.....at what age did you look in the mirror and start to think

[mum2samandalex]

sh**t i look old what happened and when did this happen i didnt look this bad yesterday grrrrr

I am cheered however by the fact that when I met dh, when we were 22, all the women he fancied were over 40

however I did not look like Isabella Rosselini then, and I certainly do not now

i turned 30 this year and its been gradually creeping up recently.i invested in touche eclaite(sp?) and a bottle of hair dye!

I always used to look a lot younger than I was, and didn't always like it either. Since having ds2 I really have aged - which is surprising, because I'm not actually all that sleep-deprived. I still do look younger than I am - at a distance. The closer you get, the older I look. I'm going to have to start taking proper care of my skin - I always had fab skin and consequently never really bothered.

I used to look fine in the morning, now I look like my mother for about an hour...

Hear hear Olive. I don't feel like I look old, but I do feel wistful when I see photos of myself in my early twenties. I looked so smooth and bright eyed.

LOL, that did make me chuckle Oo, as so do I. My mother that is, not yours, that would be odd.

this year. I'm obsessed by it. I'm 37.

I saw a photo recently of me and my friends at 16, doing "Model posing" (as we referred to it) for the camera, and I thought, I was beautiful. I had pert breasts, a neat waist, damn good legs and the clearest, brightest skin.

And I remember that photo being taken, I remember wanting to cry because I was convinced my friend had positioned herself next to me in order to look good, and when I saw it when it was developed I was convinced I was a fat cow - I was about 9 stone I think, with DD boobs.

So I do wonder if, in 10 years time, I will look back on photos of me taken now and think "What was I moaning about, I didn't know I was born!"

not yet. I find I look BETTER now than I did 5 or so years ago.

I am still only 26 though so there is plenty of time for it all to collapse

I have a crease at the top of my nose between my eyes that needs an hour to disappear in the mornings
I fear it is not too long before it stays all day.

Unless I succumb to the Botox.

I agree

enough of this examining of wrinkles ladies, we are all fabulous

Colditz, I think you will. I looked at old photos of me recently (pre nose job) and wondered why I didnt realise I looked great OK, OK

I am 30 in exactly 40 days time. I want to cry.

right about now. i'm 37.

i looked very, very good when i was 30, even at 31.

then it all sort of went to shit.

only my forehead has lines you can see when i'm doing nothing.

but i have crows feet when i smile.

the big problem is my complexion is really blotchy and uneven.

my hair is yuck.

I am going to scan in my Spanish pics and a current one tomorrow

then we can all do the same and tell each other to desist with the moaning re wrinkles

Don't cry Nutty. I liked turning 30, I felt all grown up

I rarely look in the mirror TBH - not because I can't bear the sight but I never seem to have time. But DH took some photos of me recently with DS3 and when I saw them I shrieked "Why didn't you tell me I look so dreadful?"

He didn't contradict me so I guess I look pretty old now at nearly 41

Really Dr N ? I felt grown up at about 21 i think. At nearly 30, I feel old.

Hmm this year really (38) - overworked, have had a lot of bugs this spring, feel knackered and look like dung. Spots, blotchy, and just rough and weary-looking. i can scrub up OK with nice make-up and spending a bit of time on my hair, but you know when it really gets you... it's not when you're primping in the mirror and trying to assess whether you look ok - it's when you wander slap bang into yourself in a mirror in M&S or similar, and for a second you think "jeez, who is that, she looks worn out and fgs hold your stomach in dear... oh."

Nutty, I'm soon going to be 45 - now that's a reason to cry!

30 is nothing (but you won't realise that until you are my age)

I'm 40 next week. I don't look fabulous or anything, but I do looker younger than some people I know to be younger than me [smug]

Yep, when you catch a glimpse of yourself in a shop window and think whos that middle aged woman?

A fat woman nearly knocked me over in Peacocks before Christmas ....

Yes. Yes I had just walked into a mirror.

Time for weight watchers.

Anyway ...

A 84 year old man went to the docs complaining of tiredness, the doc did a full examination, gave him some advice, and the man left happy.

A week later, the doc bumped into the old fellow walking arm in arm with a 25 year old stripper and grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Well, you certainly look better, did you take my advice?"

"I certainly did" says the bloke. "YOu need a hot momma, so smile cheesy!"

The doctor replied "But I said 'You've a heart murmur, so take it easy!"

Boom boom.

I looked fine in my 30s (at least I think I did ) - always looked younger than my age in my teens and 20s - once got turned away from a pub when my younger sister was let in - she was under age, I wasn't

however after decades of feeling smug about youthfulness I have suddenly aged badly (I was 45 this week) - my skin's lost its sheen and I have come to the bitter realisation that no amount of stomach crunches is going to sort out the wobbly greyish blancmange that masquerades as my stomach and as for my knees - they can even look fat when they're covered by clothes (and the rest of me isn't fat - if you discount my stomach that is ..)

ho hum - menopause next - deep joy ...

I saw my mum walking towards me in Debenhams the other day, except it wasn't my mum, it was a mirror