Just wondering, what's the maximum number of years younger you think it's possible to look in real life?

[HepburnKNotA]

I'm just pondering this in my idle moments (clearly I have too many!!)

Without actual 'work', obviously.

It's just that I often see people claiming (and I have no basis to disbelieve them!!) they are eg 35 but look 25.

HONESTLY, if I think about my very lovely and gorgeous friends, all roughly aged 35-50 and all very different women, NONE of us look any more than roughly 5 years younger than our actual ages.

I'm 43, and I take very VERY good care of my skin inside and out, and I think probably most people take me for about 38/39, no younger.

One stunning friend who is 50 and looks absolutely amazing, and does a lot of non-surgical stuff - honestly she still looks about 45, no younger.

This is absolutely not a criticism of ANYONE for getting older (I mean, what the fuck else are we meant to do) or of anyone for doing whatever they can/want to look younger. I'm just ever so intrigued as here I am eating avocado and using retinol and sunscreen and never smoking and never sunbathing... and I hear people saying they look a good 10 years younger than they really are.

SHOULD I BE DOING MORE???!!!

Really I just want to look well, and rested, and not puffy and grey. I see no way I could look 33 right now. Apart from literal time-travel.

I think most people can knock off 5-10 yrs at most & it's easier at 80 then it is at 50. Lots of people claim they are mistaken for decades younger but lots of the time people aren't actually looking at you. When I was 16 I could get into clubs because I was 5ft 10, at 21 I would get ID'd because I made less effort. If I put on a hoody & leggings & put my hair up people assume I'm younger because of the way I'm presented. Imo that's why petite people are assumed to be younger.

I don’t think anyone looks majorly younger than their actual age. Even when people have work done, they don’t look any younger, they just look worked on.

I often get mistaken for a child because of my size and build (roughly an average 11 year old) even though I'm close to 50. I recently got given a party bag at a child's party as I was standing on the edge of the crowd of them.
The woman was mortified when I gave it back and she looked at me properly!! I'd say facially I look a bit younger but not much. I think as I age further being slim in the face will give me away.

To clarify - I often get mistake for a child...from the back

I get mistaken for late 20s early 30s and am a decade older. I'm Indian origin and am slim with thick hair. I think white skin generally ages faster. My friends have laughter lines while my skin is smooth.

I would say @Rainingdogsandcats is around 52.

@Rainingdogsandcats 45?

I would say 47.

I look around 5 or 6 years younger than what I am.I'm 40 in April.

Yes, I would agree with about 5 years either way. Being short helps - I am 4’11 and people often think I am younger now, I think your brain just associates short height with youth. Also how you dress etc I think makes a big difference.

@Rainingdogsandcats 48

You can have no lines but youth is virtually impossible to replicate. I think people look good or bad for their age but I have never met someone in real life that looked dramatically younger than they actually were.
Maybe at a glance - but if you spend time with someone most people will guess your age to a range of 5 years.
Also people will always tell you you look younger than you are, i am told this all the time and believe me I look every day of my age. I think I look good for my age but I don't look the age a lot of people say I do, however flattering

@desperatesux
Also people will always tell you you look younger than you are, i am told this all the time and believe me I look every day of my age.

I know, it's crazy how many people believe this! It's just standard social niceties.

My husband easily looked 10 years younger than he was. I even managed to lie about his age to my parents for the first couple of years we were together (he was 13 years older than me and I was worried they wouldn't approve)! He was a vegan, non smoker, tea-total and very physically active, full head of thick dark hair just starting to get a few greys. No one ever thought he was the age he was and stood side by side to people the same age there was just no comparison!

I'll be 54 in September so I'm happy thanks guys x

Anyone claiming to look anything other than a few years younger, is laughably delusional. It’s embarrassing to note how some people on MN post photographs of themselves asking the all-important question and clearly angling for a positive response.

When they get honesty, they seem not to like it and they become truculent.

ScarlettBlaize

the waiter very clearly thought we were in our early 20s (and made this clear in several comments he made, rather than any attempt to flatter us).

It's sweet but slightly alarming that two people around 40 years old would genuinely fall for this.

Don’t know about “sweet”. (The waiter is not at all interested in tips, of course.)

@Rainingdogsandcats:

Early 50s?

I know a few who could pass for 10 - 15 years younger. I'm mistaken for 10 yrs younger quite a bit. I dress 'young' though - not stylish, but more casual. I know it won't last forever!

@Rainingdogsandcats Mid-50s?

Looking at people like Jennifer Aniston I'd say 20 years younger (of course I don't know whether she's had work done).

Jen Aniston is 50. She could pass for early 40s, IMO.

I think it all depends. Photos are different from a moving visual, and how much makeup I'm wearing affects how old I look too and how well I have slept, whether my acne is bad.....
I suspect I look maybe 2 years younger than I am, but some people say 5 years older so who knows

Brad Pitt looks much better than Jennifer Anniston, in terms of ageing. She has clearly had a lot of work done. Now she is beginning to look a bit odd.

It's sweet but slightly alarming that two people around 40 years old would genuinely fall for this.

Brad Pitt is ageing like a fine wine

Brad Pitt looks much better than Jennifer Anniston, in terms of ageing. She has clearly had a lot of work done. Now she is beginning to look a bit odd.
(Without random paragraph!)

Clearly yes we aim for younger when guessing someone's age as to get it wrong and aay older is never taken well, and the instinct is to avoid a social faux pas.

I think a lot of people's views on how old they look is basically about how they think they look. Not actually what others think, but they attribute it to others because they don't want to say I think I look young.

Very few people go about randomly asking strangers how old they look, so. Age seldom comes up in conversation with strangers unless you're deliberately asking and fishing for compliments or validation and then of course our norms kick in and the person responding aims for younger.

Brad Pitt has had some work done recently but it's not too much