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’m 31. I look younger, which is bad sometimes. I still get asked for ID to buy alcohol and have also within the last year been asked for ID for a scratchcard and an energy drink!

When I had my daughter at 24 I got a couple of comments from people who thought I was a teenage mum. My husband is 18 months younger but everyone always thinks he’s years older than me.

I’ve always had a roundish face, but prominent cheek bones but I have really large eyes and facial features so I don’t know if this is why I look slightly younger…

Both my parents also looked young, my dad had a full head of hair with only flecks of grey in his 60’s and my mum barely had any wrinkles in her 60’s. Her hair didn’t go grey til she was mid 60’s.

I am 38 but look about 5 years older I would say. There's only 14 months between me and my Sister, she's the older one but looks much younger than me.

Someone was telling a story about using a landline the other week and turned to me and said, 'You probably won't know what that is'. I'm 39 and she's only 42 and I can still remember my home phone number.

I'd say I have a baby face but have a lot of grey hair which thankfully I'm able to cover otherwise I'd look my age and then some. My sister is older than me and has zero grey hair.

I’m mid 50s and pass for about ten years younger. My ex husband who I’m in frequent contact with, often asks me how I manage to look so much younger than him (we’re the same age) - which is obviously because I’m not living with him and the stress that would bring!

I am 52 and someone at work the other week was shocked that my children were adults and said I just have had them early. I didn’t as I was 29 when I had first DS. I do look 52, but it depends on your expectations of what 52 look and act like I think.

I think people look at the overall picture.

When I recall photos of mum at the age I am now, she dressed much older, had an older hairstyle than I do. So she looked older.

I can well believe people on here saying others mistake them for being much younger but it's because people have no idea what ages look like.

I'm 48 and a few weeks ago I was chatting to a man outside the pub who made a reference to me being really young. Turned out he was 54 and thought I was 33! And he wasn't chatting me up so no reason to flatter me. We were talking about music and he presumed I'd never been to a particular venue that had since closed.

Now my skin is pretty good but on no planet do I look 33!

If most people are presumed to be younger than they are, that suggests we're just really crap at ascertaining age and we can't all look 10 years younger if those people all look 10 years younger too.

I regularly get told I look under 40. I went out for my son's 24th birthday and two women thought I was his 29 year old girlfriend (I was 47). To the extent that they came and told me another few times during the evening that they couldn't believe I was his mum.

I didn't look 29 either. People take a whole load of things into account including the clothes you're wearing, your hair, your overall stype and demeanour. And their own prejudice.

There's a woman I work with. She looks about 18. I knew she had to be at least 24. Turns out she's turning 30 next month. We're just crap at estimating age.

I do look 52, but it depends on your expectations of what 52 look and act like I think.

Exactly this.

There is a vast difference between these things...on a sliding scale to decrepitude:

-A well positioned selfie in good light
-My made up face straight on in a mirror in good light
-An unsuspected photo when I am not posing
-My face first thing in the morning
-My face when I open my phone.

I hate it when I feel like I look like my mum, (she was beautiful, even...I am not, it freaks me out) am horrified when I look like my grandad.
I don't mind looking old, but happier when I look like me.

Yes to the mid decade thing, like a page turning. I think it's the same with generational things (like, when people say thing of the 1970s...what they're actually thing of is 1975 - 1985 etc)

With me I think it was having a total hysterectomy. Menopause is a slow slide into looking older, total hysterectomy is a sudden drop off a cliff... like Wiley Coyote.

I agree re sleep. I sleep averagely most nights. A couple of nights of terrible sleep ages me. A couple of nights excellent sleep knocks years off me. I'm in my fifties. Have to say from 50 it's gone downhill fast... was doing ok until then I think. I suppose we can't help but compare ourselves to our friends. Mine mostly look about their age I would say. Similarly, has all caught up during peri. I've got mates that are athletes, and even menopause has done for them (looking younger-wise, nothing wrong with aging of course!)...

This

In one’s fifties one loses eyelids. That’s what makes people suddenly look tired and old. You can have peachy skin and not many wrinkles, but the eyes suddenly go.
Enjoy looking youthful in your 30s and 40s!!

I'm in my 40s and I think I look a good 10 years younger. But, unfortunately, anytime I tell people my age, they don't look a bit surprised, and I had to stop asking people to guess because that was just depressing too.😂

It sounds harsh to say but a photo that has a soft filter (most of our phone cameras do this automatically) is very different to seeing someone outside in natural light. Skin texture changes and makeup shows very differently. When people post photos on these type of threads they are always softly blurred so not an accurate reflection. I don't know many people who look a decade younger when you see them in natural light, even if they do look wonderful.

I think I look my age. I think people can look 'good' for their age, but very rarely look more than 5 years older or younger than they are.

I'm 57 and have an average amount of wrinkles for my age - despite this I'm often told people thought I was in my 40s before I'd told them my age. I half suspect a few have just been polite over the years, but I guess some wouldn't say it if they felt I looked my age or older.

Not sure if it's helped, but I get a fair amount of fresh air, am physically active in the day and my diet isn't too bad.

Most people are deluded and think they are looking way younger than they are.

was actually just on fb- I am a member of dull women’s club. A post about middle aged women, cue all women posting themselves claiming they look younger etc. One dark haired woman looking late 50’s/early 60’s states I’m 62. Lots of compliments from others but actually she looks her age. The décolletage always gives it away too. Me being the nosy bugger I am go onto her profile. Yep 5 days ago it was her 62nd birthday, completely grey in that photo and looking 62 😂

@aliceinanwonderland

I haven't lost MY eyelids! I am assuming you mean eyelashes!! I have lost about a quarter of mine, (mid 50s here) but still manage to make up my eyes nice with eyeliner/eyeshadow/mascara etc.

@HollyKnight why did you keep asking people to guess your age? In 50-odd years I have NEVER asked anyone to 'guess my age!' How odd.

I look older than my age of 47.
But I look a lot younger than my parents generation did at 47.

Exactly what I (and quite a number of others have said.)

We're just crap at estimating age.

I think it’s this! I’m 44, some days definitely look about a hundred but I reasonably often get people expressing surprise when they find out my age and that they thought I was more like mid 30s

Now I’m allowing for people just being kind. And most recently I think it’s because I have a young child. That’s the main reason my age is likely to come up actually - meeting more new people/ parents, general chit chat, surprising number of people will say ‘do you think you’ll have another?’ and I tend to say no I’m probably a bit too old now etc. And I think because in my area/ the groups I go to/ at nursery most of the mums are somewhere between 34 and 38 I get filed in that bracket too.

I also think it’s most often younger people who think I look younger. Because they’re not comparing me to what 44 actually looks like, but to the mental image in their head which may well to them seem pretty old!

I do in fact have one friend, now 53, who genuinely looks about 10 years younger. Honestly she does, and always has. People are ALWAYS shocked. Her entire family is the same it’s quite uncanny. I think it’s very much an exception though, most people look somewhere within the normal range for their age.

No, I’m 44 but look a lot younger. I put it down to having a shit life and never smiling, so no wrinkles. I am always getting told I look early 30s and people are always amazed when they find out my son is 21.

My dad just died at 87 with barely a line on his face.
All the district nurses who cared for him at the end commented on it. he was a miserable sod too, so maybe there’s something in it.

I was looking at a lot of old family photos this weekend. my mum died at my age (43), and she looks so much older in photos. It was the late 80s/early 90s though and she had the cilla black hair cut that all women seemed to get post 35 which aged her.

My grandmother looks like an old woman with a white perm and a housecoat in most of the photos. I worked out that she must have only been late 30s in some of them 🤣