washed hair- I look like a different person and quite attractive. Not a 'helen of Troy' type by any means but sunshine-and-daisies, Disney Princess wide eyed kind of thing, probably more cute than beautiful.

In terms of looking good for my age I'm in my mid 20s but still get asked if I need a child or an adult's bus ticket and get ID'd every time I buy calpol so I hope I have a few good years in me, lol.

I was bullied for my looks in my tween years/ teens so am happy to look at an image I find pleasing in the mirror now that I have 'bloomed'. I've learned to manage my hair, getting contacts changed things hugely, settling down to a reasonable weight after years of anorexia, and nice teeth after braces helped but so did self confidence and learning what flatters me. Before, I would stand all hunched up and po-faced with insecurity which doesn't suit anybody. Even standing tall with a big happy smile does wonders, as your happiness radiates outwards.

I'd give myself a good 9 for external looks. I'm slim, with curves in the right places albeit I am short! I look younger than my years and am confident in my skin. I get a lot of compliments that sometimes make me feel uncomfortable as I don't know what to say. The days when I feel my best however are on days when I don't give two hoots about my appearance and just enjoy life being happy. Beauty is very subjective and people's personalities do shine through.

Exactly Kismetjayn

I really don't understand this notion that women are invisible after a certain age. Sure I'm not exactly elderly but I believe you can be noticed and admired whatever your age. For some that's physical beauty for others it's other qualities.
I get that society leans towards youthful beauty. And there is no doubt that a stunning 20 year old has certain advantages and rightly so! But beauty can be an attribute at all ages.
I find now as a woman of almost 40, being attractive, looking after yourself and being good at sport certainly gets attention and praise. And hell I'm relishing it.
I've never felt ignored or ridiculous because of my age even when much younger women are alongside me.
It's not an either or. Just because youth is wonderful and vital it does not mean maturity cannot be beautiful too.
And it's certainly not a competition. I have no interest in trying to be more attractive than 20 year olds. Young men should be lusting after young women. I just think that you are only invisible if you allow yourself to be.
Also I do get the notion that women should not be reduced to their looks and society puts this pressure on. But I really believe a gorgeous figure and face only gets you so far without an inner spark and loving nature and most importantly, belief in yourself.

"
Time and money is all any of us would need to look as good as, say, Kate Beckinsale or Cheryl Cole. We've just got more important things to think about!"

That's not strictly true. Some of us, not me, are more blessed in the bone structure department.

This thread is really interesting. I'm not photogenic and don't get men falling at my feet, but my friends say I'm attractive (They would, wouldn't they!?) , and I've always had attractive partners.
I'm nearly 50 and am regularly told I look mid-thirties, but I think that's partly as I'm not very well groomed, as opposed to looking good.
I'm useless at making the best of myself but have am outgoing funny and warm, which goes a long way.

Oh another thing, I was never told I was pretty or attractive by my parents, which I think actually made me less pretty than I could have been (there's been studies). I know parents shouldn't focus too much on looks, but it would have been nice to have been bigged up by my own parents.

I’m about a 3/10 without makeup and hair done... done would have been a 4/10 but that’s improved slightly to a 5/10 - DH got me the Dyson Airwrap for Christmas and I feel more groomed. If I could lose some weight and drop from a 20 to a 14, then develop some style, I’ll be a 6, maybe a 6.5

The holy grail would be the ‘mummy package’* - tummy tuck, lipo, boob job

• I’m not a mum, just fat

At my best (26-30) I was a 9. I still have conventionally attractive figure (slim with curves and legs basically). I have more grey in my hair than Id like and although still slim there is a change in the quality of my skin on my arms, stomach and delocotage. I have started using retinitiods, which I think does help. I think I now look younger than my younger sister (About to be 43, she's 40). I would say 7-8 .

Oh and quit drinking in September, partly though vanity.

Not too bad. My face is a bit weird not classically-pretty but my body's pretty good (big boobs, toned arms/legs/bum/shoulders, not too wobbly of tummy after 2 kids). I looked younger than my age for many years but not anymore, I think (6 years and counting of broken sleep). But there's nothing wrong with looking 40.

I don't smoke anymore, walk quite a lot, eat real food, rarely drink to excess, but a lot of it's genetics, I'm sure.

Some days I like what I see and some days I want to hide away for fear of scaring small children.

On average, maybe a 7.

Over Weight and feel ugly inside and out.

Hoping to change that this year. Both inside and out

I’m fairly sturdy, and defo an unusual look. I have very good bone structure through and have never sunbathed, and I know when I need to be, I can be very charming. If I had to sign up for a dating agency or the like, I’d probably score about a 4, but on charisma and charm in real life, i beat all comers.
And I quite like it that way. I’ve no wish to look like someone else or “as good as” someone else. I like being a good version of me.

Im 39 but look in my 20s so for that a 10 but i need to lose weight im a size 12 got short legs that are a bit chubby and a mum tum so id say im a 7
I do wear make up and hair extentions that make me feel better about myself and i always wear a dress so i feel girly and not a mess.

Some days I think I’m nice looking and other days I’m a bit meh. If I put the effort in and put a little make up on and do my hair nice it really boosts my self esteem, plus when I wear my contacts I feel like a totally different person!

As for age I do feel good about that, I’m 30 and renewed my passport last year from the one I had when I was 15 and I’ve barely changed at all

Just found this on my watch list. I'm over 50 and a chubster, but I'm told I look younger than that. Good skincare, caci facials etc. I know how to put make-up on, trained in it. I am reasonably attractive, but have grown into my own skin, so not as bothered by what people think as I used to be. I am very intolerant of people passing sexist comments, and will call it out these days, but I get far more male attention than you might expect. It's in the attitude I think. Also, I saw Tina Malone, from Shameless interviewed years ago. She said men had said she wasn't pretty, but she was sexy, because she looked 'dirty' in a sexual way. So it's not all about conventional beauty.

Oh no! Seems I have killed the thread.... :(

Better than average.

I’m tall. Slim. Healthy. Fit. Face is symmetrical. Nice colour hair. Nice eyes. I like the way I look. I have fun and enjoy life, and enjoy other people, and I think that is attractive.

I probably don’t dress as well as I could because I love sports kit and hoodies. I don’t really wear make up and probably need to start now I’m mid thirties.