Looking young for years

[changecandles]

Do you think someone who has always looked young for their years will always (discounting serious illness) look young for their years? Or can it suddenly flip

Spongbobsquareface

It's DEFINITELY the lower half of the face! Cheeks up I look barely 40, jowls and neck the 54 I am

My face & neck decided to catch up with my years from the age of 60. Similar to PPs, I now look okay (sagging upper eyelids notwithstanding) from the nose up, but the lower half of my face looks increasingly like a half-empty potato sack. It was all quite sudden.

The three siblings close to me in age all look AMAZING. Unlike me, they've carried on exercising, never shared my enthusiasm for a perma-tan, and stopped smoking ages ago.

Can't say I'm too upset about it; I didn't exactly think my lifestyle was a key to everlasting youth. I guess that key has two sides: lucky genes and healthy living.

It doesn't flip for everyone though as I know some women in their mid 70s who look a decade younger than other women in their mid 70s

I'm just wondering if they always looked young or if they just didn't age as much

I think this is true for some. I've known people who looked middle aged all their life and the. Sort of didn't age much once they became middle aged!

Really enjoyed reading this thread! I’m a very youthful 60 and still being complimented for looking ‘20 years younger’, but truthfully just aim to be the healthiest, most supple and energetic version of myself. I enjoy the company of much younger people and believe that, no matter what age you are, once you let your zest for life slip, it quickly starts to age you. Grumpy people always look older to me! Having said this, we need to remember that age is a privilege (wrinkles, saggy bits and all..), and at some point being considered a ‘wise elder’ is a compliment (not an insult!). VIP status achieved.

I had the police called on me on the train the other day because the ticket inspector thought I was a toddler travelling on my own. I'm 63 😳

I used to look young for my age but in lockdown I stopped dying my hair and I have put on weight. I'm 57 now

I think I'm past caring though

I always looked young for my age as an adult. I was a grandma at 50 and people were always so surprised. But after the menopause, at 53, I noticed I was ageing rapidly, new lines and sagging appeared. In the Covid lockdowns I also stopped dyeing my hair and haven't wanted to dye it since, I'm totally grey/white. At 60 no one is surprised when I say how old I am.

I'm 62 and I'm told I look young (for my age). My DC's friends think I'm in my late 40s. My mum is 86 and looks to be in her 70s. I think it's a combination of genetics, good skin care and a healthy (relatively) lifestyle.

I always looked very young for my age and it seems to have flipped at some point in the last year (I’m now 39). I no longer get comments that I look too young to have children and definitely don’t get ID’d anymore which still used to happen every few months! 😔

I'm late 30's and am regularly told I look 30, although I appreciate this may change from PM. I think you can stay looking a good 5 years below your age if you eat healthily, don't put on weight, and are consistent with skincare. 10 years if you are lucky. Botox chisels a couple of years off immediately, as does tret for those wanting not wanting to go down the procedural route.

I still look younger than my age but so does my 83 year old mum who can pass as a woman in her late sixties early seventies just on looks .

I'm 58 but still look quite young for my age. I joke that there's a really rough looking painting of me in our loft 👵🏻

My mum looked young for her years all her life. Even when she was clearly unwell in her last years. Even after she had a severe stroke at the age of 83. I am 64 and likewise have always looked young for my years. I minded very much when I was 18 and people thought I was 14. I don’t mind at all now, obviously. TBH, like my mum before me, I think I am older on the inside in some ways – have been diagnosed for 10 years with arthritis, have experienced irreparable muscle damage through an attritional Achilles tendon rupture due to faulty biomechanics and also have some sight loss so will probably have to give up driving sooner rather than later. So it might be better to look older on the outside, but be younger on the inside.

My family all look young for their age. It's genetics for you.

None of us do anything fancy(no special creams or botox), we were bought up on healthy homemade food and lifestyles (so even in adulthood I walk instead of drive to places sometimes), don't sunbathe (I do like a tan but I'm sensible as my Dad has had skin cancer) and none of us smoke.

Stanford just ran trials that show the most signs of ageing show at 34, 60 and 78... I'm not so sure about that but found it interesting. Nevertheless spare a moment for the class of ’91, ’65 and ’47 this year...

I was always complimented until I had kids. I haven't slept well in my 40's with little support with and juggling working PT, and looked every minute of it. Monderma tret in my skincare helped stop ever-appearing lines, as did eating fewer ultra processed foods and less sugar. The first thing that goes is your diet which is important to reign back in. Anything packaged with a thin plastic seal over it will give you a battering long-term...

Looks are largely genetics as the old cliche goes but you can definitely make a difference. I would say if you look good for your age and look after yourself that can continue.

Not once in my life has anyone said I look younger than I am. I'm very tall - do you think that might explain it? (clutches at straws)

I would be concerned by looking good at my age, rather than looking younger.

By looking good, i mean good posture, well groomed, care taken over clothes, decent bag.

Are you really going to spend the last decades of your life feeling like a lesser person? If I want to place anyone male or female in context, I will ask them their age and always state my own age. I'm tough, energetic and work full time and I like to be a role model for younger people that age is not a limit and there is no shame to being old.

I'm 60 and still look young for my age, but neither of my grandmother's looked the it age until they hit their late 80s.

I hear you. I got ID’d in Sainsbury’s buying wine when I was 42, now 53 and nobody looks surprised when I say my age anymore.

Yes I do think it makes a difference
My very petite friend got ID-ed a lot even into her 40s. She's my age and I don't think it happens now tho she loves to tell me everyone thinks she looks 30. Another old schoolfriend of mine says she is often told she looks 30, she is also under 5ft so...

I think it flips once you're menopausal/ post menopausal. It's the oestrogen that gives you a youthful glow. At my mums 50th everyone said she looked 30. By 53 (post menopause) she looked her age.
I've just turned 50 and look a little young for my age. I'm expecting this to change dramatically in the next few years. I don't mind ageing but I think it will be sudden, so I'm not looking forward to that.

Someone knocked on our door and my husband was sat at the kitchen table in view of the door, he said to me, can I have a word with your Dad love.

Another time, I told the woman in the library I needed to change my address, she asked if I'd got a note from my mother.

I just assumed both these people needed glasses.

The ageing look creeps in when the fat pads in your face start dropping and you get jowls.

Not only can it flip, but it can vary through life as well. Some of my friends told me I looked older than my age in my 30s and I'm not usually told I look a bit younger in my 40s. It might change again with menopause.