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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:
mamahanji · 15/02/2018 07:59

I think it was all downhill from 18 😒

Knockedforsix · 15/02/2018 08:00

I think it was stress and lack of sleep for me. Due to DD's health issues I have to check on her at 2am and 4am every morning and have done for the past ten years. I can't say how much it's aged me.

Still, I don't look too horrific (51), it just takes a little more effort these days to iron out my face. Grin

Trills · 15/02/2018 08:01

Agree with zzzzzand Bettyfood and others who have said that "looks fading" is a misogynistic and old-fashioned term.

You will look different at different points in your life but there is no one ideal way to look that we all try to get close to then retreat away from as we age.

Gruach · 15/02/2018 08:02

I was never "pretty" too dark, im mixed heritage, and not an English rose.

My God. Billions of people condemned to a lifetime of ugliness because they're not pale, English roses? Better all throw ourselves into the sea.

Personally, in extreme middle age, I have never looked better. My teeth aren't as beautiful as they were. (I'm resigned to making some dentist even richer than they already are.) My neck isn't as smooth. Definite sagging above and below the eyes.

But my face looks so much like me now. And I know how to take care of my skin and what to eat and how to dress. My life has become surprisingly exciting - I'm happy to carry my physical self to meet people who are overwhelmingly interested in what's in my head and how I express myself.

I don't know ... There are so many variables. I'm confident about visible aging because my mother has always looked amazing. I like getting dressed and am as happy in Top Shop as browsing Net a Porter. I can't drink as much and need more sleep - both good things. But I'm sure the most important thing is that I'm still being acknowledged as a whole person - I don't have time to weep over minutiae!

WorldWideWanderer · 15/02/2018 08:03

I wasn't very pretty at all when young, particularly in my 20's. In my late 30's my facial looks 'matured' and I thought I looked better. However, I started to take more care of my skin and make-up in my 40's but still looked good. In my late 40's I really noticed some 'sagging' starting and my lips were thinner. Really noticed huge differences in my 50's and now, although my skin itself is still good, I have sag lines on my jaw line, eye bags and eye-lines and very thin lips...I really have aged a lot. Still no crepey neck though, which is due to genetic type (I am told by a beautician) rather than anything I have done!
I don't smoke or drink though.....

Openup41 · 15/02/2018 08:03

This reply has been deleted

Withdrawn at poster's request.

Frankiewears · 15/02/2018 08:04

Like fine wine I am getting better with age. 🙂

serenmoon · 15/02/2018 08:05

Mid 30s I got my first grey hairs and then I noticed I just looked more tired and skin more dull.

Talith · 15/02/2018 08:07

I've a few more lines and a bit saggier now midforties but I feel I've "grown into" my face and look more attractive than I did in my 30s.

BigSandyBalls2015 · 15/02/2018 08:07

I'm late 40s and my skins has gone downhill rapidly in the last couple of years - dry, patchy.

I look at my gorgeous glowing teen girls and think make the most of it.

JanetStWalker · 15/02/2018 08:09

Good luck with the eye op, SleepFreeZone!

Openup41 · 15/02/2018 08:09

This reply has been deleted

Withdrawn at poster's request.

Notonthestairs · 15/02/2018 08:10

I looked my best at 36! I wasn't slim, my hair wasn't cut or coloured for two years but I was really, really happy and it showed.

A decade on and grief from multiple bereavements and a child with SN and years of 3/4 hours sleep a night have taken their toll on my face, hair and figure.

However, my promise to myself, for myself, is to be bloody grateful for everything I do have. Am hoping that will magically give me a bit of hutzpah in the looks department because I don't care enough to actually do anything about it Grin

loveka · 15/02/2018 08:13

I would say 49 was the beginning.

I am 52 now and I look totally different to how I used to look.

I look like my mother, the absolute image. My body shape has changed to how hers was(so I am now dumpy, rather than a pear with a tiny waist) when she was my age.

I find it spooky. I look at myself in the mirrorcand get taken aback.

wysteriafloribunba · 15/02/2018 08:13

I think sleep has a lot to do with it. I had no kids until I was 40. Pre kids I looked at least 10 years younger. People could never believe my actual age. Now age 45 with 2 young kids I think I look about 50. So I've aged 15 years in 5! I haven't had an unbroken night's sleep in 5 years and it shows.

StoatofDisarray · 15/02/2018 08:14

Early 40s for me.

greenbeansqueen · 15/02/2018 08:17

They don’t. We have a warped sense of what attractive is. Your face as body change as you grow older but we’re conditionef to see youth and looking young as the ‘best’. My DW has changed over the many years we’ve been together and I can give nearly say I think that she’s beautiful. Not beautiful ‘ for her age’ just beautiful.

greenbeansqueen · 15/02/2018 08:18

Not nearly, Honestly!!!

Lamppull · 15/02/2018 08:18

I'm 38 and feel better than ever. I got into martial arts and triathlons last year, now my three kids are getting a bit easier.
I'm slim and toned and much more confident. My core strength has improved my posture so I walk and stand like a woman not to be messed with! I look after my hair, buy nice clothes and make up etc. It's the best time of my life!
I think my new found happiness shines out and I try to be kind too, although not a push over. Men do look, women are much more receptive. I've made some great friends.
So yes, I have more lines and I don't look 21 anymore but a lot of it is from within.
A positive outlook is attractive no matter what your age.

BrownTurkey · 15/02/2018 08:19

Its fine as long as your eyesight fades at the same rate, you don’t notice :)

Smellybluecheese · 15/02/2018 08:21

For me it was when I had my daughter at 41. At 40 I probably looked the best I ever have but 3 years of no sleep I really look my age at 45. Skin is starting to sag and just looks dull and I have really aged in the last couple of years especially.

DenPerry · 15/02/2018 08:24

I think it depends. I've always had a grown up face (big cheekbones, large features) and NEVER been ID'd in my life! Which felt a bit shit when I was younger but now I'm getting older I still have my features and I'm appreciating it more. My mum still looks beautiful in her mid 60s.
I think the people who feel they are aging quickly in their 30s probably looked younger than their years to start with and kids have made their faces catch up!

TheNaze73 · 15/02/2018 08:25

I think women look more beautiful as they age, especially between 45-65.
It’s all going to be down to interpretation however, I don’t necessarily subscribe to most males view about younger being more attractive, far from it

ShatnersWig · 15/02/2018 08:28

Don't we tell our daughters that looks don't matter or aren't important? And here we all are discussing and worrying about looks "fading" as we age.

creaturefeatures · 15/02/2018 08:28

I'm 36.

I do have a shit tonne of greys which I get dyed every 8-10 weeks.

No wrinkles yet though, barely even any fine lines. I saw someone yesterday who said I didn't look any older than when she last saw me (I was 29 then). So I'm pretty bloody pleased.

I'm as fat as butter though Wink