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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:
halfwitpicker · 15/02/2018 01:28

I think now (I. E. Mid 30's for me) is when it starts to show natural looks vs effort put into health. You can be stunning in your twenties but if you drink, smoke, sunbathe and eat terribly it will show by the time you're 40, even if you are gorgeous. Whereas if you don't smoke, drink, sunbathe etc you'll look better for longer. Not as much fun though, I don't suppose.

rightknockered · 15/02/2018 01:48

Yoyo dieting has a big impact on ageing. It generally involves restricting fat and protein which has a negative affect on hair and skin. I don't really agree that you have to choose between your body or face, at a certain point excess fat is ageing when paired with loose skin.
Not smoking, drinking in moderation, eating well, exercise and enjoying life seem to be key. I've noticed people who smile a lot look much younger than people who scowl.

rightknockered · 15/02/2018 01:51

And sorry but botox and fillers definitely don't help. But I suppose I like a face with expression lines, I think women (and men) look more beautiful with smile lines and forehead wrinkles, and faces that change with different emotions.

Queenoftheblitz · 15/02/2018 02:04

Loveache I agree about vegans and ageing. Some vegetarians too. Maybe they would have aged the same if they ate meat.
But you expect a so called healthy diet to aid a youthful look.

Birdsgottafly · 15/02/2018 02:18

Around 46. I'm 50 soon and i'm finding that i'd need a full face of fillers, which i won't spend my money on.

Previously i'd get lip filler, but now i'm finding that I need the corners doing as well. Tbh it isn't my looks changing that i'm bothered about, it's the vaginal dryness, pelvic floor and my teeth not being as good, as well as needing to remove hair everywhere.

I always say to my eldest DD and her friends that they should enjoy their 30's, drink and shag as often as they can they can.

Mum2OneTeen · 15/02/2018 02:42

6

Elle8989 · 15/02/2018 02:51

For me it was late twenties. I've had an ed all my adult life. I look fooking haggard/troll at 30.

HidingFromTheWorld · 15/02/2018 03:10

By the time I was 30, following a very traumatic delivery of my only child at 28 and then resulting ill health. I’ve been suffering healthwise ever since and my looks reflect the journey my body has been through.

A few years ago, we were required to show our passports as proof of eligibility to work in the U.K. and neither my boss, or colleagues, recognised me in my 9 year old passport photo.

It broke my heart, because I’d known it to be true but my lovely DH had spent years telling me I’d not changed one bit!

Now 44 and retired due to ill health, I feel pretty much invisible these days, albeit grateful to be alive. It was initially a bitter pill to swallow as I was the baby faced, blonde haired, pretty young lady who had no shortage of admirers. I don’t recognise myself in the mirror anymore and rarely look into them as a result.

My 46 year old handsome, blond haired husband looks a decade younger than his years which occasionally upsets me!

ALemonyPea · 15/02/2018 03:15

Oh crap. I’m 37 and thought I looked pretty good, but going off the average age on here, I must look haggard.

I have a few grey hairs, not bothered by those, but no wrinkles, crows feet, etc. Neck looks ok as well don’t think I look nearly 40, but maybe that’s because I don’t feel my age.

Todamhottoday · 15/02/2018 03:19

Around 50ish, I have a round full face which thankfully is keeping those deep lines and wrinkles away but the jowls are taking control now, dam. Small dips around the edge of my eyes.

Never been a smoker so nothing around my lips, but do notice at certain angles my neck has this weird skin tone. No sun damage always wear sunscreen, a whiter shade of pale, and dont care if i am.

Natural ash blonde for around 20 years which helps, hair in good condition, but could do with a good cut at the moment.

Really I could not give a stuff as long as Im happy (and my DH always gives me compliments), we age and other than botox/surgery or whatever, which is not my cup of tea, I will just accept it and go with the flow!

Lifes to short to worry about how you looked when you were younger.

LolitaLempicka · 15/02/2018 03:38

I think it also depends where you are with child rearing. Those who have their babies young tend to age better (maybe they are over the initial shock 😂) I think having babies in your late 30s/early 40s is more aging than smoking, sun damage and bad genes put together.

Longdistance · 15/02/2018 03:47

33, when dd1 was born. I was so damned tired and fed up, I had dd2 at 35. I remember looking in the mirror after a particularly hard day, and I could have cried. I looked awful.

I’ve given up. I used to have a sparkle and vim about me. It just went out the fucking window when I had kids.

IHaveACuntingPlan · 15/02/2018 03:48

I'm pushing 40 and have fine wrinkles around my eyes, a deep-set wrinkle in between my eyebrows from too much frowning, deep wrinkles on my forehead, more noticeable jowls and my hair is showing more grey than colour now. This started getting worse when I was about 35. It probably doesn't help that I'm lazy, eat rubbish, don't exercise, don't sleep very well (note the time of my post) but also sleep too much and worry about absolutely everything.

WilyMinx · 15/02/2018 03:54

Yep, mid 30s. The most obvious sign is the slight sagging of the jawline on either sides. My nose also looks a lot bigger.

ljlkk · 15/02/2018 03:59
Glassofredandapackofcrisps · 15/02/2018 04:19

Had my dd at 36 and yes would say that's the age I started to look older. I was exceptionally young looking literally still getting asked for id at 34 on a regular basis. Now when I tell people my age(38) no one flickers an eyelid! Sob!

FindoGask · 15/02/2018 04:46

I am 40 next month and I am mostly happy with the way I look. I probably look my age - I have some fine lines, the beginnings of dreaded baggy eyes and my neck skin is starting to go a bit. But I have got good bone structure and clear skin and the only time I dislike my appearance is when I catch my reflection in harsh department store lighting, so I try to avoid that!

thehairyhog · 15/02/2018 04:48

I’m sure mine was dc-related rather than age-related, but in the last year or so - so 37/38.

Bettyfood · 15/02/2018 05:01

"Looks have started to fade" is very negative and suggests internalised misogyny.

Wear ageing with pride.

AstridWhite · 15/02/2018 05:03

They start at around 40. They plummet off a cliff after your late 40s.

Or maybe that's just me. Shock

I scrutinise the faces of all my friends who are of similar ages give or take a couple of years and I am increasingly of the opinion that while smoking and too much sun is absolutely the worst thing for your face, the rest is largely down to genetics and you can't change it.

I have friends who drink like fish (alcohol, not water) and their skin is lovely. I have friends who exercise really hard and try to watch what they eat and remain fat. I have friends who don't do any actual exercise at all and look fabulous. I have friends who exercise like demons and are very thin but they will pile the weight on the second they stop.

I have friends who look remarkably unlined and un-jowly for no reason I can discern and others me who drink only moderately, have never smoked, spend a fortune on good quality skincare, take supplements, never leave the house without slapping on the SPF 30, always wear a hat in the sun, eat a diet rich in omega fats, lots of nuts and seeds etc., yet I still look like an ancient bloodhound who has had a particularly hard life.

But then I look at my mother and I see why.

I am going to have a facelift.

TheClaws · 15/02/2018 05:06

You always have your “looks”. They simply evolve as you age, like anything does. To me, a face as it ages is more interesting and has layers of complexity a young face cannot. It doesn’t “fade”.

TanteRose · 15/02/2018 05:10

yep, its genetics - I really do believe so.

My grandmother looked 20+ years younger than she was all her life, my mum is 82 and looks mid 60s.
I am 50 in a couple of months, and my youthful colleagues in their 30s really do think that I am the about the same age as them Wink

I use Nivea on my face, drink up a storm at the weekends and used to smoke socially for a good few years.

LightastheBreeze · 15/02/2018 05:25

Probably early 50s, I am 60 now and look like I have aged 20 years in the last 10. I just suddenly looked like an old woman, before 50 I didn't look too bad at all and people couldn't believe it was my 50th, maybe they were just being kind but I also noticed a rapid decline after that

Rubies12345 · 15/02/2018 05:25

Im not overweight but wouldn’t mind losing half a stone
So maybe that helps int he face department

Sadly it won't. That's what causes droopy face and jowls

NemoMellie · 15/02/2018 05:33

28 - 30

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