Do some people genuinely not notice their own lines and wrinkles?

[stetha]

Just read on another thread a woman claiming to be mid 40s or older with not a single wrinkle and using no skincare other than a cheap £1 moisturiser. Hey I can’t see her but so many times I’ve had people say this to me in person, how they don’t have any wrinkles and yet I’m looking at their face and yes, yes they absolutely do!

Now I don’t mind lines and wrinkles I have a few myself but what is going on! Why do so many people, even those who are quite heavily lined and sun damaged insist that they haven’t any lines and everyone is shocked to hear they are a day over 21? Do other people have magic mirrors? Or perhaps there is an epidemic of untreated long sightedness?

I am staring in the mirror now 🤣 and don’t think I have any significant new lines on my face since my 20s - and I was always a young looking 20-something btw.

Myself and most of my friends (35-45) don’t have a lot of lines beyond some little faint ones around their eyes that I see younger people with too.

I have a friend who is 45 and she stuns people every time she tells them, she has zero lines on her face at all.

For argument sake, let’s say that somehow my eyes are deceiving me and we all do in fact have lines - who actually cares?

I am GLAD if any woman is being deluded about ageing!

Men have been deluded for ages!🤣 They look 60 and they think they can get away with pretending to be 45 on dating apps to get younger women. And they push this myth of the silver fox vs the old haggard woman to justify their fixation on women young enough to be their daughters.

Women who are deluded about lines and winkles are probably less likely to get Botox and fillers, and spend money “fixing” their face to appeal to the male gaze/societal standard of beauty - so to me it’s a win-win.

As Gen Z say - ladies, stay delulu!

I will concur Asian skin is different.

I’ve never claimed to have no wrinkles, but I am both short and long sighted (the joys of getting older), when I’m wearing my distance glasses and look in the mirror I look younger, but when I take my glasses off my delusion abruptly ends!

It’s life’s great balance.

Those anguished faces in the school changing room mirrors bemoaning their greasy skin and squeezing their spots are now looking decades younger with beautiful smooth skin and markedly fewer wrinkles.
Those smug faces with drier skin and no spots are now looking decades older with lines creases and age spots.
Im not including the injected and modified versions.

Delusional or lucky enough to tk have benefited from poor eyesight I reckon! I know a few of these types.

Who cares? Live your life and stop worrying about yours and other people’s wrinkles.

Yeah that reminds me - I should maybe mention most of my wrinkle-free social circle I referred to in my post are non-white.

Of course there are exceptions but typically different races age differently in terms of wrinkles and lines.

I was cursed with both very oily skin as a teenager and now extremely dry skin in middle age!

I think it can really vary tbh. I am 50 - definitely have a few faint lines including one prominent smile line (just on one side which is annoying 🙄) and some faint crows feet.

However - without meaning to boast - I work in a pretty young industry and people are often shocked I have a daughter at uni etc. I probably pass for mid/late 30s on a good day.

I'm not deluded - I have a friend who is the same age who definitely looks far younger than me (olive skinned and could easily be 25) - but also friends who just are more lined and wrinkled. I think we age at different rates physically - probably a combination of genes and lifestyle factors.

(On that note, I'll probably get shot down for saying it, but I know a fair few women who partied VERY hard in their 20s and still look really youthful....whereas friends who are into running marathons and keep their weight very low seem to age terribly!)

What age are we talking? I know a couple of people age 60+ who seem to genuinely not realise they can’t see very well. They can’t see dust and crumbs either. I’m long sighted and might end up not wearing my glasses to look in the mirror so I can think I’m nice and smooth forever too

I think this is where the "I'm X years old but I actually look 10-15 years younger" trend get us. Many people run their photos through wrinkle removers like Photodiva then conviently forget how the original picture looked, many people post themselves with filters and beautifying effects, so I can see how they might actually start believing they look much younger. Besides we tend to ignore minor changes when we see our own faces every day and while to those that haven't seen us for quite a while we look drastically different, we still see ourselves "the same" because small changes go unnoticed.

It's a darn sight better than the 30 year olds here speaking so disparagingly about themselves.

Meanwhile, among my family and friends we have 40+ folks with neither line nor wrinkle.
My aunt died at 80+ as smooth as anything. Her medicine apparently was Nivea, Vaseline, Cod Liver Oil, low stress, good food and sleep.
My mom, late 60s has 1 single line - same medicine.
At almost 45, I'm waiting for mine too. My hair is greying every so quickly though, so we all get something 🤷🏾‍♀️.

My best friend is Indian and lines and wrinkles avoid her too.

I know a couple of people age 60+ who seem to genuinely not realise they can’t see very well.

Yikes! I hope all these people don’t drive? Being deluded about your vision is much more of a worry than being deluded about wrinkles!

Yep, I don’t need glasses for reading or close up so I’m always shocked when I wear them for anything long distance and catch myself in a mirror -

I've had wrinkles around my eyes since I was about 15, I think it's from crying so much when I was younger. I'm 37 now and still battling oily skin and spots, don't give a shite about anti aging stuff. People used to say that I looked younger than my age, but now I look older. Oh well!

Pretty much everyone gets fine lines, many even by their mid to late 20s and then they continue to develop throughout your 30s. Things like skincare and treatments only have a minimal impact on these. The thing is they look much more pronounced in certain lights/ situations. So if you view yourself from a particular angle in a particular light you might not notice them as much.

The thread is about whether people notice their own lines and wrinkles and as per usual on Mumsnet it’s descended in to people boasting how young they look for their age, even if they have the odd line here and there.

If an 80 year old white person has zero lines (and I mean fine lines not just wrinkles) then they really need to donate their body (face) to science. As they have clearly discovered the secret to eternal youth.

I'm nearly 51 and don't really have any wrinkles, my mum died at 76 and had very few lines. I do, however, have plenty of grey hair, dark circles and tear troughs and feel every moment of my age!

"...so many times I’ve had people say this to me in person, how they don’t have any wrinkles..."

Does anyone believe this. I don't.

When I look in the mirror, I'm usually concentrating and not making any expressions, so no wrinkles. Which means I only realised how I look when I laugh quite recently - and I couldn't give a toss. Life too short - I'd rather be laughing. But I def had more wrinkles than I realised!

I don't know anyone who talks about wrinkles. I know people who believe they look younger than their age, when their face is quite old looking to me.

However, I think after about mid 40s, how old you "look" has more to do with how you move and live than the state of your face. I know one man who's just turned 60 and everyone is amazed, he certainly doesn't seem it. But, if you look at his face in isolation he does look 60, but he can run 10k in 40 minutes, drums in a band, and generally has "young" interests and lots of younger friends, so people make assumptions about his age that are not necessarily linked to his face.

DP is constantly being told people are surprised he'll be 50 next year. I think his skin does look its age, maybe even older, but he's slim, well groomed, dresses modern, active, so the overall air he gives is of someone younger.

Well, most of us spend very little time looking in a mirror - may even be just briefly, when we brush our hair.
I'm old and, yes, I have wrinkles. So what? Why does it matter? People around me know what age I am, so the wrinkles are normal - if I had a smooth, unlined face that would look really weird!

I have a friend who hasn’t aged well, she’s thin and she runs and she’s a worrier, who doesn’t use sophisticated skincare. She regularly says out loud how good she looks for her age, it is quite surprising when she says it, but I’m so glad for her! It’s something she doesn’t have to worry about!

My H is like this too at 61 and similar situation -dresses in All saints, funky hair, not overweight. Uses Clinique!!

Why do you care?