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Original poster

Does anyone really look younger than their age?

762 replies

smoleyjolie · 04/12/2023 14:10

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.

OP posts:
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DerekFaker · 04/12/2023 16:51

PenelopeTheShroudWeaver · 04/12/2023 14:29

Some people do look younger than their age but I would say anything more than 5 years is very unusual

There's also a widely held belief that the second you hit 40 you're basically ancient and therefore should be covered in wrinkles etc.

Does anyone remember the buzz around J Lo performing at the Superbowl (2 years ago maybe) and the utter astonishment that she had managed to hit 50 and still look in shape and attractive, as if you're expected to be decomposing by that age 😁

I think this is the truth of it. People often have an (often incorrect) idea in their heads of what a certain age looks like.

tbh I think people really struggle to accurately guess peoples age between about 30-40 I think people think anyone young looking but clearly an adult must be in their 20s because people don't seem to have a very good idea of what people in their 30s look like

This too.

And I'm saying this as someone who does get told they look younger. I personally think I look my age.

Blackeyeliner · 04/12/2023 16:52

I used to look younger than my age but not anymore! Once we hit our 40's I think there are telltale signs that give it away, even if you look good for your age.

LoobyDop · 04/12/2023 16:53

I think a lot of people now look younger at 40, 50, whatever than people of that age would have looked 30 or 40 years ago- partly because of fashion, but also better skincare, availability of tweakments etc. So it’s not so much that people look ten years younger than 40, as the standard for what a 40 year old looks like has changed.

ClivetheDestroyer · 04/12/2023 16:54

Interesting... I am 33 and think I look it at the moment (thoguh could pass for a couple of years either side obv).
However I have looked "30ish" for many years now, probably since about 23ish! DH once said that I "don't look 30, but do dress and act 30" 😂
I'm kind of hoping that means that I'll just stop at "30ish"!

mantyzer · 04/12/2023 16:55

A friend does. She is 60 and does look much younger but she has never drunk alcohol, never smoked and avoids the sun.
Everyone else looks their age.

GinBlossom94 · 04/12/2023 16:58

LoobyDop · 04/12/2023 16:53

I think a lot of people now look younger at 40, 50, whatever than people of that age would have looked 30 or 40 years ago- partly because of fashion, but also better skincare, availability of tweakments etc. So it’s not so much that people look ten years younger than 40, as the standard for what a 40 year old looks like has changed.

This is what I came to say, I look a lot younger than my Mum did at the same age, but I dress and present myself a lot differently than she did in the 90s. I'm also short and not overweight (my mum always has been)

SOBplus · 04/12/2023 16:58

In my 20's I had to grow a beard as everyone assumed I was a teenager which didn't fit well as a senior executive in a multi-national firm. I'm still guessed at being 10 years younger than I am which now I enjoy!🙂

SallyWD · 04/12/2023 17:03

There's a man I work with who I assumed was fresh out of university - no older than 22. He is incredibly young looking and baby faced. I've just found out he's 38!
So yes, people can look younger than they are.

Cherryana · 04/12/2023 17:04

At school the other day the kids (rudely imo) took on themselves to guess my age by calling out.

They ranged between 24 - 74.

People are rubbish at guessing ages.

I didn’t tell them my age but I am roughly in the middle of that range!!

Sequinne · 04/12/2023 17:05

I think it’s a combination of different things, some people just have good genes & some people look younger as they have youthful features. Others have a youthful outlook on life, which makes them seem younger.

Dh is 40 but definitely doesn’t look 40. If he told people he was 30, they wouldn’t bat an eyelid.
My mum is 71 but looks a good 10 years younger. People are shocked if they find out she’s in her 70s.

I’m 37 and my dd nursery teacher said she thought I was early 30s at the most.
I’ll take that, thank you!

TheYearOfSmallThings · 04/12/2023 17:05

In most cases you can tell a person's age, and it is fair to say that a lot of people are delusional about looking younger (just as many of us are in denial that the way we look in photos is how we actually look).

But I have occasionally met people who look 10 or more years younger than they are. None are white, and none have made an active effort to look younger or used Botox etc - they just naturally look young.

Turfwars · 04/12/2023 17:06

I was always perceived to be much younger than I was. I was routinely ID'd into my late thirties. I was not only baby-faced but I was slight and thin and quite short so it all adds into me looking like a kid.

Even now, I'm 48 and age is starting to show but still, people are surprised when I mention my age. Having a kid later has probably fed into that perception as well, I'd easily have 10 years on my DS's friends mums, so they just assume I'm late 30s like them.

WhenLoveIsDone · 04/12/2023 17:06

Plastic surgery, lip enhancements etc are very ageing. I'd say a lot of young women now look older than their years rather than vice versa.

43ontherocksporfavor · 04/12/2023 17:08

I’m 52 and was asked for ID in Morrisons. I laughed out loud then realised the lady was serious. She said I know you’re over 18 but can’t be sure you’re over 25. Now I think I look around my age, some say 45-50 but 25??? 😂

RunnerDown · 04/12/2023 17:09

Curtainscurtains · 04/12/2023 15:01

I'm thin and people can't believe my age. It has always been so but I appreciate it more now.

I’m thin. It makes me look young from a distance but if anything my face looks older than friends of the same age who have rounder faces .
And I would always knock 10 years off anyone’s age if I was asked to guess. In case i offended someone

CatamaranViper · 04/12/2023 17:09

I do look younger than I am. I regularly get ID'd (though I suspect they ask me because they need to hit their quota and I could pass as a 25 year old who has had a VERY rough paper round).

While people often think I'm humble bragging when I say this, I actually find it a massive problem career wise. I'm also short (5"1), slight, high voice, blonde hair so I am often spoken down to or treated like an inexperienced young adult instead of someone in their mid-30s. I get ignored at conferences and events by peers and people will often speak over me or talk to my colleagues over me.

It's very difficult to find people who will take me seriously.

That said, I can also buy children's shoes which is great and I've occasionally been given student tickets on the bus (only when I onboard with a bunch of actual students at the same stop). It's also handy when door to door salesmen come and ask for the homeowner as I just say they aren't home and I don't get pushed.

AzureBlue99 · 04/12/2023 17:09

A colleague today told me she is 48. I genuinely thought she was about 30. It's not fillers, she just looks young and fresh faced.

Goldenbear · 04/12/2023 17:10

TheYearOfSmallThings · 04/12/2023 17:05

In most cases you can tell a person's age, and it is fair to say that a lot of people are delusional about looking younger (just as many of us are in denial that the way we look in photos is how we actually look).

But I have occasionally met people who look 10 or more years younger than they are. None are white, and none have made an active effort to look younger or used Botox etc - they just naturally look young.

How's it delusional of it is something they get told frequently though? I don't mean people who ask others to guess?

I disagree that people can't guess ages roughly within 5 year bracket.

Threewheeler1 · 04/12/2023 17:10

MrsDrudge · 04/12/2023 16:09

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

I'm 50 but I look older than my Mum...she's 80 😬

MarchingOnTogether · 04/12/2023 17:12

I looked a lot younger until I hit 40, unfortunately the wrinkles give me away now 😂
I had my DS at 30 but when I look back at the pics I look closer to 20! I was regularly asked for ID until my mid 30s and still occasionally asked up until about 38!
I can still pass for younger than my actually age of 44 but not by 10 years plus like it the past.
I wish i had appreciated it more at the time, I hated being told how young I looked when I was in my 20s, I'd kill for it now though 😂😂

Gowlett · 04/12/2023 17:13

I looked younger than my age, until I hit perimenopause.
Hagsville all the way now. Wish I’d appreciated it more…

I know others who look fresh, who look good (and younger).
But I only have one friend who’s 40s & genuinely looks like student. She’s always been mistaken for so much younger.

Goldenbear · 04/12/2023 17:14

Botox or 'work', lots of makeup and polished appearances always makes people look older IMO. Some people don't have very stressful lives so look younger. Looking younger doesn't equate to better looking though.

KnickerlessParsons · 04/12/2023 17:14

I'm not so young that I get asked for ID in supermarkets but I look about 10 years younger than I actually am.

BlueGrey1 · 04/12/2023 17:15

I think what most people need to understand is that you can have a wrinkle free face and still look your age, in this day and age wrinkles are easy enough to deal with, it’s the slight sagging of the face, the slight drooping of the eyelids, the marionette folds, the slight jowels, the protrusion of neck bands, the slight hollowing of the temples (amongst other things) that make women look their age
Pretty sure most women in their 40’s and above ( sometimes younger) have some of these

PaperwhiteTheGhost · 04/12/2023 17:15

I look about 6-8 years younger than my age, which I'm only judging on people thinking that I'm younger (I'm 37 if it's relevant)

My sister is 31 and could pass for 20 on a good day.

In fact, I went out for lunch with our mum, my sister and her 2 kids (7 and 2) and for a few reasons I'm 99% certain that the server at least initially thought I was her mum and the kids we're mine too.

She thought this was hilarious. I did not.