Face aged really quick over the last year. What is this?

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Hi, I was always quite lucky with my appearance and never felt like I have to worry about aging. Genes, I guess? however, over the last year I noticed that I really started to look like an old woman. I'm 50.. so not that young - but also, not that massively old. So why I suddenly look like this?... My face looks heavy, eyes look small, face looks big. All droopy, lined, jowly. WHF is this..? Any shared experience would be welcome.

Me too. Also 50. I think it’s sugar alcohol etc destroying the collagen. I’m cutting out sugar and limiting alcohol from this point in an attempt to stop it.

Do you think it can be reversed? Also, do you think you could look better if you loose weight?

I actually don't drink that much and I don't eat much sugar, though I probs have a lot of carbs (bread, pasta, potatoes etc)

Yep. Same here, except I’m only 44. I just really suddenly look OLD.

I think facial ageing is not necessarily linear, it sometimes goes in spurts. For example we might look relatively similar for a few years, and then when something stressful happens, we seem to age 5 years overnight.
It happened to me when my dad died, I seemed to age a few years out of nowhere.

You could try collagen supplements and a really good sunscreen. It'll probably take a few months to see a difference. Face yoga?

Face yoga??

Me too. I'm 51. I'd say the last 2-3 years. It's depressing. I definitely eat too much sugar but I have no will-power.

I don't understand collagen supplements (one friend swears by them for menopause symptoms). How can eating something get it into your skin?

I think it’s most definitely hormonal changes,especially decreasing/loss of oestrogen.
I had a chemically induced menopause at age 43,due to cancer treatment and my face literally aged a decade within 6 months. I did not imagine it,it’s very clear from various family photos taken just before,during and after. Jowls,hooded eyes,eye bags,worsened wrinkles,sagging mid-face,crepey neck with lax skin,thin lank hair,the lot.
I’ve noticed it (but never commented!) in others too,who’ve undergone similar treatment which has caused an ageing face (and body too,obvs).
There’s no amount of collagen supplements,facial exercises or gua sha thingymibobs that can reverse that. Hence,imo,the huge rise in surgical treatments to address these issues (and non-surgical too but they seem less effective to address a sagging face and neck).

I agree with the hormones thing.
Fully through menopause at 54 and this last year my face and neck have collapsed in wrinkles, sagging and creping. I look so much older.
Hate it.

I don't necessarily hate it, just feel quite startled by how rapid the change is. I never felt the need to appear pretty or young, but rather took it for granted. But currently, I keep getting startled by my own face as it looks so different... its sad, but also baffling. My family keeps talking about weight loss and plastic surgery, and its making me feel even sadder.

Same here. I’m 51 next week and believed that I hadn’t done too badly with the ageing process but that has all changed recently.

I have been under a lot of stress and it’s all starting to go downhill. I was sitting in the back of a car yesterday and caught sight of myself in the rear view mirror, oh god, it really accentuated my jowl area and I realised I’m starting to look like a slightly melted waxwork of myself. I try not to be too self involved but I can’t lie, It’s beyond depressing.

I would love Botox and fillers but am scared in case it goes wrong and tbh I couldn’t afford the upkeep even if I did pluck up the courage to go for it.

I think this

Totally agree. I lost my mum and dad very close together when I was 35. The stress and grief began to show on my face. Then the world started stressing me out- Brexit and Covid. Then I came into perimenopause. I’ve aged about ten years in the last five.

I’m 46 now but probably look 50-odd. I’m beginning to feel a little bit less stressed and miserable so hopefully I’ll plateau now for a bit so that my actual age can catch up with my face 😂

I’m working on accepting it. It’s a natural part of ageing. I’m too old to be fertile any more, so why would my body continue to expend resources on the processes that make me look young and sexy? I don’t need to attract a mate. Biologically, it would be a waste of energy for my body to keep producing things it doesn’t need. That’s the answer to your what is this question. I’m 51 btw, and agree it’s happened really quickly over the last couple of years.

It doesn’t mean that life itself has to stop, it just changes. For me, I probably look in mirrors a lot less often, and when I do it’s really just to make sure I’m presentable. I’m focusing on other things: friendships, family, being of service and helping others out when I can making or creating beautiful things (like gardening or music or learning new things (podcasts mostly).

Nutrients that we eat enters our bloodstream and it then reaches our skin. So if we eat a lot of sugar or drink a lot of alcohol it will dry our skin out. If we drink a lot of water and eat a lot of fruit/veg that have high liquid content it helps to keep the skin hydrated and that’s what the skin needs to stay young looking. Creams help too but if you can fix it from the inside it’s better.

I literally hit 50, where people at my gathering were saying they thought I was in my 30's then the day after my 50th I looked 60. I mean wtf? Obviously I'm joking about how quick it happened but my skin laxity has taken a massive turn since my 50th!

Mine seems to be reversing slightly since I got the right HRT. I’ve also pretty much cut out alcohol.

Aye. I'm 63, but turned wrinklier and droopier when DH died 3 yrs ago. (Also lost hair. It grew back in, but then I got stressed again and it's fallen out again. I'm not bald, but I can see the difference.)

Ive just started plenhyage to try and prevent jowls. Might be worth researching.

I agree.

My face fell off a cliff around 40 (shock at photos but now realise I still looked so young) and 53. The difference between 53 and 55 is stark 😭

If you have good bone structure, that helps but I don't and so the skin laxity takes over. It is not pretty.

Some posters mentioned surgical solutions. What sort of surgical procedures and were they worth it?

Yes but there's an established biochemical(?) process through which we digest and use vitamins, protein, carbs, water etc. Collagen is something our own body makes for a lot of our life. So I don't understand how eating it puts it back in your skin. I think it would be great if it did, and maybe it does, I just don't understand it (and suppose I am a bit sceptical).

Wise words from @rickyrickygrimes .

Eating collagen or collagen supplements has dubious effects. But eating a diet rich in the nutrients and vitamins (particularly vitamin C, from citrus fruits; also berries; nuts; protein from eggs, beans, fish, etc etc) that support and stabilise the body's own production of collagen does make a difference. More importantly, also not eating or drinking the substances (especially alcohol, excess sugar), not smoking, and avoiding sunbeds, and so on, that deplete it.

Moisturising - basic moisturising - helps protect the skin from the elements, and that also plays a part in how it ages over time.

I’m 53 and felt really good about my appearance until about this time last year. I didn’t think I had changed much from my thirties into my late forties. I looked in the mirror one day shortly after I turned 52 and saw a properly old woman. Still in shock, I feel about 35.

I understand that looking older as you age is natural, I just imagined it happens gradually, not this fast - over one year! i look at my photos from a year ago ad I still look young-ish, but looking in the mirror now I can see someone who is my mum's age. Weird. I'm not stressed, though I do have a lot of anxieties.

Is this hormones? Or some other health reason?

Menopause can be very ageing.