Some cold, hard facts of life at 38!

[Diamondsonthefloor]

Today I went to buy a replacement pair of Baxter skinny jeans as mine are quite worn out. Not only did I look utterly hideous in a duplicate size to what I have, but the sizes below and above also looked terrible. I then looked at the Leighs, which aren't really jeans at all but very thin cotton jean-style trews!

I'm in such a rut. I am usually really confident about my sense of style, what I like, what inspires me etc. Today I found the shops really depressing...I just need some new skinny jeans and I'd love them to be made of actual denim....

I then went and bought a magnifying mirror...x 12 magnification. BIG mistake. Having believed a therapist that my skin is "quite good actually", the open pores and creased up skin is truly awful, and yet i've been beauty product obsessed for years!

I suppose I'm posting because I wonder if any of you have coasted through your thirties feeling stylish and confident and then have suddenly looked in the mirror one day and thought "shit, actually.....". Other issues like newly greasy hair and teenage blemishes are also throwing me off-balance.

Tbf, You are wearing Skinny's at 38, I'm not saying its old. I'm saying that must count for something. Get princessing.

i'm 38 too, well only for another month in fact, and i'm still wearing skinny jeans but the only ones i actually like at the moment, to my great surprise, are from dorothy perkins... no, honestly they are really well fitting.

however, you have my sympathies on the teenage blemishes, what the heck is that about??? i have lots and lots of horrible spots on my cheeks, all the time (as compared to the occasional and easily coverupable hormonal ones on my chin)

I am 45 and can still wear size 10 skinny jeans but my skin seems to have gone all wrinkly and crepey in the last year and no amount of expensive potions or creams are fixing it

My breasts are sagging and I had a horrible shock when I tried on bras in M&S last week. I guess its just called getting old

The thread? I thought I did lots of those things already. I suppose suddenly, grooming and trying to look after myself (bluargh that sounds so arse) is reaping no benefits.

I'm heading over to the Princesses.

Throw the magnifying mirror in the bin immediately - no good will come of it. Anyone who l

Throw the magnifying mirror in the bin immediately - no good will come of it. Anyone who looks at you that closely is probably already snogging you, and has presumably not been put off by your huge crater-sized pores.

Am the same age as you Diamonds and having a nearly 40 breakdown which involves expensive beauty products, Youtube make up tutorials and a hankering for Botox.

see no matter how bad my face looks, i still wouldn't want botox, a few of my friends are having it and they look very odd indeed.

Crepey...thats exactly it. Around my mouth, while not exactly deep wrinkles, are strange crumpled-up-tissue areas...I don't smoke, drink alcohol about 3 times a year and religiously moisturise.

I am 39 next month, and over Christmas and since then, I have started to feel really mutton...and despite what I wear there is no getting away from it.

I did walk into Dorothy P's today but again, when I picked up the skinnies they weren't really denim. I wanted something that would stand up to the cold weather. I have Uniqlo straight-legged but they make my behind look elephantine.

Let's focus on women who are a bit older but look great so we know we can too.

Sadie Frost? Plus she is no stranger to fags and booze.

Uniqlo do special cold weather skinnies.

Throw away the magnifying mirror & download some pictures of Jane Birkin.

The point being, she looks confident, happy, and sexy. Sexy probably because confident and happy.

Diesel for denim skinnies? (Confession: I haven't been in Diesel for ages because it costs too much - the children get Diesel jeans these days, not me. How did that happen?)

Botox
Microdermabrasion

Hth

animula I have quite a girl crush on Charlotte Gainsbourg; three kids, late thirties blah blah. She always looks good and its less to do with labels and fashion and more with confidence.

I don't think I could go the Botox route at all.

Some things I am wondering how to fix up are...the mammoth pores, the sugar cravings to keep me going all afternoon, addiction to caffeine, mis-matching wardrobe, sudden lank and greasy hair on day 2 after a wash, odd spots and a total intolerance skin and body-wise to sugar and caffeine.

I liked Diesel a lot once...wore a lot of boyfriend style jeans way back when!

Dilys I do like Uniqlo a lot but their cut make me look bigger than I am.

diet is will-power. But sooo worth doing. You're in for the long game now, so you should be sorting out an anti-age-related diabetes diet now.

A hippy type once recommended drinking water when tired (I'd just had dd and was so tired) but weirdly, it does work. And it is so much better than resorting to sugar stuff. Apparently spinach will kill sugar craving too.

All that will probably help your pores, too.

Now I have to follow this advice. I slipped back into the chocolate and coffee diet after Christmas and I have discovered a whole load of my clothes don't fit - yeek!

Also in 20 years time you will look back and think "oh to be 38..."

For the love of god - not the mirror!

I have recently invested in such an item but found that I scared myself under the cold, hard, harsh lights of the department store and the max magnification I was prepared to buy was 3x and even then, I prefer to have put on the serum/base layer first.

I too thought I had great skin... :(

I gave up on expensive creams when I turned 30 - I still moisturise but I use cheap stuff, not convince the expensive stuff ever did any good other than lighten my wallet.
I need to try on at least 20 pairs of jeans before I find a pair that fit properly - I am resigned to it being an exhausting task.

"nimula I have quite a girl crush on Charlotte Gainsbourg; three kids, late thirties blah blah. She always looks good and its less to do with labels and fashion and more with confidence."

Ha! She was wandering around WHSmith in Paris with her baby in a sling the other day when I was in there and, frankly, she looked very tired and frumpy!

I'm 46. I love my magnifying mirror because it helps me know what needs dealing with.

I second the "drinking lots of water" recommendation. It makes a huge difference to your skin and general well being. I'm also a big believer in vitamin and mineral supplements if your diet is a bit "rushed".

I'm 38yrs and had my 3yr old trying to rub the 2 x deep creases off my forehead the other day, I did point out to her that it was her that had put them there...

I look at my face in the mirror these days when i'm off out and think 'no, you're just not pulling it off like you used to...' but c'est le vie. I'm not doing botox.

With regards to what I wear, I think more about covering tops of arms and not wearing something too short, (or playsuits or hareems - but that's because they are clothes of the devil not my age!).

Other than that I think i'm in my fashion prime - i've never felt so comfortable in my skin and confident in what i'm wearing and perhaps that comes with age.

Age is immaterial - its about confidence imo.

Just to make you feel better read the reviews.

They can't all be 38!

I'm 39 and still wear baxters and leighs and have purchased lavender jeans for the spring.

I also do botox but small amounts and only in frown lines not the whole forehead so botox-lite if you like.

Definitely takes more effort to look good and more products as one gets older. For me keeping an eye on my weight is key - had podged up over christmas and losing that has made me feel a lot better.

I'm also finding that I prefer to buy fewer more £££ things.

I'm 41 and I still do skinny jeans.

Like mrs Campbell I do botox, but only for the deep train track lines between my eyes that made me look permanently angry. I still have the forehead wrinkles and crows feet and so looks natural. I think.

I've also started buying more expensive clothes, I don't even bother going in the likes of new look, primark and top shop anymore, I bought really lovely everyday winter dresses instead from the likes of Hobbs, LK Bennet and Whistles. Less stuff overall but I think I need the good cut and quality now.

I'm on a January diet to loose the Christmas pounds, weight has to be a constant maintenance now I think or will gradually creep up.

I'm a beauty product addict, I actaully love make up, it's like my hobby ( at shallow self), I spend hours time on make up alley site researching products before i buy anything, so don't spend too much (alright I do spend too much but haven't bankrupted us yet).

I've started buying more expensive make up, Chanel/ Dior/ YSL which I never did before but also buy some cheaper stuff still too. Makeupnalley is great for finding the good and effective cheap products.

One good recent purchase has been Clinique Turnaround night cream, gives instant results for brighter fresher looking skin in the morning I've found.

I've decided that actually during your 40's if you try,put some effort in and spend a bit of money you can still get away with looking fairly youthful and trendy, but by 50 it's going to be even harder again and need another rethink. So I've decided to try make the most of my 40's and what's left of my looks that my older self doesn't say 'but you looked fine you should have enjoyed it!!'

"Botox lite". I'm pinching that one :o