Thread about appearance and ageing for MNetters age 58 to 63 years old

[LindorDoubleChoc]

I'm in this group and I find myself really noticing ageing in the mirror and in my friends, most of whom are my age too. Today I was driving locally and drove past a friend (who is actually 9 years younger) and thought how old she suddenly looked.

How does it suddenly gallop up on you? I look at well known people who are younger than me and feel genuinely surprised (Jane Macdonald, Bill Bailey, Nigel Farage, Hugh Bonneville, Johnny Depp, Mike Myers, Helen Hunt) - I thought they were all older than me and look older than me.

I think this ageing thing is really painfully noticeable in this age bracket, do you agree?

For me specifically it is marionette lines and thinning hair. I don't have loads of deep wrinkles or grey hair.

Friends say I don’t look 60 and a stranger I got chatting to in the supermarket before Christmas was genuinely shocked to learn that I wasn’t in my 40s.

How did you get round to telling a stranger your age?

Well I’m 54 so not quite there yet but I hav hair extensions, botox, a little filler, teeth whitening (not to insane levels!), I dress nicely and I stay at a normal weight. This all helps , makes me feel better and I don’t care a toss about ageing ‘gracefully’ or just accepting we should all have thinning hair and lines (unless of course you want them. )

Well I’m 54 so not quite there yet but I hav hair extensions, botox, a little filler, teeth whitening (not to insane levels!), I dress nicely and I stay at a normal weight. This all helps , makes me feel better and I don’t care a toss about ageing ‘gracefully’ or just accepting we should all have thinning hair and lines (unless of course you want them. )

Well I’m 54 so not quite there yet but I hav hair extensions, botox, a little filler, teeth whitening (not to insane levels!), I dress nicely and I stay at a normal weight. This all helps , makes me feel better and I don’t care a toss about ageing ‘gracefully’ or just accepting we should all have thinning hair and lines (unless of course you want them. )

Well I’m 54 so not quite there yet but I hav hair extensions, botox, a little filler, teeth whitening (not to insane levels!), I dress nicely and I stay at a normal weight. This all helps , makes me feel better and I don’t care a toss about ageing ‘gracefully’ or just accepting we should all have thinning hair and lines (unless of course you want them. )

Well I’m 54 so not quite there yet but I hav hair extensions, botox, a little filler, teeth whitening (not to insane levels!), I dress nicely and I stay at a normal weight. This all helps , makes me feel better and I don’t care a toss about ageing ‘gracefully’ or just accepting we should all have thinning hair and lines (unless of course you want them. )

Well I’m 54 so not quite there yet but I hav hair extensions, botox, a little filler, teeth whitening (not to insane levels!), I dress nicely and I stay at a normal weight. This all helps , makes me feel better and I don’t care a toss about ageing ‘gracefully’ or just accepting we should all have thinning hair and lines (unless of course you want them. )

I tell everyone my age if they ask, 59. My younger DSis won’t even tell me her age. I do not consider it rude “to ask a lady her age”, although I don’t go around doing so. But sometimes you meet someone and you are having a right old chat and sharing experiences and you make a connection and you say, politely “do you mind me asking how old you are?” And you realise you are the same age and it all makes sense. Or it is someone older and your like “wow!”.

About to turn 60 and having a Norah Ephron moment in that my neck has gone droopy and stringy - I’m not thin- and I hate how I look on teams calls as a result. Formerly good hair now full of frizz. Otherwise , and those things are really superficial, just glad to be here having recently heard a roll call of school mates who aren’t around any more.

No one has asked me how old I am - 62! - for decades. I never ask anyone their age. I do find it quite poignant when posters say "people say I don't look <insert age>" or "people think I'm 5/10/20 years younger."

They're usually being polite. You are the age you are. Thst's fine, we can look good at any age. Being engaged with life is a very attractive quality.

@TheLadyofMisrule we were in the queue at the checkout and got into conversation about motorbikes, she was saying it was her only mode of transport and I added that I was just about to apply for my bus pass and make full use of it. She was shocked to learn I was more her mother’s age than hers.
I’m in Wales, we talk to anyone 😁

I'm heading towards my mid 70s and probably look it now. Until Long Covid hit, I did a lot of am dram and was always cast in roles for younger women. Now I can't exercise or walk long distances any more so I've put on weight (gone up to 10 - 12, but I'm short and it doesn't suit me). My posture has changed, too and I look tired unless I plaster on my make up. So - all you youngsters. Enjoy your beautiful youth 😘

Hadn't been to the doctors for years until I hit 60 last year and then everything fell apart and I developed some serious health problems. I agree with the pp who wrote about ageing spurts at 40 and 60 because I experienced both. I have quite good skin but marionette lines and although my hair is thinner it's still pretty much it's original colour with a slight white streak at the front which I like. People tend to think I'm a few years younger than I really am but I believe that's more down to personality than looks and I'm not that bothered about it anyway. I am the age I am unlike a friend of mine who actually tells people she's a few years older just so she can hear them say ooh you don't look it (I think it's a bizarre thing to do).

This.. everyone looks their age. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Wrinkles aren’t the only indicator, there are so many ways we look different at each decade.

I saw Tamzin Outhwaite on tv tonight and was shocked at how she’s aged. I’m 62 and have aged a lot in the last 2 years but I’m ok with that and try to make the most of myself plus enjoy fashion etc.

You're not allowed to feel sad or worried about ageing because some people have died.

I am nearly 60 - and tbh I don't look any older than I did 4-5 years ago. I looked 'late 50s' then! 😆

My ageing seemed to accelerate at around 53 to 54. I went from looking late 40s to late 50s in about 2-3 years. It was quite scary. It was also a bit upsetting being offered over 60s concessions when I was 55-56!

I await the next acceleration, maybe in about 4-5 years when I am 64-65-ish, and will jump from looking 58-59 to suddenly looking about 68!

I haven't suffered thinning hair yet, and am only about 10% grey (hereditary. People in my family, on my dad's side hardly ever go grey. Even my old dad was only 15-20% grey in his late 70s.) No jowls thankfully, not many lines and crows feet. I still look roughly my age though. Everyone does when you look properly.

I do feel the cold a bit more though, and it really gets to my fingers. The ends go white, (usually on 2-4 of the fingers over the 2 hands,) and it feels like I have plasters on! The attached pic demonstrates what I mean. Never got this til the past 2 winters.

I do walk 2 miles a day, for my heart health and mental health... And I am relatively active.

I get more tired than I did a decade ago though, and I prefer to go to places (meals, theatre, shows, films, at the cinema etc,) in the lunchtime or afternoon if possible. I am so glad my parenting finished/DC left home when I was in my late 40s! I don't know how people cope who had a baby at 42-45, and have school age children/young teenagers when they're nearly 60!

Love it! Your post made me smile then when I read about your chin hairs I laughed out loud! I wish i knew how those little hairs suddenly appear though, one day it’s not there , the next day I could put a hair bobble on it!

Have you had your thyroid checked?

When I see a celeb the same age as me who has had extensive cosmetic work done, but looks no younger or better than me, it does cheer me up!

Up until 55- 60 I looked and felt ok, occasionally caught glimpses of my mother when I looked in the mirror.
Once over 60 my hair ibegan to thin rapidly and the texture changed to unruly frizz. My face is slipping down towards my chest. I look in the mirror and now see my grandmother.

I just think bugger it, and enjoy my life while I can.

I am 63 and the most annoying thing us the lack of eyebrows as another poster said. Sometimes I catch site of myself and the newer lines surprise me but generally people do take me for ten years younger. Being a bit fat does help with lines on face I think and I also colour my hair as it isn't a nice evening grey yet.

I’m in the middle range. Have very few fine lines but deep marionette lines which I dislike as think I look grumpy. People always assume I’m younger but I think that’s because my children are relatively young as I had them late so they “place” me age-wise as the mother of a late teen. I also think, interestingly, my voice hasn’t aged like some people which gives a more youthful image.

Gone up to size 10-12? Oh, how I wish!

Yeah, to be honest, many of them don't look better at all. They just look scary and odd many of them. I also think some people look worse when they lose a load of weight at 50+. It ages them quite badly, but apparently they are 'healthier' so we're not allowed to comment. 🙊