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Beautiful signs of aging

220 replies

KoreyBay18 · 17/10/2021 22:37

Crows feet!

I love them. I think they make any face instantly more beautiful.

What are your favourite most beautiful signs of aging?

OP posts:
AnnieSnap · 19/10/2021 01:10

@JustGotToKeepOnKeepingOn

I love the way my glasses frame my eyes. I love the downy fluff on my face - it makes me look softer. I am softer! My body is soft and warm.
I love this ❤️
MrsAvocet · 19/10/2021 01:25

I'm in my mid 50s and have red hair. I've never dyed it but now I'm just starting to go grey it looks like I have blondish highlights which I rather like.

gofg · 19/10/2021 04:52

I’m SO tired of starting to read interesting threads only to see them derailed by another poster honing in one one seemingly un PC comment. It’s so fucking boring.

Totally agree - although it can be interesting trying to wonder just how long it will take for the first comment! I really think some people are attention seekers and that's why they do it.

laurenGame · 19/10/2021 04:56

Simple make up, accurate pale manicure.

classy, relaxed, neutral-coloured clothes: linen, wool. Nothing too tight, or short.

brittleheadgirl · 19/10/2021 07:36

[quote 7catsisnotenough]@brittleheadgirl - I just looked and it's currently on offer for £3.32, I'm going to stock up!!![/quote]
Let us know how you get on!
Be warned, it's messy so make sure you rinse it off any surface it touches asap Grin
I don't bother with gloves as I put it on in the shower but I find a dollop of exfoliating wash gets rid of my orange palms!
My hair looks so glossy afterwards though, so definitely worth the little bit of hassle.

KoreyBay18 · 19/10/2021 08:44

So essentially the consensus on this thread is that grey/silver/platinum hair, crows feet, sharper facial features, wrinkles around your mouth, 'filling out' in your figure, and aging hands, are all beautiful.

And society tells us that looking old is something we should avoid. Bizarre.

Makes me think of older Rose in Titanic. Just the definition of elegance and beauty.

OP posts:
highstreetdiestreet · 19/10/2021 10:00

My late grandmother was the epitome of growing old gracefully. She was stunning and remained so through the years.

She had luminous white hair (but looked amazing when it was salt and pepper too), signature coral nails, lipstick.

I adored her age spotted hands and am noticing I'm getting my own (I'm 35, is that early?).

I'm convinced we only notice ourselves ageing in a bad way.

Sparklfairy · 19/10/2021 10:07

Audrey Hepburn famously said, "don't you dare photoshop my wrinkles out, I've earned every single one of them." Thats always stuck with me.

In the last year I seem to have developed a lot more on my face, and at first I was upset. It was like I'd aged overnight. Suddenly I've got comfortable with them. They show a life lived, the crows feet remind me of the times I've smiled etc.

I have an acquaintance who is my age and beautiful. It made me rather sad to see that shes set up a fillers/aesthetics company recently. Im not judging anyones choices but society has a lot to answer for as she is definitely a Hepburn.

ineedsun · 19/10/2021 10:16

@Sparklfairy

Audrey Hepburn famously said, "don't you dare photoshop my wrinkles out, I've earned every single one of them." Thats always stuck with me.

In the last year I seem to have developed a lot more on my face, and at first I was upset. It was like I'd aged overnight. Suddenly I've got comfortable with them. They show a life lived, the crows feet remind me of the times I've smiled etc.

I have an acquaintance who is my age and beautiful. It made me rather sad to see that shes set up a fillers/aesthetics company recently. Im not judging anyones choices but society has a lot to answer for as she is definitely a Hepburn.

I’d be surprised if Audrey Hepburn did say that, did she die before photoshop became widely used?
Sparklfairy · 19/10/2021 10:18

I think 'photoshop' has just become the word we use now so I'm paraphrasing (like 'google' instead of 'search online'), but airbrushing has been a thing for a long long time!

ineedsun · 19/10/2021 10:25

Aah, I’ve heard of the quote but I thought it was to do with make up.

brittleheadgirl · 19/10/2021 10:25

@highstreetdiestreet

My late grandmother was the epitome of growing old gracefully. She was stunning and remained so through the years.

She had luminous white hair (but looked amazing when it was salt and pepper too), signature coral nails, lipstick.

I adored her age spotted hands and am noticing I'm getting my own (I'm 35, is that early?).

I'm convinced we only notice ourselves ageing in a bad way.

She sounds beautiful!

I do absolutely nothing apart from take good care of my skin and eat well.
My only beauty treatment is having my nails done religiously, always red and always short & neat.
I never expected to feel or look this good in my 50s and it's a glorious feeling. I wear what the hell I like and while I do have days when I don't feel great, they're thankfully rare!
I mistakenly thought when I was younger, that the only way of looking and feeling great as you age, was to spend vast amounts of money on treatments and even surgery. I realise now I was wrong!

slipperyeel · 19/10/2021 10:47

@Journeynotdestination

I’m SO tired of starting to read interesting threads only to see them derailed by another poster honing in one one seemingly un PC comment. It’s so fucking boring.
Indeed. S&B used to be one place on Mumsnet which wasn’t hard work and full of sniping. That has changed.
Chakraleaf · 19/10/2021 13:41

I just feel better in myself. I don't dress to impress anyone- I wear what I want.
No hair dye
Just trusting my body
And I bloody love it

BikeRunSki · 19/10/2021 14:48

I was a very blonde child. Went darker in my teens. Now the little greys have started to brighten up my hairline again.

Threewheeler1 · 19/10/2021 15:05

Nice thread OP!
I think it's a necessary thread - so tired of the narrative that we have to attempt to look younger to look good.
I agree with all said upthread. Being comfortable with the natural passage of time is really attractive!
Love grey hair, crows feet, wrinkles, all of it. Adds character and beauty to a face!

StrongCoffeeandPastries · 19/10/2021 15:16

Lovely, refreshing thread.

I'll admit though, I had to think really hard!

I actually quite like my age spots on my cheeks. Only a few, but I think they just look like larger freckles and are quite pretty. I'm always seeing make up aimed at covering every single "imperfection" or blemish, but I think they give my face a bit more character. Character seems to be the word of the thread actually Smile I guess that's what aging is.

midsomermurderess · 19/10/2021 16:06

@Journeynotdestination

I’m SO tired of starting to read interesting threads only to see them derailed by another poster honing in one one seemingly un PC comment. It’s so fucking boring.
I couldn't agree with you more. Dreary dullards blundering into conversations bellowing that everyone is wrong, or should be talking about x not y, or 'what about me, me, me!'. If people behaved like this in real life, they'd be shunned.
Delatron · 19/10/2021 16:13

Audrey said ‘don’t you dare touch any of my wrinkles...’ it was to the editor in reference to photoshop as he asked her if she wanted them photoshopped out. I love that story. She was very beautiful. (She died 1993).

I tried Botox around my eyes and I missed my crow’s feet! They make me look happier and smiley. I also think Botox can create more wrinkles under the eyes so trying to make peace with having them around my eyes instead!

grey12 · 19/10/2021 16:50

@Threewheeler1

Nice thread OP! I think it's a necessary thread - so tired of the narrative that we have to attempt to look younger to look good. I agree with all said upthread. Being comfortable with the natural passage of time is really attractive! Love grey hair, crows feet, wrinkles, all of it. Adds character and beauty to a face!
True Smile

I like to think of life in eras: for me there was the era of being a child, then era I moved to london to go to uni, then the era I was working and met DH, then the era we got married and had kids and I eventually became a SAHP. I had darker hair when I was younger but also had more acne Blush and now I'm starting to have wrinkles but also have 3 kids!!!

My mum keeps complaining of her wrinkles and ageing Sad but when she had no wrinkles she also had no grandchildren and she loves that!

It's very sad when people are so stuck in disliking their appearance that they refuse photos, keep looking at the mirror and being disappointed.....

Threewheeler1 · 19/10/2021 17:09

Completely agree grey12 - different life phases all to be celebrated for the different things they bring!

Moonface123 · 19/10/2021 17:17

You have that lovely internal glow because you know true beauty has absolutely nothing to do with looks. So you pay little attention to the ageing process.

peaceanddove · 19/10/2021 18:24

Sorry if I don’t find a thread where women list the normal signs of ageing as some kind of ‘power to women’ point. Do you think men do the same? Do they have threads listing why it’s ok to get older!?

If DH's favourite forum is anything to go by, then they tend to list their top 5 early electro pop bands or best ways to improve bandwidth. Bandwidth FFS!

I have no desire or aspiration to think or behave in the way that DH does, thanks very much.

peaceanddove · 19/10/2021 18:42

I couldn't agree with you more. Dreary dullards blundering into conversations bellowing that everyone is wrong, or should be talking about x not y, or 'what about me, me, me!'. If people behaved like this in real life, they'd be shunned

Presumably, they are being shunned in real life which is why they're having to resort to broadcasting their dullardness on the Internet?

AuldAlliance · 19/10/2021 21:38

This is on the whole a very cheering thread. Thanks, OP.

I've stopped dyeing my hair and can already tell that once I've got through the "illicit lovechild of a fox and a badger" stage, I'll be far happier, not wasting time and energy on something that looked OK for about 10 days and then involved 2-3 weeks wondering how long I could hang on till I did it again. I love the way it grows in random streaks, sometimes blending in with the rest, sometimes standing out and catching the light.

When I was about 30, I watched a very good friend give a brilliant paper at a conference and I remember idly admiring how wise her reading glasses made her look. I'm not at the reading glasses stage yet, but am not bothered at the prospect, thanks to her.

Now that my DC don't need me so much, I walk 5.5km every day. I can't run because my joints are dodgy, but I walk fast and feel so much better for it - quietly toned, strong and healthy. Six weeks ago, I began taking exactly the same photo every day at the end of the path, and am enjoying seeing tiny changes in skies, seasons and colours. It's a small but satisfying pleasure, and the hour all to myself is a luxury that I didn't have time for when the DC were younger. Then I come home, all chilled and energised and slot back into the evening/morning routine.
I feel and therefore look miles better for that daily walk.

Every grey hair and every line I have is a reminder that I managed to get out of a deeply toxic marriage, a bit dented but very much stronger and less naïve.
I wouldn't erase any of them.

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