What age did you start really noticing signs of ageing? And, any tips to make it slightly less depressing?

[Trickymoments]

I'm 41 & would say that when I had my 40th birthday it was like the ageing switch was turned on!

I have always looked young for my age and my dh says I still do but I
don't feel as confident about my looks anymore. My skin is drier & occasionally spotty and I can see jowels and a turkey neck appearing!
Also the one or two grey hairs i had appear to be breeding!

I am conscious I need to make more effort to exercise too now but fitting that in is a juggle.

Any other 40+ year olds feeling similar?
I realise it's an inevitable natural process but it always seemed such a way off!

I've just been through a year of moods and being depressed about being 40, noticing I'm getting older every time I look in the mirror.
My oldest leaving for uni and my youngest is going to seniors so that hasn't helped but I've connected with my husband more and tries to put me first every so often... There's no answer but just acceptance

Totally empathise with you OP, I'm early 40s and always looked younger than my years until the last year. It all seems to be happening at once. Lines & wrinkles, jowls, eye bags not to mention the change in my skin condition which used to be great but is now patchy and dry. Grey hairs, a spreading tummy and a huge decline in energy levels - I feel and look jaded

I try to drink a lot of water and watch what I eat (something I never had to worry about before). I'd like to use makeup to disguise and improve! But I feel I've lost my way with that as well, everything I use seems to settle into the cracks on my face and I end up looking worse!

Enjoying the practical and pragmatic advice on this thread

I'm 48, top tip from me is to keep fit and healthy. I definitely notice the ageing thing on skin, slight jowls, odd depressing grey hair, but I think being in decent physical shape can offset that. Cycle 80 miles a week, run 10, an hour of Pilates, a couple of hours of tennis and I think I am fitter than in my 20's (and more knackered). Fortunately my eyesight started to go when I hit 40 so at least I can't see the full extent of my decline!

I'm 29 and have loads of grey hairs already, think I got my first few when I was only about 24 and now there's tons of the bleeding things!! Well, there isn't because I dye my hair but they're definitely there...lurking, ready to all suddenly appear at around the 5 week post-dye point!
I also look terribly tired at the end of the school year (teacher) and in previous years I've felt I look a lot fresher faced by the end of the summer, this year I don't think it's worked

Oh and this stuff helps......!

Great thread. :) My personal hero is Dame Maggie Smith. She was as beautiful in " The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" (1969) as she is now. Love her every wrinkle.:)

Ive been dyeing my hair for 8 years now and I wish I could go back in time and advise myself not to do it. What a drag and a bind it all is. Hate my roots. It's going to be so hard to go grey without looking completely barking on the way.

Ooh, I like the idea of being an oak in between bendy sapling and majestic.

Funnily have always looked forward to being an "elder" - when younger I didn't quite realise it'd also include less resilient body as well as wisdom & wrinkles. Need to make a bit more time for exercise.

My eyesight has started to deteriorate so I got glasses. I only wear them for driving or when I need to read and can't. The backs of my hands look so much better when I'm not wearing them.
Yoga is my other tip.

Ginorwine - grace in other aspects

about 69 - but keep smiling as that is what the wrinkles are there for!
Seriously - when my hands and neck went wrinkly - at about 60 - but I have not yet gone completely grey/white haired so from the back being a size 12 I still look younger than 70

I'm mid 50s now and when l look at photos of me at 40 l looked positively youthful. Now as already said l don't give two hoots. I'm busy and active in my life have loads of friends and we really care for each other so lm never aware of how they look as l would in my earlier days. Failing eyesight helps as l look in the mirror and am totally delusional thinking l look fine. At my last birthday l said to ds aaaaaaaaah lm 56. He said well the alternative is not very attractive and he really cheered me up.
One thing though l think alcohol really speeds up aging. At least l convince myself it does as l rarely drink and l believe it has helped.

I could have started this thread. I'm 35 and in this last year have gone so suddenly from looking young for my age to lines and wrinkles everywhere. I'm getting obsessed with looking at women in their 40s and thinking "but I have more wrinkles than that..." Is it genetic? Stress?

On a practical note, what foundations are people using? When I wore anything before, it was a barely-there matte mineral job, now that just sits in my wrinkles rather than hiding the bad bits!

I used to feel like you - I hated turning forty and looked in the mirror with despair. But then I found this photo, and now I have my inspiration!

I have always looked at least 10 years younger and now I am 45 I feel age is catching up with me. I am 1 stone overweight and find it incredibly hard to stick to any diet. I don't look too bad, I guess I would probably pass for 38, but I don't feel great about myself. Gotta get myself sorted with exercise and stuff...

I'm late 30's, started to notice foundation was sitting in the creases around my eyes/the wrinkles on my forehead. I spoke with a woman on a beauty counter who said I had dehydrated skin and recommended a huge number of products at quite a staggering price. On the recommendation of several threads on here I got some rosehip oil and it has been a complete game changer. I use it every night and some mornings if I feel my skin needs it, few drops rubbed into damp skin and (drum roll for effect) I don't really bother with foundation any more. This is a staggering change because I've always worn a full face - now I use sunscreen and some eye make up and that's it. It's amazing.

I'm not suggesting I look 25, but I don't care. It's not that I want to look young, I just want to look the best version of myself. I love Dame Judi Dench and hope a) to reach her age and b) to be as awesome. I also look after dying people and without sounding like an arse, it does make you appreciate the privilege of getting older.

So my plan is to keep dyeing my hair, look after my skin inside and out - so I take omega 3, drink lots of water, lay off the booze and eat quite well. And exercise. And just enjoy my life!

I feel i started to age more when i was 46. It has been a slipper slope since then. It was my neck that i first noticed. It was crepey and i hated it. After trying many potions that made NO difference i finally started facersizes, just a few targetting my neck and chin. That combined with balance activ serum and cream with nivea blue pot on top and exfoliating the area, has tightened it greatly but i need to keep it up. One day of not doing it and it looks crap. The rest of my face is actually not too bad at 48. I dont have major wrinkles yet. .I do have quite a good bone structure so that helps. I have a few spots though, annoyingly and pimples under the skin. Thinking this is hormonal but it really pisses me off because at my age, i think its just not fair!!!

Ace photo yvaine we don't see enough like these.

I used to feel like you - I hated turning forty and looked in the mirror with despair. But then I found this photo, and now I have my inspiration!

Sorry to burst your bubble but she has had all different surgeries! She still looks good but it is NOT natural.

I think matte foundations are a no no >40 really.

I love the Rimmel Wake Me Up as it's glowy. Glowy = compliments, in my experience.

Which is hilarious as in my 20s I had to look at matte as possible. I used so much Mac Studio Fix foundation i suspect I looked like a bloody geisha.

This is a great thread

I'm 30 and new NY resolution this year was to make real conscious efforts to look after my skin. I overhauled my routine and actually my skin does look great. I wouldn't say I look young for my age but I think I look fresh. BUT I have some massive problem areas. I have huge dark circles under my eyes, my hands are getting wrinkly and my hair's pretty shit. All of these things age me.

What under eye concealer do people use? I use Benefit Lemonaid ATM which is okay but always after new ideas.

I think Mollie, flo and I are some of the older girls here.

I probably noticed more round about aged 60 . I met dh when 56 and I certainly didn't think I looked old.

I'm 64 and I don't now but I do have more lines but I have accepted them . I certainly can't change them.
It's about staying as fit and healthy as we can to enjoy the life we have left together.

Dh had a nasty health scare at the turn of the year which still impacts on our lives. That's the focus now.
I'm not interested in fashion but I love clothes. I wear what I like and what I feel suits me.

Dh is a nice smart dresser.
We are happy and appreciate one another.
That's what counts.

neveradullmoment the point is, she doesn't look thirty in that pic.

I can see wrinkles, softness around the jowls, laughter lines - and she still looks gorgeous and sexy, and imo better than she looked in her twenties.

She's making the best of herself and is full of sexual confidence. Not a bad way to do ageing.

90 Best one I ever used was the Clarins Instant Light underye pen.

Runners up: the No 7 pen, and the Mac pen in Radiant Rose.

In terms of non-pen ones, the Nars Creamy concealer is amazing but expensive, but the Maybelline Fit Me concealer is very close to it. And the Collection Lasting Finish concealer is amazing too.

I may be a bit too invested in concealer