Does anybody prefer how they look now they're older?

[Gooooo]

According to media/society everybody in their 20s is effortlessly beautiful and walks around with an undeniable glow, men constantly staring at them wherever they go.
I really dislike how only youth is supposed to equate to beauty and how society worships it so much.
I was looking at pictures of myself in my 20s this morning and I look like a football, my face is unbelievably round. You don't notice it until you look back at old pictures, now in my 30s my face has lost this subcutaneous fat and it looks a lot slimmer. I also had very severe chin acne in my 20s which has now cleared, I've had braces too.
Is anyone else feeling that they look better with age as opposed to the opposite?

I'd go with this description too ... I do on one hand miss my twenties face and body (I was actually quite good looking) but I was crippled with self confidence and had boyfriends who treated me appallingly which compounded how I saw myself.

Pushing 50s now and whilst I don't resemble that pretty thing now - and I'll admit I still have moments of feeling like an old frump especially when I see my peers who have absolutely had interventions and work done - I think my hair suits me now, I'm finding my style, running, yoga and the gym mean I feel incredibly strong and I know this is the face and body nature has given me. I'm trying to just go with it now

@Tarantellah smelly???? What kind of smelly? 😳

I findI really notice a classy looking 50+ woman now when I'm out. I love seeing how our older sisters dress to embrace their life experience.

We watched the Night Agent on Netflix last week and a character Diane Farr is totally rocking grey hair. She looks great.

The lady who plays the attorney in Ozark too.

Women who no longer give a shit and blow dry their hair well

Can you imagine the money big beauty businesses would lose if all women were completely comfortable with how they looked?
It's actually nothing to do with how you look, it's how you feel. I don't need anyone else's approval or validation, but my own. Most women haven't got that insight. They want to compete with other women, or still look to a man for their own sense of worth, always at the mercy of their own insecurities.
I don't need or want to change a single thing about the way l look. I am a beautiful work of art, the most attractive thing about me (or anyone) is a kind heart . Looks fade, that's ok. If l had daughters they would have healthy self esteem like myself.

Such a funny thread cause I was literally thinking about this the other day.

I liked how I looked from about 25-35 and I’m now approaching my 40’s and can’t believe how downhill I’ve went in the last 3-4 years.

I knew somebody would say that 😂
I didn't say it wouldn't change as I got older.
I said, I feel that I look better now then when I was apparently at my 'peak' according to society.
Fully aware 30s isn't that old.

Really dislike the term of looks 'fading'.
It's quite sad how many people say they 'used to be pretty.'

Definitely much prefer how I look now (I'm 52)

I was bullied at school because of how I look and because of this spent my 20s and beyond not feeling great about myself (or making the most of my looks)

As I've aged the stuff I was bullied for eg my 'weird face' (aka amazing bone structure) 'no tits' (aka petite and slim) have become things that have turned me into a right old stunner!
I've got great skin (thanks to the bone structure!) always do my hair & nails and wear whatever I like but dress up (in an understated way) everyday. I feel great and finally love how I look.

I get so many compliments these days, I wish I could go back in time and tell younger me what a stunner she will end up!!!

I definitely look better in my 30s than I did in my late teens to late 20s.
It took me so long to loose the skinny, knobbly, gangly awkward look. I was all elbows and knees with no shape and wore badly fitting clothes to hide my scrawny shape.
Filled out a bit during pregnancy and the weight has stayed and even looking at photos I can tell I look better. Clothes fit me better, nobody asks if I'm ill and I'm looking forward to ageing like this. I look totally normal and average and I love it.

Yes that's true too, although I really was quite something I have the photos to prove it 😆
Well said, I have a toddler so that doesn't help, but I should try and at least do things so I feel and look good for me 😀

I look a lot better in my late 30s/early 40s then I did in my late 20s early 30s. In part I have a bit more money to buy myself better clothes that suit me better, spend more on my hair etc. I also spend more time doing exercise and looking after myself etc

I had stubborn acne in my late teens and right through my 20s. I’m 33 now and my skin is the clearest its ever been in my adult life.
It was like a switch, and all of a sudden the acne finally fucked off very quickly! My skin tone is also more even too. My hormones must be changing I guess?

BUT, downside is I am getting lines now. 🙄 I do feel better about how I look though.

Christ I really don't like how I look at the moment

Two stone overweight

I have thyroid issues so my hair is really fine and crap.

I'm saving for upper eye lid surgery and I need to shed the weight so I look less like a moomin and more like the old me.

I've had a very busy stressful year so feel it's showing in my face

I'm more comfortable in my skin than ever, I used to be slim but some of my hair choices looking back did absolutely nothing for me 🫣. Im bigger and have rosacea so I won't look better to the outside world but I think contentment and confidence and not giving as much of shit really helps

I looked objectively great in my late teens and early 20s but I was absolutely convinced I was hideous. I remember being obsessed with the size of my thighs and being constantly starving because I was on "detox" diets.

I look back at these stunning photos of myself and just see how sad and insecure I was. Now I see these slightly dodgy photos of me looking knackered chasing after my kids and I don't focus in on what I look like, I see how happy we were in the moment.

I totally agree.

Yes of course people age: your skin tends to lose a lot of its elasticity, many people put on weight, hair greys, menopause doesn't help women look their best. Some people have health conditions which affect their looks.

But so much of this is a result of people hammering away at women around the idea that an older woman is automatically less attractive and a lot of this doesn't have much to do with women at all, it has to do with men being threatened by women with the confidence to be comfortable with themselves.

And actually unless you're quite unlucky and as long as you take care of yourself it's by no means automatic that you look worse at 50 than you do at 30.

I find it really depressing when people come onto these sorts of threads and say "I used to get wolf-whistled" or "I feel invisible" and that they miss it. But what they are actually "missing" is being leered at by blokes who enjoy making them feel like prey. Yuck.

I feel better now at 40 than I ever did when I was younger but that’s due to fitness levels more than appearance. I was slim in my early 20s because I didn’t eat, then fat after having the DC. I don’t know if I’m pretty, I always felt kind of odd looking with big eyes like the girl on the Eels album Beautiful freak 😁but I don’t care too much anymore!

Yes in my fifties. Never looked better.

Do you really need to ''turn heads'' to feel good about yourself?

If woman cared a little bit less about what men in general think of their physical appearance, we would all be much happier.

All these internalised misogyny about how women are not longer attractive after 30 is really quite sad.

Obviously 20 year old me had more potential but I was overweight, spotty, very bad skin, awful diet, lack of confidence, bit of a divvy and couldn't hold my alcohol.

41 year old me has a great figure, eats well, skin is miles better, self confidence through the roof gained over the decades of experiences, and knows my alcohol limits.

I'm better and somewhat wasted my youthful looks but did not waste my youth, it all made me who I am today.

Aged 55, face wise yes, body wise no.

Nope. I look hideous and feel hideous. I used to be quite attractive and could generally rely on being pretty presentable which gave me self confidence.

Now I can't rely on that and feel hollow. I'm genuinely at a point where I look in a mirror and think "you are fat and ugly." I have nothing going for me at all and I'm not sure of the point of my existence.

However, I realise that these feelings are most likely to do with peri-menopause and I'm starting HRT.

I certainly did look better in my mid to late forties to early fifties, carried myself with confidence and felt pretty good. I'm old now and don't care much :). We go through phases in life which affect our appearance and affect, it's all very interesting.

I don't think I better looking now, but I definitely feel better about my looks. In my 20s I was ordinary looking amongst the beautiful young things. In my 50s I brush up pretty well in comparison to my peers 😆

I still like my face at 51. But the beauty of one’s 20s can never be matched. You definitely become invisible as you age (and it starts when you have a baby), but it’s nice to not be pestered in pubs 🤨.