Does anyone really look younger than their age?

[smoleyjolie]

Online on forums, social media, on dating profiles and even in real life people claim to look younger than their age, they are X age but don't look it. They get ID's in the supermarket buying wine.

I am always highly sceptical because I've know people who say to my face how they look like they are 25 when they are actually 38 because they have no lines or wrinkles when I am looking at them and thought they were actually in their 40's and they have obvious wrinkles and grey hair, people are delusional! Honestly the capacity people have to delude themselves about anything is quite staggering and I have never met someone who claims to look younger and it actually turn out to be true.

When I was younger I thought some older people looked younger so I once thought a woman when she was 49 was closer to 30 but that was because I assumed all people of 49 looked "old" which isn't the case at all and looking back she looked great but she also looked her age which is fine.

Going back to the first case where the women was convinced she looked over 10 years younger, what could I say I just said yeah you look great and its the same anytime anyone makes that claim. People aren't going to dispute it.

People (friends and acquaintances) regularly say that I look younger than I am. I am in my mid-forties and have no grey hairs and unlined skin. My mum also looks young for her age so good genes I guess. We’ve both got quite plump faces, which helps I think.
Whenever DH and I come across old school/uni friends, I am always surprised by how old they look!
Obviously, I wouldn’t say any of this in RL!

I think people look so so much younger these days , I know she’s rich but look at sienna miller in her early 40’s
beyonce. I have a lot of friends like her and they could be mid 30’s but they are only on their first child (they are v early 40’s) so not that beat down yet lols. I don’t think you can look in your 20’s when you are late 30’s and 40’s , definitely not tbh….. but I do think that subtle Botox that lots get now can work wonders , can make that tired (especially when on the forehead as Botox works so so well there if not overdone) . However people never tell actual young people they look young ….as they are. Only old people are told they look young really 😂

I'm 32 and I think I look 32. I've had people guess a few years younger, 28 or so typically. I just assume they're age blind - most people genuinely suck at guessing age correctly. When I went in for my COVID jab I had no makeup on, hair in a bun, wearing an old hoodie and ratty trainers and when I told the woman my DOB she did a double take and said "God I thought you were about 18!" - that's the most ridiculous one I've ever had. But I think she was delulu, not me, I definitely don't look 18.

I think Nicola Coughlan (Claire from Derry Girls) looks younger than 36. She’s short and has small chubby face which seems very youthful.

I bloody don’t ☹️.

In normal day light everyone looks their age no exceptions.

People quite often say I look younger than I am. I'm 52 and they tend to think I'm a)mid 40s. I'm not glamorous-youthful-looking or anything, I just have no visible grey hairs or wrinkles. I think it's partly because I'm a little bit overweight (very slim people often have older-looking faces imo), and partly because I had quite oily skin for most of my life, so as I've got older it's gone to normal rather than dry.

No one looks an exact age though do they? People look about 40-45 or about late 50s. Looking 5 years younger than your age means bugger all. On top of that some people are just crap at guessing age and when asked to age someone most people will guess younger because they don't want to offend.

Everyone always says they look younger than their actual age, but I've rarely met anyone who I'm genuinely shocked by their age. I've met the odd say 30yr old who could pass for 21, but equally can pass for 30.

Oh yes, I've been asked this before. "Are your parents in?" It happened a few times in my previous house, and twice in this house that I moved into a year ago.

I usually just say no so that they fuck off quickly. 😅

In general I think most people look around their age.

There are always exceptions though (both ways!), and these threads really do seem to encourage people to be nasty about it and delight in telling people they're wrong about looking younger. Who cares if someone thinks that, it probably makes them feel good and they might even be right!

I'm 36 and I think I look slightly younger but am catching up to looking my age. In fact I don't think it's necessarily that I look younger, it's that some women my age look in their mid 40s, probably due to genetics, styling and lifestyle choices. People used to say I looked young and I'd regularly get asked for ID but that hasn't happened for about 2 years now so I reckon I'm catching up.

Until a couple of years ago I passed for late 20's (i'm mid 30's) and most people assumed I was younger, I'm very short, have a quiet voice and baby face. Working from home has aged me though and I think I look my age now.

I don't think you can hide your voice weirdly- I can almost always tell someones age from listening to them. I used to use it to my advantage when I was younger and had no ID and it usually worked- most people sound their age.

Not sure, mostly 5 years younger.

Know someone who looked like a child for years, but they dressed younger, wore bunches, they didn’t drink or smoke, had a very high pitched voice, and no shape at all. I would say it’s unusual.
People mostly look older, the question I dread is ‘how old do I look’ this means I think about how old they are deduct ten years so as to not offend, because they think they look good.

Even if someone does look very good, you can usually see facial lines, or something which makes you think they aren’t that young.

People do get asked for I.D well in to their twenties even early thirties. I think it’s more common when you are younger and the person guessing your age is older…

The trope here is that everyone either looks their age or much older, it's just not true imo.
I don't think I look much younger but I've recently started a new job and everyone has assumed I'm at least 10 years younger than I am.

I always find it funny when people are falling over themselves to declare that 'no one, absolutely no one looks younger than x age or years'.

I see these people with their opinions much more often than those who say that they look younger unless the topic is brought up or something just happened to them that they want to share.

What does it even matter if they do or don't?

In my opinion, people who keep going on about 'No one looks younger than this or that' either don't know a lot of people or anyone who looks younger than their age and in their mind, that means they don't exist, or they're jealous [because to them, looking younger than your age is aspirational and something they can't achieve] so they believe that continuously saying this will mean that it stops existing or make them feel better.

I can't imagine what else it could be.

For some people, looking much younger than your age and knowing many people who do are both everyday reality and no big deal because it's the norm for them. I can see why it would be such a big deal and seemingly unimaginable for some people though.

My husband was once rung up by the HR administrator as they thought they had made a mistake typing his DOB. She just didn't believe it was correct!

@Pandapoppss Oh I've not heard that! I get mistaken for a lot younger but it's mixed race genes, so the other expression for me! 😂

My older sister is slim so looks younger than me, also has better skin.

It's honestly not funny when you're ID'd trying to buy booze at 40 and forgot your ID!

But yes, some people of all races just look really young. Mum had a lovely carer recently who shocked us when she began talking about her secondary school age children - we thought she was about 20!

re jobs, I had a 50 year old plumber in recently who gets a lot of jip from customers about experience, because they think he's young. He's also black so we had a proper whinge about the times we've not been taken seriously at work.

isn't this how Little Owen Jones got that nickname? Looking so young?

@HeavenCANTwait 38 to 42

I'm 54 and my eldest DC is 35, people always say they're surprised at that. However I think I look at least 50, I'm a bit overweight and have a chubby face so think that's why I may look slightly younger. A work colleague is the same age and she's also a bit overweight as looks a little younger too. But certainly I don't look any more then a few years younger, particularly today when I'm steaming with cold.

Oh and Lauren from The Chvrches. Okay, I haven't seen her close up but she could pass as 20 I reckon!

I looked younger until I was 60. Rapid decline after that - I’m 65 now and look 10 years older.

I superficially look younger than my age, enough that at a quick glance people might think I'm younger than I am, but if you actually looked at me, I look my age.

I do know someone who could have passed for 15 or even younger until she was in her late thirties/early forties. She was very petite with delicate features and long, naturally pale blonde hair. Her husband, who was the same age as her, looked older than his age, so they had to be careful sometimes showing affection in public because people would think he was a paedophile.

If everyone looks younger than their age, which you'd be forgiven for thinking by reading all these posts, maybe we're just wrong about what various ages look like?

I look and act about ten years younger (I’m late thirties).

My parents are the same though - my mum’s almost 70 and could pass for mid 50s and my dad in his 70s still has all his hair which is more pepper than salt.

It must be genetic as I eat junk, do minimal exercise and smoked for years.

Does it count if my work forgot to get me a 30th birthday present (before anyone asks- we do this in my team and got my colleague a 30th present the prior year) as they thought I wasn't close to 30 yet? They did still wish me a happy birthday on the actual day, so they didn't forget my birthday, they just didn't think I was old enough to be 30.

It was a bit sad at the time, but I guess minor yay they think I'm a couple of years younger than I actually am?