Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

What age do you think your looks started to fade ?

472 replies

LardLizard · 14/02/2018 23:30

I think I still look pretty great at forty, don’t think my skin looks forty at all
So I’m wondering when will I really notice it ? Know it’s different for everyone
I’m think maybe after 50 now ?

OP posts:
Yb23487643 · 16/02/2018 17:39

Peak at about 35/36, not recovered yet from 2nd pregnancy & not sure I ever will now at 40!

belkastrelka · 16/02/2018 17:40

40

CosyLulu · 16/02/2018 17:42

Late 40s was a shocker, especially as I’d always looked yung for my age. Real jump scares when I saw a mirror and there was a middle aged woman I no longer recognised

Goldilocks3Bears · 16/02/2018 17:45

There is some scientific research that women look best mid 20s. That’s from a caveman’s perspective mind you in terms of peak fertility etc.
Tinder research (my own) has shown that some men in their mid late 30s prefer women in their 40s because we’re more fun in bed.

I think a lot of it is confidence and the “light” within you. I’m mid 40s but I’m better looking now than I was mid 30s on no sleep and with tiny kids killing my sleep. Also got rid of the 14 stone of misery I was with then. Talk about fading...

The one thing I have noticed is that what was previously in the oily side of skin and hair is now getting dryer and needs looking after differently.

I’m having my first Botox on Tuesday!! This is to address the stress frown between my eyes which makes me look permanently worried rather than older. No amount of cream is going to get rid of that.

Other trends to look out for that I see in my circle of friends are managing your roots - if you grow out darker you can pretend it’s ombré but grey hairs fool nobody, getting your eyebrows on fleek (see how woke I am for an older person), not dressing like a nana and keeping fit. Also a good teeth whitening takes years off any face.

My mum is early 70s and looks ten years younger so genes might have to do with things but as I said I think a lot is confidence and being happy.

PolarBearkshire · 16/02/2018 17:47

35 bang on - one morning i got up and wrinkles and sagginess suddently
Screamed at me! Botox keeps it a bit more cheerful but damn! Time flew too fast

manicmij · 16/02/2018 17:50

I was always taken for being a lot younger than I actually was. Still do. Felt at 44/45 there was an obvious difference but was still taken for being 36/37.

Foolish1 · 16/02/2018 17:56

(looks in the mirror again) not today anyway ;)

XmasInTintagel · 16/02/2018 18:08

My face seemedbto fair better than my hands! I looked at them one day and thought I was looking at my DMs hands! Should've used handcream every time I washed them all through the nappy years...

lloydee1983 · 16/02/2018 18:08

Think I have gone the other way .in my late teens and early 20's I got a bit of attention from women. By 25 that was all gone and then pretty much nothing till my early 30's.

Now I'm 34 and I'm having the time of my life , women simply just won't leave me alone. I'm getting attention from women as young as 18, obviously when I find out their 18 I don't take things any further, all the way up to women who are around 50. But in all honesty I like to keep it 5 years either side of me.

ReelingLush18 · 16/02/2018 18:10

40-45 I would say.

lilybookins · 16/02/2018 18:12

I’m 47 and barely have a wrinkle (people comment on it) but that’s genetics - my mum at 73 looks v young as did my nan. Bit if grey hair at temples which highlights cover up. I think I look pretty good still (and still get a fair bit Of attention) but I’m only expecting it to last another couple of years ....

rothbury · 16/02/2018 18:13

About 48 for me. I suddenly noticed my moles had become huge and I had open pores on my face. Sad

leghoul · 16/02/2018 18:15

32, suddenly got lines all over the place

Biblio78 · 16/02/2018 18:18

Think I look better now than when I was younger. Have more confidence and don't always hide my body in men's shirts and ridiculously baggy jeans ( it was the 90s that's my excuse!)

Ravenesque · 16/02/2018 18:19

It's difficult. I think I looked better in my 30s than I did in my 20s, then in my 40s I looked a little better than I had in my 30s. Now in my early 50s and the only thing that's a tad annoying is some loosening in my skin and it being more sensitive. I definitely have drier skin than I did. I still look pretty good, but not quite as good as I did ten years ago.

I agree that it's not really looks fading but looks changing and if you look at yourself hard enough, you realise that in many ways you look better. That said when I look back at photos of me from twenty years or more ago, photos that I hated at the time because I thought I looked awful, I wonder what was wrong with me because I look great. I think that maybe we can all be too harsh on ourselves and our looks and find it difficult to appreciate how good we look at any given time in our lives.

Treacletoots · 16/02/2018 18:22

Nothing to do with age. Having children however.,..

I'm 40 soon and look much younger. I've never smoked wear SPF 15 as standard and try to look after myself food wise. I'm also bang on a BMI of 25 so right at the far end of OK! i used to notice that super slim people often aged a little quicker simply because they do t have as much padding but that's my opinion ;)

Punta · 16/02/2018 18:22

I’m 45 and mine started about 2 years ago. I’ve had a pretty tough couple of years and it’s taken it’s toll. I’ve put a bit of weight on so that hasn’t helped. On a positive, I’ve hardly got any Wrinkles. I take after my mum and dad like that. People still think I look younger than my age and my dad always looked a good ten years younger when he was in his 60s. I hope I can lose weight and get them back! Either way, I’ve got a nice smile and think that makes a big difference.

AGreatBigPonk · 16/02/2018 18:27

Was great up until DC1 born at 38...started to fade then hit 40, had DC2 and definitely on the downward spiral looks wise. That being said, I’m happier than I’ve ever been.

Also regretting somewhat all those sun beds in my teen years and summer holidays with moisturiser instead of sun cream Blush what an utter fool. Only have myself to blame

ClosDesMouches · 16/02/2018 18:29

I was 44 when one day I looked in the mirror and it was so strange, I’d aged overnight.
Now mid 50s, I don’t look much older than I did that day, so it’s not been much change since then, just that initial shock!

StripeyPig · 16/02/2018 18:31

I had 3 children by the time i was 25, after that, it was me time, i started dieting and exercising, got to a size 10, long blonde hair, smooth glowing skin, i think my late 20s were the best i ever looked sigh
Think it all started to go downhill when i hit 40 and got ill

Fastforward to now, i am 48 tomorrow sobs i have grey hair, short, size 14, fat face, not too many wrinkles at all but i am HRT, never smoked. I have dark circles under eyes, due to ill health, i probably do look my age but its ok, i am ok with that

RosaRosaRose · 16/02/2018 18:33

I'm 62. Shortsighted and have two mirrors.
One dressing table, one magnifier for make up.
No full length.
Can't see in one properly, and too much information in the other.
Some days I glow. Some days I don't.
It depends entirely on how I'm feeling. Some days I see my mother looking back at me in the mirror, some days I don't.
What I am is a woman who has experienced and is still experiencing, a rich life, full of opportunity.
Not ageing, changing.

surferjet · 16/02/2018 18:34

45

keffie12 · 16/02/2018 18:35

Acceptance of the changing roles in your life is part of the role of getting older. I am in my 50s now. If anything I look better now than in my 30s. I had 4 young children and no time to think about skin care and so on. Now (though genes help too) I have a skin routine and take good care of myself

MumsTheWordYouKnow · 16/02/2018 18:35

For me it was 41, but then I put a stone and a half on so sure that changed what I looked like. If you exercise and look after yourself and eat lots of veg I think you can look young till 45.

caringcarer · 16/02/2018 18:36

I am 56 and took early retirement. When I tell young people my age they don't believe me. When I was 47 a student thought I was about 33. I have always looked young for my years and was charged half price on bus when 22. Your skin gets drier with menopause though so plenty of moisturiser needed.