Do you look your age ?

[TheTecknician]

Not wishing to brag, but I often feel I could pass for 5 - 10 years younger. I've never asked anybody this question and I'm purely using the judgement of my own eyes. If I go back in time 39 years to when my late Dad was the same age as I am now (53), I see a man in early middle age with a full head of black hair - some greying - but a rather lined face and seemingly expanding ears! I, on the other hand, have a lot more grey hair than he did but a much denser texture and no obvious facial lines. I've always had bags under my eyes but not Peter Woods proportions! My sister is 61 but she could pass for late 40s, in my opinion.

Maybe there's no right or right or wrong answer. I could have a skewed personal perception or perhaps we're all living longer and I'm seeing that played out at close quarters.

PS. The old man had, along with Mum, raised seven children by the time he was my age whereas I have no children. So, no parental stress!

I still think people judge on overall image. Wrinkles have a lot to do with it; style of dress and hairstyle; overall attitude and demeanour. How 'youthful' someone's face is - whether they are perceived to look like people expect a person of that age to look. That last one is hard to explain but it's more about features and face shape than skin. And how 'mature' you present yourself. Also how 'serious' people are. People assume people who are serious to be older.

I give a youthful impression; small build, thick hair of natural colour, I'm fit so I move young, healthy weight & diet, never smoked, light drinker. Still get IDed in my 40s while dressed casually without make up (which I wear about twice a year). It's the frowning and confusion over the early 80s DoB that makes me laugh. I inadvertantly got child tickets for transport until 30... actually I blagged into the National Trust as a child on our family card in my 40s but I will put that one down to distance, poor lighting and mature eyesight! People do get confused and think that my 10 & 13 yo are my siblings- they see the family connection in the features, but being of similar size they assume a sibling age gap not parental (and I was in my 30s when they were born).

Under close scrutiny do I look 25? No. 30s? Maybe. There are fine lines, but I see those on people I know to be in their 30s.
But generally we go through life giving passing glances and going off impressions, not scutinising, and overall I seem to regularly give off a younger physical impression than my actual age, as do other women in my family.

Does it matter? I'd like to not abuse and damage my skin. It's healthy if my body's cells aren't prematurely aged. It's healthy if I move "young", maintain muscle mass and stay fit and functionally active as long as is viable. They are positive, life enhancing reasons to maintaining an impression of youth and seeing it as desirable, plus I keep the benefit of decades of experience.

I don't do anything cosmetic to hide my age, no treatments, cosmetics or hair dye- I'm too lazy to maintain it and would rather spend money on other things!

@BogRollBOGOF I'd expect most people to "move young" in their 40s unless they had underlying health problems.

@sleepysleepytired I agree there seem to be many people on here who are going to get a big shock when they get to their 60s 😂

@redheadsaregreat

People seem quite deluded and think typical people look way older at say 50 than people actually do.

This is because they picture their parents at 50 and when their parents were 50 they had clothes and hairstyles we associate with old people. So we think they looked really old. When we get to 50 we are wearing clothes we associate as current so we think we look younger. So people delude themselves that they look young for 50 where they just look like what 50 year olds look like today.

Exactly this.

And as a pp said earlier in the thread, every time a thread comes up like this, someone posts photos of themselves fishing for compliments, and adoration and attention. They are convinced they look 10+ years younger. They never do.

One woman who is in her early 60s has posted photos several times, and has also posted photos of her daughter who is in her early 30s. This poster said 'this is what 63 looks like.' Clearly expecting 'errmageerd babe you look 39!!' She got a whole host of honest and truthful responses from people who said she looks her age. 'Yeah you're 63 and you look 63 so what?' said one person who got it in a nutshell.

Ditto her daughter. (33 I think she was.) Pretty enough, large eyes, nice face. But the poster reckoned she looked in her teens. She could have passed for 29-30 - but NOT her teens!

Also, on Twitter last year, some man said all women over 45 all look their age and should stop acting and dressing like teenagers. Rude. And a bit insulting yeah. But what followed was 100s of women posting photos on Twitter pouting and posing, and dressed in skimpy tops and skinny jeans - fine if they want to I don't care! But all the posts said 'THIS is a 45 year old. Does THIS look its age?' 100s of women between 45 and 60-ISH, pouting and posing, squashing their boobs together to make a cleavage, and with lip fillers and caked in make up. 'I am 48, tell me I look my age!' said one.

Every single one looked their age, some looked older, not a single one looked younger... Yet they were convinced they looked 15 years younger.

Same as a woman who was on here earlier in the week. Said 'guess my age' and several people including me said 55-ish? She was 60 - and was insulted that we only guessed her at 5 years younger. Was convinced she looked mid 40s. 😆

This is spades. ^

@Augustus40 I have some shocking news for you. You are 60, and you look.... ummm.. around 60. I don't need to see a photo of you. I know you look around 60, because you are 60! Why the F would you NOT look around 60? 😆

As has been said, you have a distorted view of what 60 looks like, and in your head, you think you look like you have only just entered your 50s. Everyone else will guess your age between 58 and 62. Because that is what you are!

I am 58, (59 next week!) and I put my photo into a few 'guess my age' sites/apps last week.. (just for a laugh!), A few are incredibly accurate as they have have intricate A.I. and are correct within 5 years for every single person. No matter how they present themselves.

I posted 10 different photos of me on 5 sites/apps. Some make up free and candid, and some made up, and looking quite glam with my blonde hair styled nicely, and lips made up, and my eyes made up nicely. Every. Single. One, put my age at 57 to 62. Whether made up and posing, or just candid with no make up.

Did the same with my DC. Again, every single one put them within 4 years of their age. Ditto my DH. He is 59 - and the oldest he got was 64. Youngest was 56.

You can dress it up how you like and claim you and your mates look youthful and have very few lines on your neck and your face (I have few lines too!) and say you are glamorous and well presented la la la. And I am sure you all look very nice.

But you DO look your age. You DO look roughly 60.

And as for THIS statement from you...

I beg to differ here. Me and my friends are in good nick but the majority have wrinkles. We have been blessed and are the exception. Everybody else I meet looks way older than us.

You are literally proving the points of @redheadsaregreat@sqcrispsal myself and several others, that some people are deluded. NEWSFLASH! You and your pals DO NOT look waaaay younger than other people your age. Just stop it, you're coming across as off-the-charts hilariously deluded now, and I'm embarrassed for you. The only people who look waaaay older than you are the ones who ARE waaaay older than you!

I know what they meant about the eyelid thing . My eyelids have totally changed these last few years and my eyebrows are lower. It's age related, but it's genetic and not everyone will experience it .

People have a distorted view of what adultsof a certain age look like . They compare them to their parents, who have always been a senior age to the and aren't looking objectively. They are then surprised how young adults of that age actually look when they encounter them in the real world.

@SweetBirdsong agree. I also think there are some people who through very unfortunate reasons just look terrible whatever age they are. And people look at them and thing 'shit I look way better than them so I must look young for my age'.

Truth is, you take most people of a certain age, dress them in nice clothes and give them a modern haircut and simple makeup and they will look better than others who have dated Clothes and hair. They don't biologically look younger. They just styled up younger.

Guess I will know for certain after attending a school reunion this summer for all of us turning 60! Not seen most of them in over 20 years.

i used to look much younger than my age, I would get ID’ed in bars/clubs or if buying a bottle of wine… every time, even past my mid-30s. People always thought I was years younger… however, then I had kids. Now no one makes that mistake!! Parenting has definitely aged me!
thankfully I still have lots of hair, so if you are not too close, might still be fooled.

I'm 42 and could pass for 36/37 I reckon

But I do live like a saint, so it's almost expected really

lol exactly. It’s standard to guess at least 5 years younger than you really think

Yes, I look my age. It's not a bad thing.

But that’s only 5-6 years. I think it has to be that one looks a good 10 years younger.
Lots of people of from 40-44 look thirties. However people in their fifties definitely look in their fifties. Something happens to the face that’s not just wrinkles. People can be very attractive and trendy and slim. But they still don’t look 40.

Definitely this! I'm shorter than a lot of teenagers so people have always assumed I'm younger because short=young.

I'm soon to be 38 but can easily pass for early 30s as I think a lot of people my age can. It becomes quite difficult to age someone without putting them in a general vague age range.

I definitely don't look under 25, I never get asked for ID anymore and my face has more lines than a 25 year old would.

Mid 20s someone thought I was in high school and asked if I was over 16 (ironically I was in Specsavers at the time!!) Aged 14 I got mistaken for my dad's wife...

In both of those situations it was as clear as day that they were miles off but people make assumptions and don't pay close attention.

Just about everyone looks within five years of their age, I think the lines around the eyes are the best giveaway.

It's definitely a thing on the Internet to claim you look 15 years younger, and your mother is 80 with zero wrinkles!

I was surprised to learn Chris Packham is 63. I would put him at late 40s

The only person I have met who looks much younger than her real age is my slender graceful mother. She had me at 25 yet people always thought we were sisters. And she went to the doctor once and they asked if she would sign up for a study of people who age atypically as her collagen levels were similar to a 40 year old (she was 65).

I look like a fat old Mediterranean grandmother

It sucks I look 15 years younger than my age and it’s a disadvantage @RunnerDown

Any chance she had ehlers danlos? Different variations can impact collagen, with some claiming to look much younger than their ages as a result.

I look like I died about 6 years ago and have been dug up. I was very ill and when I recovered I had aged massively. Very thankful to be alive and healthy now but I look like I've had a very hard paper round.

I think I look about ten years younger than I am. Sadly whenever I see videos of myself or see myself on the doorbell video I look slightly older than my age. And then some.

A colleague that didn't particularly like me thought I was 7 years younger than I am and she most certainly wouldn't of tried to be kind, so a bit chuffed with that. Although I don't mind looking my age at all though as long as people don't think I'm older.

I look every one of my years, the face collagen packed its bags around the age of 39, however as I don't wear the sort of clothes my peers do, and hold myself/move in an energetic way people assume I'm a bit younger but just look really old 😁. I'm fine with that.

@blueandgreenandyellow i look 10 years younger. I am 34 and get mistaken for a teen. I attached a photo. Sucks looking young. You think it could be elhers danlos?