Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Style and beauty

Looking for style advice? Chat all about it here. For the latest discounts on fashion and beauty, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

If you met a woman in her 50s without many wrinkles or "11s"....

209 replies

CaliforniaDrumming · 22/06/2022 11:53

.... would you assume she had had Botox? This isn't a stealth brag btw, I am not referring to myself (though I have not had Botox). Just a general and random question.

Also, would it make a difference if the woman was Asian or black?

OP posts:
MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 22/06/2022 11:54

No

Ragwort · 22/06/2022 11:56

What's '11s'?

I wouldn't give it any thought, I am mid 60s with no wrinkles ... not a boast - couldn't care less - it's just a fact.

RuthW · 22/06/2022 11:57

I'm 54 with no wrinkles

CaliforniaDrumming · 22/06/2022 11:57

11's are the wrinkles some get on their foreheads, shaped like the number.

OP posts:
newbiename · 22/06/2022 11:57

I'm in my 50s. No 11s. Wrinkles round the eyes. Forehead smooth.
No Botox. White.

Stripyhoglets1 · 22/06/2022 11:58

No I'd assume she hadn't been out in the sun much when younger and/or has good skin genes

Intheflicker · 22/06/2022 11:59

It's not something I would ever think about

IcecreamForAlcohol · 22/06/2022 11:59

I'm 43. I don't have 11s but I have a deepening no 1 between my brows 😂

TabithaTittlemouse · 22/06/2022 11:59

Not at all. Why would people assume that?

CaliforniaDrumming · 22/06/2022 12:02

Because on threads about Botox some women on here have said that they just assume everyone in their 50s has had Botox, but is keeping it to themselves. This can't be true, can it? A bit of a silly thread I know, but A level exams are over and I feel silly.

OP posts:
WakeUpandSmelltheKetchup · 22/06/2022 12:07

My MIL is approaching 80 and is without 11’s and only a few light wrinkles around the edges of her forehead/no frown lines. She has very good genes (I knew her parents who both looked younger than they were) and she’s scrupulous about keeping out of the sun as she’s really pale. So no, I don’t assume anything about a wrinkle free face.

Busybeeble · 22/06/2022 12:10

If she didn’t have the Botox ‘look’ then I wouldn’t assume she had injections, no

TheFlis12345 · 22/06/2022 12:10

If they were white, I have to admit I would assume Botox. Non white, I would be less inclined to think so. A black colleague in her early 60’s has the naturally smooth skin of a 20 year old, not a line in sight.

Slinkymalinky03 · 22/06/2022 12:18

No. Many users of tretinoin from an early age have no wrinkles or fine lines well beyond that age. However, there's no mistaking their real age for a host of other reasons.

thelittlestrhino · 22/06/2022 12:20

IcecreamForAlcohol · 22/06/2022 11:59

I'm 43. I don't have 11s but I have a deepening no 1 between my brows 😂

This! Though mine started out as a scar and is now morphing into a wrinkle.

TheOGCCL · 22/06/2022 12:22

I think with 11s it's simply about how your muscles move in that area. Someone like Steph McGovern, who frowns a lot making a classic 11 shape, won't be able to stop 11s forming, whereas other people don't frown in the same way, so the muscles don't get stuck like that and they can be 50, 60, 70, 80 and that won't change as it's not the way their face moves. It's just luck of the draw as to your face structure and skincare isn't going to help much (a little but not substantially).

PrettyDelightful · 22/06/2022 12:22

If she is White I would think she had botox done but if she is Black or Asian I would think this is her genetic make up + self care in the form of lotions and potions but nothing injected.

easyday · 22/06/2022 12:24

I'm 60 and I don't know anyone who has had Botox

Twiddledeedee · 22/06/2022 12:26

I'm not 50 but in my 40s and I don't have a single wrinkle..yet! My forehead is tight and doesn't move much and I've been asked if I've had botox but I honestly haven't...I stay out of the sun and I'm not white so it's probably genes...I do however have tech neck which I've had since I was a child and that makes the skim om my face look abnormally smooth iygwim.

minipie · 22/06/2022 12:26

If black or Asian definitely wouldn’t assume Botox, darker skin seems to wrinkle much later.

If white - well it would depend how else they were presented. If they were very groomed in other ways (hair clothes figure) then that would make me more likely to assume Botox. It is rife round here.

Oblomov22 · 22/06/2022 12:30

No. I don't have wrinkles yet, have started to get 11's though.

hattie43 · 22/06/2022 12:32

I don't have wrinkles nor Botox and I'm in my 50's.

I have a friend who smoked and was an extreme sun worshipper who looked 50's in her 30's.

oviraptor21 · 22/06/2022 12:37

Interesting observations.
In my experience Asian women age more quickly than white and black women more slowly - that's just in terms of skin appearance, wrinkles etc.
I'm in my 50s and only a few small lines around my eyes - thanks to my mum who in her 80s could easily be mistaken for being in her 60s if it weren't for her mobility.

OompaLoompaa · 22/06/2022 12:44

Im 53, I have faint forehead lines and elevens. I have slight crows feet lines. I have had have botox every six months since my 50th.

otterlybonkers · 22/06/2022 12:49

i wouldnt think much, people vary.
I am more likely to be looking at the whole person, their personality and overall vibe. A wrinkle free face tells me nothing, and sometimes wrinkles look nice.

if she was (or he) frozen and expressionless maybe.
Subtle cosmetic alterations are not as obvious, so who cares?

I'd vote for quitting nailing females into these judgements and get on with living. Or at least do it to men, too.