Am I the only middle aged woman on MN with lines and wrinkles?

[Ivaidea]

I don't mean to sound arsey (honestly!) but if you are over 45 and have no lines or wrinkles, this thread is not for you.

I'm always reading posts on here where people say they are, say, 50 and have no wrinkles or are regularly taken for 5, 10 or more years younger.

Am I the only one who does have lines and wrinkles? My facial lines are similar to say, Naomi Watts in this photo - but without the beauty.

My wrinkles are hidden by my chubby face. The only positive of being overweight.

I’ve seen some posts like this and I do not believe them - everyone has some lines at 50 even if they’re not too bad. I’m 29 and a sun cream fan and I have some lines (noticeably less than smoking friends the same age) so I’m not having it from people older than me

I think most people definitely start to age noticeably around 50. I'm shocked when I catch myself in the mirror, which I tend to avoid at all costs, and dread the hairdressers. I'm early 50's and although some people tell me I look younger, I really don't and I don't know why they say it when it's not true. I sometimes wonder if people think that 50 year olds look very old indeed?

Maybe our eyesight gets worse too...

@Crossflannelcherry

I often get told I look much younger than my 55 years.

Every time. Every. Single. Time.

Whenever a thread about age comes up, there are always a few posters who come on and insist that people say they look MUCH younger than their age!

Who is saying this? And why? In what context???

Do you say, 'hi I am crossflannelcherry, I'm 55,' (with a big beaming smile on your face, awaiting the cursory 'oh right, ummm you don't look it..' comment!

I never ever tell people my age, because it never comes up!

@mushroomsarehorrible

I read somewhere that nobody ever looks less than five years younger than their real age. Wrinkles are not the only indicator of age - skin tone and texture, hair, body shape, the list is endless.

Yeah this. ^ No-one does look more than 5 to 7 years younger than their age, not when you look at them properly... Even people who have had botox, or any kind of 'facelift' look roughly their age.

I do think that people will automatically say 'oh you look young for your age' when you are over 40 and tell someone your age, it's kind of expected, especially if you are the type of person who looks like you care about your image. It indicates to people that you are the type of person who would enjoy being told you look young. If you see what I mean! People say it to me sometimes, but I can tell they are just saying it as I look like one of those people.

This too! Some people are desperate for you to say 'you look so YOUNG!!!!!'

One woman I spoke to in a shop some months back said 'guess my age' with a big as she had had botox... When I am guessing someone's age (who asks me) I am always kind, and knock 3 or 4 years off. So as I thought she looked about 48, I said 'umm, mid 40's say 45-46?'

'Er yeah I am 46' she said with a frown, and a disappointed look. She was clearly expecting me to say she was in her 30's! LOL!

God, yes, butterfly and mushroom. 'I get told all the time how young I look!' By whom? How many randoms know how old you are? 'I look fab!' And maybe you do, for your age. LOL @ anyone who's 50 and 'I get told I look 30-35'. You know, Kylie looks like a 50-year-old who's had more work on her than a 1968 VW campervan. But she doesn't look 30. When I look at my daughters, well, you can't fake youth.

I look a tiny bit younger than my age. But mainly because I dress quite young and have ‘bouncy’ hair. I have crepey skin now. Loads and loads of lines around my eyes. The start of jowls. It’s oretty depressing.

It's all swings and roundabouts innit. I'm 49 and I've hardly any wrinkles. I am however a bit fat, a bit squat, a bit busty and a bit short with shit fine curly hair. I've been all those things for 49 years and I would trade them for a few wrinkles. I'm sure they will come- my foreheads starting to go I think. Bring back candlelight or the 20watt bulb.

I saw a woman the other day who I overheard saying that she'd celebrated her 50th birthday.

Her hair was naturally grey but this was literally the only thing which would have put her over 30 appearance wise.

By the rest of her appearance she seemed to go for a very natural look (no make up, quite plain clothes etc) so I'm assuming no surgery.

So it does happen, all those cynics who just don't believe it. Some people just look very young for their age.

YANBU I have tons of wrinkles and if anyone says I look younger it is a) a chat up line b) dcs trying to get in my good books or c) someone trying to sell me something
It's like a 'default compliment' and why? I'm okay with looking my age thanks.

Elle McPhereson is another one. 'I just drink water and do yoga (and date billionaires and charlatans),' when c'mon, she's had the plastic surgeon equivalent of Ed from Wheeler Deelers working on her face and neck. Who believes these people when they claim 'It's all natural'?

I've heard women as young as 30 complaining they look old...when they look bloody stunning!
It's worse when they do that in the company of women who really do look older!

Isn't it awful when people ask you to guess their age? I usually subtract about 5 years from what I actually think. Kylie doesn't look 30, she looks like a 50 year old with work done. As for Carol Vorderman......

Isn't it awful when people ask you to guess their age?

No, because you know damn well they're fishing for compliments. It's such a self-indulgent thing to do. I just tell them how I think, don't subtract. What a naff thing to ask!

I'm 49 and have no wrinkles. Not one. I think it's because I've never gotten a tan or sunbathed.

What I do have is sagging fucking jowls and a turkey neck. I can sort of make them disappear if I grin like a loon all the time.

But it's not really wrinkles and grey hair that truly ages you. Even people like Vorderman who have had everything going still look their age.

I’m so pleased you’ve started this thread op, as the wrinkle denier brigade is a particular MN bugbear of mine . I don’t know anyone in RL who looks young for their age. Good - yes. Fabulous - yes. But not young. I have had botox for my frown lines but I’m not under any illusion that it makes me look young, just well rested. Similarly friends of mine who have botox also look their age, just unlined in the areas where the botox has been applied.

I have a rigorous skincare routine and I like to keep in shape. However I have eye hollows and crows feet, thinning hair, a hardening set to my mouth, and veiny hands. I look every year of 42, but I’d like to think I look ok for it. Dressing in a vaguely fashionable way and working in a creative industry helps.

I’m 31. I very rarely drink, I use suncream / don’t stay out in the sun a lot... but I have a very expressive face and therefore lots of wrinkles. I really could not give a fig. I am happy, I have no desire to stay looking 20 because I’m not 20. I much prefer my 30s (so far!!) and why would I want to look as if I hadn’t lived??

Beauty comes from within IMO. Truly. If someone has a lovely personality it WILL shine through. Like that gorgeous Roald Dahl quote
“If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.”

DS asks women for ID when they are buying alcohol if they look sad, because he noticed that it cheered them up to be thought under 25.

Celebrities we don't want to age like : 1. Renee Zellwegger 2. Carol Vorderman 3.Meg Ryan..... any others?

I don't think it's in the spirit of the thread to be mean about anyone.

Yeah. Mid thirties here, skin isn't too bad apart from the deep crevice between my eyebrows that then seems to go all the way up.

I hate it as I always look angry / serious.

Considering a fringe even though fringes don't suit me and I haven't had one since I was 4.

@LeftRightCentre

God, yes, butterfly and mushroom. 'I get told all the time how young I look!' By whom? How many randoms know how old you are? 'I look fab!' And maybe you do, for your age. LOL @ anyone who's 50 and 'I get told I look 30-35'. You know, Kylie looks like a 50-year-old who's had more work on her than a 1968 VW campervan. But she doesn't look 30. When I look at my daughters, well, you can't fake youth.

This made me laugh so much! More work than a 1968 campervan LOL! Kylie is GORGEOUS, and her face lights up a room, and she has very few wrinkles (because of botox!) but yeah, she DOESN'T look much younger than her age. Could pass for mid 40's maybe......But no younger.

Like you said, who the F is telling these women how YOUNG they look? Because everyone who knows them, knows their age, and anyone who DOESN'T know them isn't going to ask, and won't find out (unless the person in question thinks they look soooo young, and asks people to guess their age, for validation. )

@roundturnandtwohalfhfitches

It's all swings and roundabouts innit. I'm 49 and I've hardly any wrinkles. I am however a bit fat, a bit squat, a bit busty and a bit short with shit fine curly hair. I've been all those things for 49 years and I would trade them for a few wrinkles. I'm sure they will come- my foreheads starting to go I think. Bring back candlelight or the 20watt bulb.

Also made me laugh!!!

@Wantotbeme

I think most people definitely start to age noticeably around 50. I'm shocked when I catch myself in the mirror, which I tend to avoid at all costs, and dread the hairdressers. I'm early 50's and although some people tell me I look younger, I really don't and I don't know why they say it when it's not true. I sometimes wonder if people think that 50 year olds look very old indeed?

Yeah, I see a lot of women looking 5 to 8 years younger than their age in their 20's and 30's and early 40's... And it's yeah, some people DO look 26/27 in their mid 30's... As I said earlier, some people DO look up to 7 or 8 years younger.

HOWEVER, once women hit late 40's they suddenly age, and look their age - sometimes even slightly older. I have seen a few women go from looking 39 at the age of 44, to looking around 53 at the age of 49. So ageing about 12-13 years in about 4 years.

Hear me out though........... Then when they get to about 58-60, they still look around their mid 50's. After 50, they don't seem to age very much again til they hit mid to late 60's...

Then by the age of 68-70, they go from looking mid 50's to looking late 60's within a year or two. IYSWIM.

@dailyshite

I saw a woman the other day who I overheard saying that she'd celebrated her 50th birthday.

Her hair was naturally grey but this was literally the only thing which would have put her over 30 appearance wise.

Nah sorry, don't believe it. She MAY have looked 30 from 50 feet away (if she dressed young/trendy) but close up she would look at LEAST mid 40's. No 50 year old looks 30 sorry. Not one.

My father doesn't look 82. But he certainly doesn't look 60, either. He's not white, though, and spent his life in the sun.

I am nearly 40 and have none. But this is probably in part due to having suffered severe acne for years and oily skin tends to age better, according to dermatologist who never tires of telling me this when I was miserable about cystic acne! And I’ve had to take roaccutane twice. Think I would rather have wrinkles

People with darker skin tend to look younger than their age it's true... (More young for their age than white people.)

I'm pretty line free in my mid 50s. But I have other issues which I'd swap for a few lines. I think it's genetics in most cases.

I have days when I look my age and days when I don’t, and I don’t give a monkeys! Of course the podge does help with the facial wrinkles a bit