Please help my face

[Terriblyold]

I'm 35 and look about 60 and I am so down about it I never want to come out of my house again.

I'm fit, athletic, eat healthily, never smoked. I think it's mostly bad genes as my mum was the same. But probably not helped by not drinking enough water or wearing sunglasses or moisturising throughout my life. I always looked young and thought letting my skin be (never wore make up) was a good way to look after it.

In the last year I have aged terribly. I'm really not exagerating, it's not fine lines but deep ones, when I smile I look like a bulldog with lots of folds. The difference between my youngish athletic body and old lady's face is shocking.

Can anything at all help or once it's happened it's too late? I want to cry. When I was growing up my mum was berating herself constantly, saying she looked old and ugly and isolating herself through lack of confidence. She has passed away and I barely have any pictures of her as she always avoided them. I don't want to repeat that cycle, but it's after I took a few smiley pictures with my son today that I realised how bad I look and just want to delete them all ;(

Treatment wise, I went through a series of Dermapen sessions (6 over 6 weeks), then looking forward 3/4 maintenance sessions a year. Not a comfortable treatment, but by gosh it works.

Following this thread with interest - I'm 45 and not been great with my skincare (ie - I've done nothing!).

OP - you've had loads of ideas here with your skincare, and I definitely have no clue how to help with that 😅 But re the photos you hate, have you tried using a subtle filter? It won't change how you look in real life but photos can be unflattering and brutal and a very slight filter that subtly smooths your face might make you feel better about photos. Doesn't have to be anything dramatic, but a very slight smoothing effect might make you feel a lot better about yourself. Just a thought in case it helps.

Also, I was interested to read the comments about the Foreo Bear. I've never heard of this before!! Can anyone confirm whether the Foreo Bear Mini is effective or do you have to get the bigger one?

Here are a couple of threads on the Foreo Bear (and the Nu Face device). It seems the mini is less powerful and would end up taking longer to do the full treatment

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/style_and_beauty/4225061-Which-Foreo-bear-or-mini

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/style_and_beauty/4144994-Anyone-recommend-a-micro-current-device

Thank you all for all the knowledge and wisdom. So to start with I have ordered a balm cleanser, a rich moisturiser and a dedicated SPF. It took me hours of research to find some that are OK in pregnancy and had good reviews and weren't too expensive and were in stock but I finally got there!!

Once baby is here I will look into some of the other options that were mentioned and build up from there, I feel much better for having a plan!