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 have long underestimated my age. I have a small frame and stay fit so still move young, and physically blend in around younger people. I was particularly awkward to spot in crowds of y7s and y8s even into my 30s. By cohorts of y9+ I looked more distinct.
I got child bus fares without asking until 29.
I was regularly IDed until late 30s. Having my gin confiscated at the till at 37 was a bitter-sweet moment.
For a long time, when I've handed over my ID, people have been very confused about my early 80s DoB and there's been lots of frowning and looking up and down at me and the date. HCPs have often got confused when checking dates too.

I might have done a happy dance at the supermarket when being challenged this summer, in my 40s. I don't think I do actually look over 16 years younger than I am, and if you scrutinise close up, it's more like within 5 years of my age, but that first impression based on build does tend to go younger. I don't use trickery though; no make-up or skin care treatments and hair is very naturally styled. What you see is what you get, and that is fairly unusual.

It is weird when people think that the DCs and I are sisters though. For a start, they're boys. 😂 I'm also 30+ years older than them, so stretching at the boundaries of sibling age gaps. However with them at 10 & 12, we are a plausible progression in size and tend to wear sportswear a lot which I think causes the confusion. It's happened a few times. It has also happened with other relatives when people have mis-read generations and relationships.

People can look older than their age. People can look younger than their age. Some ages can be quite ambiguous as to what people of that age may look like, as aging and hormones take effect at different points. 35-45 can still be fairly fresh-faced, or a zone where lifestyles catch up with you.

Yeah, I got ID’d for paracetamol at age 33! I’m short, and I guess youthful enough looking. Although the grey hairs are creeping in so I’m not going to get that much longer.

Genes. I look about 20 years younger, so does everyone in my family. I only stopped getting asked for ID when I turned 40. Other people look so old to me!

I'm 40 and I look about I think 32. It's a baby face with round features and something to do with natural red hair gene. I suspect this will collapse after menopause.
There is a woman in my work who is nearly sixty and she thinks we're all (age range 26-43) in our 20s and was genuinely surprised to hear otherwise. I suppose just like how everyone 15-20 years younger than me looks like a kid.

I have a friend who is in her 50s and really doesn’t look older than 28. She remarried recently and her husband was accused of being a cradle snatcher - they are both 53. She has had no work done, she just looks young.

@smoleyjolie well it happened just a few weeks ago. People are generally very friendly where I live so it just sounded normal.

I know one woman who looks a full decade younger than she is. She was talking about her grown adult children in-between sets, so I subtly asked her friend how old she was, because I was so shocked that she had children my age. I reckon it's all the exercise she does.

I reckon I look my age but on a good day, with clean hair, make-up, and having slept well, people are genuinely surprised by it. First thing in the morning, straight out of the shower however, I look every one of my 46 years! I think that's true for most people.

But, some people really do look younger. People are staggered when they find out how old my (much older) brother and his wife her. They just don't seem to ever bloody age. And it certainly isn't due to a healthy lifestyle - they have partied hard over the decades and still do.

Conversely, some people really do seem to age much faster than norm.

Just luck of the genetic draw, I guess.

I’m sure you do look young, @SweetPetrichor , but unfortunately, I think being ID’ed for medication is pretty standard unless you’re lelderly.

I was ID’ed last week and I’m 49. I think I look decent for my age, but there’s no way I look THAT young. 😂 Staff are trained to ID basically everyone, I think.

I also have a yoga teacher who is 50. I would have said 35. It's all the exercise, healthy living and minimal stress (private wealth and plenty of time for herself). Good teeth also make a difference and that does cost a bit.

It’s down to genes and having a youthful demeanour. I’m 45 small build, fit, active, baby face features, everyone I know thinks I’m quite a bit younger than I am. But I’m not smug or overjoyed about it. It’s simply a part of who I am. Because of my looks I personally don’t think I could ever look sexy and sophisticated but we’re all different.

I'm 49. People tell me I look younger. I know they are being polite. I look 49. I was last ID-ed at the age of 18.

People can look good for their age (just as some 18 year olds will be much better looking than others) but generally they look within 5 years of it. I have worked in film business for years - so surrounded by very beautiful women with access to lots of anti-ageing strategies. I have only ever seen one woman who genuinely looked 15+ years younger and that was Heather Graham. Anything she has had done must be very discreet - she was in her 40s then and could pass for 25. Even women who are genuinely beautiful and looking amazing (Julianne Moore, Halle Berry) - still look like they are in their 50s.

Yeah, genes, are you really saying you were perceived as 18 up until you were 40?

And it's not just facial features, it's make-up and hair styles, clothes, language, media usage. How we approach the world are couched in our generation, even when we keep an open mind, that in itself is telling.

Photos or a snapshot of a person can be difficult, but it's quite easy to tell how old a person is if you spend any time with them.

And why are we all so desperate to be seen as younger anyway? I'm not interested in being seen as any younger than I am.

I have so much value at the age I am, I love it when younger woman say to me 'I want to be you when I'm older'.

Not crowing about how young or old I look.

I'm sometimes told I look younger than my actual age of 109. What do you think?

Quite, anyone can look young in a photograph. In real life, not so much. I always think of the difference when I'm on a teams call and people join with their profile photo on display - and then switch to camera. Come on! You don't look like you do in a flattering photo.

I routinely get mistaken for being 12years younger than I am which I think is hilarious. I've lost count of the number of times since September I've been told "I would've put you at 26/27. No way are you that old."
I think the best one was when I was mistaken for being the student checking into uni halls, when I was actually the mum moving in my dd.

I don't think I look that young at all, I certainly don't feel it. This is just what 39 looks like

Well I just met a French lady whom I thought was mid -late 40s until she told me she had a 20 year old son late, and I found out she was actually mid 50s! So 10 years younger than I was thinking….

It seems ridiculous to think that some people don’t look younger than they are, in the same way that some people may look older than they are. Isn’t it possible that a mix of genetics, healthy lifestyle, happiness, low stress and for some, a privileged life, might show itself in a person who looks much younger than they are.

Yes, exactly, I don't understand how it can't be both ways as the OP stated. I think that theory is flawed, it's illogical that abusing yourself equals looking older than your years.

Both things are true.

Of course some people look MUCH younger or older than their real age. It does happen and it's not true that everyone gets ID. Some of us might have it happen to use once because we had a big hat on, but if it happens often then obviously that person looks younger.

Look at this woman for example 60 year old looks 30 no sugar - Google Search

On the other hand, there's a lot of denial too. I remember a Twitter discussion about how we may look younger now than previous generations did and loads of the people claiming to look younger didn't really.

I don’t think I look younger than my age but I know people who definitely do. I’m not delusional,

There was a woman at work who was talking about her forthcoming ‘big birthday’ and I thought she must be turning 40, but it was 50. She had great skin, hair, figure. Natural, no obvious Botox etc. she just looked so fresh. Nobody could believe she was 50. I’m 45, and I’d say she looks younger than me for sure.

My mum also looks young for her age. I’d say she has always looked 5-10 years younger than her age. She could get child fare on the bus in her late 20s 😘. At almost 80 she could pass for late 60s.

"Not really because people who look older tend to have abused themselves in some way or perhaps been ill, the women in question was a sun bather and smoker. People who are generally healthy look their age, it doesn't really work both ways."

That doesn't make sense. According to your logic, someone less healthy than average could look older, someone average would look their age and someone healthier than average would look younger. Genetics probably count for more anyway.

I'd guess 60 (a little older than me), but it'd be easier to be accurate if we could see your neck.

People used to think I was 14 when I was in my early 20s and I hated it. Now in my early 30s I still have childish features but the wrinkles help me look like an adult. I still get IDed though which makes me feel self conscious especially as people seem to think I was a teen mum (had kids mid-late 20s). Some people are cursed with baby face (and we don't brag about this - it's not nice to forever have childish features)

People can definitely look younger or older than they are. I don't think it's as simple as how many wrinkles they have.

I look a lot younger than I am thanks to my once very pimply skin and very round face and cheeks. The once negatives have turned into positives.