to think that most people look better at 30 than they ever did at 20!

[Mammie81]

Most of my friends turn 30 this year. I can only see it as a good thing as :

I know where to get a good haircut now
I'm far less scared of things
I can afford better clothes

I looked a state at 20 but I thought I was the bees knees! Bring on the 3 oh!

I was beautiful at 20 - but had the self confidence of a snail and thought I was heinously ugly.

I am rather hatchet of face now, but am slimmer, more toned, have better hair, make up and clothes and have far more confidence, so feel better.

At 20 I had a perfect slim body. At 30 I had had two DCs and weighed 6 stone more, so no.

Maybe you look the same at 30 at 20 if you have not yet had a baby.

May I offer these examples?

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=www.nakedfanmail.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/george_clooney_facts_of_life_breastfeeding.jpg&imgrefurl=www.nakedfanmail.com/category/actor/&usg=__-MRRFXRBKLYH7UXTw41Hc82up6s=&h=320&w=240&sz=30&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=xTekfovbmiVxtM:&tbnh=158&tbnw=133&ei=fnZ5TcaCKY2YhQf99Mn1Bg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgeorge%2Bclooney%2Byounger%2Bdays%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DX%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D463%26tbs%3Disch:1%26prmd%3Divnso0%2C5&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=139&vpy=103&dur=1451&hovh=256&hovw=192&tx=91&ty=239&oei=fnZ5TcaCKY2YhQf99Mn1Bg&page=1&ndsp=11&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0&biw=1024&bih=463" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this versus <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=www.famoustalks.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/george-clooney.jpg&imgrefurl=www.famoustalks.com/celebrities/george-clooney-interview-at-ellen-show&h=450&w=500&sz=56&tbnid=2FpodtO6UQQzkM:&tbnh=117&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgeorge%2Bclooney&zoom=1&q=george+clooney&usg=__t9ucEyErejw8mYDBTO8Cxflvr9g=&sa=X&ei=Bnd5TbWyEMrJhAfwlYX1Bg&ved=0CDEQ9QEwBA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this?

or

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=www.virginmedia.com/images/minogue.gal.jpg&imgrefurl=www.virginmedia.com/homefamily/kids/celebs-in-their-childhood.php%3Fssid%3D7&usg=__xf3SVGd-6Xd_y2PZARb5YiaH5Dg=&h=400&w=290&sz=37&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=J4p9MQ27jKjaqM:&tbnh=142&tbnw=117&ei=W3d5TcevOcqEhQeR7dzjBg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dyoung%2Bkylie%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DX%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D463%26tbs%3Disch:1%26prmd%3Divns0%2C5&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=131&vpy=87&dur=212&hovh=264&hovw=191&tx=88&ty=125&oei=W3d5TcevOcqEhQeR7dzjBg&page=1&ndsp=10&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&biw=1024&bih=463" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this versus <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=topnews.in/light/files/Kylie-Minogue_6.jpg&imgrefurl=www.topnews.in/light/people/kylie-minogue%3Fpage%3D1&usg=__iObSDTZ3ZtLI8GVFUtfObQyjPdc=&h=450&w=326&sz=30&hl=en&start=22&zoom=1&tbnid=oXSXcpoVaSDEMM:&tbnh=157&tbnw=148&ei=6nd5TdGHDc2W4Abqxun3BQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dkylie%2Bminogue%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DX%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D463%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C722&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=147&vpy=95&dur=1228&hovh=264&hovw=191&tx=134&ty=241&oei=2nd5TY6bLdS7hAey9pDtBg&page=3&ndsp=10&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:22&biw=1024&bih=463" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this

I rest my case.

I am 50 now, but am told often I am extremely attractive still, which I don't see myself. 20? 30? Doesn't really matter.
The nice thing about 30 is that you can drop any hard-fought and defended ideas you had about tastes. So, you like Abba, or C&W, or some rubbish tv that was frowned upon. At 30 you can say "so what? I like it!" There is a masive freedom at 30 yrs that provides a basis to your confidence later in life.
It's a wonderful invitation to be honest with yourself. Accept the invitation!!

BoF - of course it is all about confidence.

i look better at 40

Not true for me I'm afraid. I weigh about 4 stone more at 30 than I did at 20. And my acne prone skin is worse now than it was then too. I wish I could turn back time!

I'll always look great.No matter how old I am.I am in my 20s,i used to feel upset that bouncers would'nt let me in clubs and some places are a bit about my i.d card but now I see it as a blessing because i'll always look younger than my years

got to agree with A1980, but I will admit that 30 year olds look more polished and together

i just dug out my passport as i need to renew it. i looked fecking fabulous in my 20's but had no clue. what a waste

I think some young girls my age look awful.Go ott with make up and mke theselves look orange.Too much foundation is not a nice look

I guess most of my 30s ok but had kids late 30s and early 40s. In my 40s and still slim but not enough sleep, hair mostly screwed in ponytail. Jeans and bobbly jumpers cos broke. Oh sod it- I generally look tired and grey... the blessing of having children late in life!

I would never go back to being 20. I looked a right nobhead looking back at pictures now. Used to bleach my own hair, wear all the wrong things for my body shape, over-plucked eyebrows, frosted eyeshadow/lipstick. Eugh.

I'm not saying I'm Gisele Bundchen now but I definitely know how to work with what I've got a lot better than I did then!

I think i looked best between 25 and 35. Now 45 thats a different story altogether!

i have just turned 30

DEFINITELY much better than 20 - DEFINITELY

i was a lot better looking at 20 than i thought i was at the time but still IMO look and feel much better now :)

plus 30 sounds much better than being 20 something
i love it

I agree, I was way better looking in my early 30s than in my early 20s - better haircut, better skin care, better clothes, slimmer and fitter, more self-confidence. Increasing money, education and independence all made me more attractive!

Not sure really.

At twenty I was considered a bit of a beauty but was only just understanding how to use it iyswim.

By thirty, I still had the looks but also had a bag of confidence to go with it...but the fresh face does start to wane, no?

I'm really looking forward to my 30s - I'm 30 in a couple of months.
I'm far more sure of myself, I dress how I want in a way that suits me, I'm getting dreads next weekend after thinking about it for years and I know what I want to do with my life now that I've had children.

I think it also helps though that I'm slim and often get mistaken for early 20s. I'm bigger than I was at 20 but I was underweight then (although thought I was enormous)and at 5tf2in and 8st3 am now a nice size and weight.
I'm also in a nice relationship with a nice man rather than a crazy on-of tempestuous one.

I think it depends on when you have your children, definately go backwrds a bit when they are young, then recover and get georgeous again when life gets easier.

I looked the best I ever have on my 30th birthday and had both my kids by then. I lost 4 stone on the lead up to my wedding which was 3 months after my 30th so that might have had something to do with it

Sadly I have put weight back on now but I really hope I look better on my 40th than I did my 30th - can't see it though....

25-30 was my golden period for looks, it's all gone way, way downhill since then sadly. I was fresh faced, averagely slim, dewey skinned, rested, ate well, exercised etc. At 35 I'm now look fat, haggard, and basically just worn out. I suppose I have quite sparkly eyes, but other than that my skin is crap, and having two kids has wrecked my mid section to the point that I expect surgery would be necessary even if I could lose the fat/weight.

Urgh.

At least the young Kylie in that link looks as if she can still move her facial muscles BoF. I saw her recently on the One Show and she looked awful, just plastic and still. No life in her face at all. Clooney on the other hand, Oh yes!

Looking past weight and wrinkles though, I think 30yo's excude more attractiveness. It is definately the confidence.

And sparkle, Ive always thought sparkly eyes are the best thing about a face!

Higgle's cycle of having DCs, going backwards, then recovering and forging ahead strikes a chord.