To ask how old you were when you first thought...

[MoanerLeaser]

"....what the FUCK! Noooooooo! Please God nooooooo!" Upon noticing your face was older/lines/wrinkles?

Just wanting to feel like I'm not alone here in wrinkly solitude

42

Am 44 now and this aging lark is hard.
Watching my neck & the back of my hands for signs of aging

I’m ok so far, 39

A year after my daughter died. I hadn’t looked in the mirror for ages and when I did I was appalled at how old I looked. Sudden grey hairs and lines. Seriously grief ages you.
But my skin recovered a bit when I felt strong enough to look after myself and my hair was better once I’d managed to face a hairdresser.

33 after a big op. It's improved but I looked grey and lines from the pain

No greys or wrinkles yet but I check everyday as I'm incredibly vain and have a fear of aging.

Im 35

28. Wound up in hospital after being attacked and with some memory loss. (Partial and temporary, nothing like in films).

Six months later, back with my own mirror, I felt brave enough to look at my face, and was horrified - some visible grey hairs, old-person eye-bags, the lines between lips and mouth.

A previous poster said grief is ageing. I don’t pretend that my experience was as bad as hers, but like hers, it showed in my face.

But the body’s only really started to crack up in my late 30s.

57/ 58 . I do face exercise which helps.

Like @AppleHEAD I have been massively aged through grief. Husband died when I was 33, back then I could pass for 28. At 37 my face fell apart. 39 now and not happy with my face AT ALL.

Oh yes hair went grey at 37 too. Luckily I have a great hairdresser to do my colour as hair is my best asset.

46. The jowls appeared then and they are the real give-away on age.

First time after my father passed away, it was the grief as a pip said. I seemed to recover. But recently my mother passed, I have good days and bad days now, but I think the grief shows on my face. But it doesn't make me feel down or anything, it is what it is.

Not pip...PP

24. After seeing full on wrinkles on an old school friend I practically ran home after our lunch to check my own eyes. Yo my dismay I found crinkles in the corners and creases under my eyes. Although I am permanently sleep deprived and jag lagged so hopefully they’re just due to that.

34 but I didn't think "Oh fuck".

I think it must have been the first time I was bothered enough to consult a doctor specialising in cosmetic ‘tweaks’. 55.

It was 42 for me. I’ve noticed a real change (apparently age 40 is where your cells stop regenerating or something which is why there is a marked process of ageing that starts around then). Most days it really doesn’t bother me, but I do have the odd day where I mourn the loss of my more youthful self. It was fun having perfect boobs and a great figure, so watching it all slowly become less so feels strange (and is difficult for an obsessive perfectionist like me). But I don’t believe there’s anything truly awful about getting older/looking older and I don’t worship at the altar of sexualised youth. I haven’t since I was mid twenties and really became aware of the feminist perspective on youth and beauty. I’ve never seen my looks as being the only or most important aspect of my personhood. I look at older women than me who are still just as powerful/intelligent/beautiful/attractive as they ever were, and in many cases much more so, and I take strength from that.

Doesn’t mean I might not someday decide to have a little tweak - I’d consider having Botox and fillers to fix the hereditary frown line between my eyebrows. I often have headaches because of the muscle tension, and it makes me look angry when I’m not.

About 35. But I definitely have body image issues so I’m not surprised. That’s when I started getting Botox and fillers.

42, had botox at and fillers during my 40th year which plumped me up sadly my purse won't allow it anymore. 43 now and I'm not too bad (no eye bags or deep wrinkles) just look my age.

39/40

I did the following:

Cut massively down on sugar (for other health-related reasons tbf, I'm not sure I'd have managed it if it was just the ageing thing)
Switched to balm cleanser
Started eating more fats like nuts and avocado
Cut down a bit on coffee
Added more anti-ageing (smoothing/plumping) ingredients into skincare regime - retinoid and hyaluronic acid.

Job done! I look 25 again!

(I don't, in the slightest, but the awful pallid, grey look I was rocking has faded and I look smoother, better-rested, less puffy. I'm lucky that I don't have major lines or wrinkles yet - though my forehead lines are becoming more noticeable now I'm 43 - but in all honesty I feel I can work with lines if I don't look puffy and grey-skinned and utterly knackered all the time. I think sugar consumption was my worst enemy)

37. I noticed a few grey hairs and started to get a frown line between my eyebrows. But last week someone thought I was mid 20s so maybe I don’t look as bad as I think I do?

Yes totally agree on low carbing. I’m a longtime lowcarber (for health reasons), on and off and ranging from very serious to not that serious, and my skin has always been really good, very clear and youthful looking (people are still always surprised when they find I have grown up daughters, but I think that will stop in the next few years when my face properly catches up with my age). Moderation with alcohol is important too. Lots of good fats is part and parcel of LC so you get all the benefits of those. Plus I feel better overall.

My 30th birthday is when I found my first grey hair
And the kids cheerfully pointed out I had wrinkles round my eyes too
I cried for a week,bought some hair colour and ignored the wrinkles
Now I just think lines are proof I’ve lived

I’ve never dyed my hair and at my age I don’t expect I ever will. Or maybe I’ll get to 50/60 and suddenly fancy bright red hair!

I’ve got a couple of stray white hairs in my eyebrows. They came in at about 40, I think.

Jesus, I must be a right old paranoid penny then. I'm only 30 but I'm already fine line spotting X-o