What's it like to be beautiful?

[ThisFluentBiscuit]

I was watching a film last night, and I guess I haven't watched one in a while, because I was struck anew by how good-looking all the actors and actresses were.

Which set me thinking: I wonder what it's like to be really good-looking. To wake up each day and just look good. To have gorgeous face staring back at you in the mirror. What's it like? Do you always or mostly feel good and happy? What are the pros and cons?

Speak up if you're gorgeous. Don't be shy! Enquiring minds want to know what it's like to go through life as a stunning person. Am curious.

I'm not at all good looking. So wouldn't know. When DD was 17 I noticed people looking at her in the street longer than was normal. She's nowhere near model looking, more pretty girl next door. She talks crap with confidence and people think she's knows what she's on about. She really doesn't. A symmetrical face, well proportioned body and confidence can take you a long way. DS somehow also has these attributes you'd never guess to look at DH and I and while they work for him, he also has to show substance that he knows what he's talking about. He can't just flutter his eyelashes like DD.

I'm beautiful, or at least there's nothing I'd change about my appearance. I've had many people call me gorgeous, including women so I guess I must be.

For me, it's only something I realised in my late teens but I was very ambitious/academic so didn't do very much with it. What I noticed when I was at uni and older is that people are often nice to me even if they're grumpy to others, I've never had a problem getting dates or having bf's with the men I like and i do think at work I command a bit more respect (I'm in a very technical role) because of it. I get served quicker and always found it easy to make friends despite being introverted. I get men hit on me but never creeps or had men use me for sex, or even been harassed because of it. Could be that I'm very confident and have good self esteem and DH says i walk like I'm in the military which maybe puts them off! Im also quite direct when I don't like something.

I work mostly with middle aged men but never had any problems - I do think they focus more on not disappointing me at work rather than hitting on me. I do massively de-sexualise myself at work to not cause problems as I hate attention. But outside work I'm more free.

I can get ready very quickly. I comb and air dry my hair, just a bit of eyeliner and a lipstick for makeup and know I could pull off most things. I can holiday travelling super light!

To me it's interesting that i'm not white white blonde haired or blue eyed or very booby. Not the conventional beauty. But i'm petite, have naturally thick straight glossy hair, clear skin (don't need makeup) and big eyes. I'm quite sporty so slim, but have curves (hips, bum, boobs). And olive skin. This is just genetics and I take no credit! My mum was a model in her youth and my dad was very handsome so I get it from them.

My exH used to say my face has perfect symmetry and my DH often comments how proportional everything is on me. I did read that being attractive is all about ratios. I'm 38 but pass for 30 without makeup. I also found dating easy as I do think men focus on looks first, personality second.

I'm quite outdoorsy now and spend more time hiking than out at cocktails, so I don't use my looks to any benefit. But being happy with my appearance has probably been the greatest gift as it's meant time to develop other things.

😆I’m glad I’m not one of your sisters. You sound unbearable.

I have had many people tell me I’m attractive and beautiful in my life. I’m older now and in just the last week a man has complimented me and another offered me a hug, I didn’t want one. I’m not even that young anymore as I am over 50. I’m Chinese so a lot of men have really had a weird thing about that which makes me uncomfortable. A woman just today said I had beautiful skin and how did I look so young, after she asked my age. I do have a couple lines across my forehead and a tiny line near each eye but when I am near my friends my age they have many more. There is a stand up Asian woman comedian who said asian women all have their Hello Kitty years and then they age overnight and are Yoda in 24 hours, so we shall see.

People always smile at me, I make friends very easily, walk in to jobs easily.

The truly beautiful women I've known have no idea how beautiful they are, so I'm not sure how many would even answer this question.

It was great! It's not so nice getting older, when of course it fades.

It dims but it is still there? Youth obviously goes and for lots of people that's a key element of their beauty & obviously faces change which can disrupt the harmony but someone with great features and bone structure tends to keep it. At a friends party, I saw an overweight women 60 plus who was so striking with incredible features and cheekbones. I asked my friend who was that & she said "it's my aunt, everyone always comments on her". True beauty lasts imo but it's rare.

You are the very reason why women like myself feel we do not belong. Is it a crime to be beautiful? Obviously, I wouldn't dare to state these views in real life but as this is an anonymous forum, I felt a sense of relief to final voice my views. You are welcome to my sisters.

I'm sure my husband is quite biased but he is always saying I'm very pretty, beautiful etc. I'm fairly attractive still in my mid-40s but I've never considered myself stunningly beautiful, just quite pretty.

I'm half Chinese so my eyes and skin tone are my best assets, and I have good shaped teeth that make my smile quite attractive. I'd say the nicest comparison that someone once made when I was 18 was that I looked like subtle variations on the theme of Catherine Zeta-Jones.

My two daughters are gorgeous, and my eldest is the most interesting and intelligent person I know - Oxbridge material with beauty and brains. Tall, gorgeous slim figure, and beautiful hair and smile. It's going to be hard keeping men away from her!

I'd never say that I'd think I was that attractive to be honest, but I think that i had my prime when I was a teenager and younger 20-something person. Now I just feel a but fat with a few wrinkles lol

My friend is absolutely stunning. She has the most huge eyes, amazing natural lashes, a great figure (that she works hard on) and what I’m most jealous of, the most incredible thick hair. She is undoubtedly beautiful. I think most people would think she was 10 years younger..

She is the happiest person I know. Her husband and children are so charismatic and lovely and people just instantly like them all and want to be around them.

I don’t think her beauty has held her back. She’s just genuinely a nice person too.

My mother was objectively beautiful all her life - from about the age of 17 on. She had classic 1950s looks so the photos of her during that time were gorgeous - dimples, deep set eyes, gorgeous hair. There is footage we have of her in a tv audience during the late 70s and the camera pans over her and she is just beautiful looking - like a film star. She aged beautifully too. For her I think it gave her a lot of confidence. I think she went through life with more confidence than most. She had a hell of a personality too :)

They probably do realise when they get older and people's reaction to them changes. Youth is very beautiful thing in itself.

It is a very efficient way to be instantly disliked by female colleagues and to not be taken seriously in the boardroom. Resting bitch face and a stern tone of voice help avert that.

But it's not the measure of a person. There are millions of meticulously turned out size 4/6 women across East Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe and Russia that would rather be judged on something else other than their looks. I don't want to roll back the clock to 1950.

This was my mother:

Great upside: it's really easy to persuade people to bend rules for you or do you favours (especially men!)

From the pictures I have seen, my early memories, and what people have said, she seems to have had the looks and used them to her advantage. A key moment was acquiring my father when he was on a business delegation to end days of the Soviet Union Ukraine.

Now she's approaching 60, looks glamorous and certainly has an 'it', though it has no doubt evolved over the decades. Although she no doubt leveraged beauty, she has had some interpersonal disasters and was a distant and sometimes absent parent to her two children. Pretty got her a long way though.

It's rather nice actually.

Blimey, as a half Asian woman, l might be at that stage being perimenopausal now! I feel like I've aged quite a bit in the past few years 🤔

Exhausting... but everyone has their cross to bear

My DD looks like Keira Knightly. She gets told it at least three times a week, and has done since she was about 11 (she's 21 now). She gets a lot of unwanted attention from men and has had women dislike her on sight. However, it can be a benefit in work situations - pretty privilege is definitely a thing.

Cinda-fucking-rella 😂 (sorry, couldn't resist 🙈)

I was a cute toddler, but objectively quite ugly as a child to mid teens. I really blossomed in my mid twenties but still had a lot of unattractive child inside. I'm also autistic (discovered that a lot later) and as a woman, conditioned to 'be nice.' I was and am fetishised for having red hair. I was always 'noticed' (as an undiagnosed autistic person, that was difficult. On the plus side, I never wait for service at a bar!). Some men openly hated me for no reason. Some women assumed I was stuck up, for no reason. A teacher at school told my father I was vain (she once sent me out of the room to remove makeup I didn't have on), for no reason other than contempt. And I'm far from Angelina Jolie! It's some defined bone structure and unusual colouring, both of which took time and struggles to grow into.

The most beautiful woman I know is also crazy intelligent. Her work industry is intense and people can write her off as a bit thick or silly because she's so good-looking.

I don't know what you look like but I bet you are beautiful. Everyone is in their own way! Plus, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so you're always going to be someone's cup of tea!

Ah No it’s lovely for you that you’re beautiful @Mabris . I just felt very sorry for your sisters … as you told us you’re not only more beautiful but also cleverer and kinder than them - “tall, slim and well educated” with a perfectly clever and beautiful family. And your husband would never have approached you if you looked anything like your sisters …
Poor old ugly sisters …

Absolutely 😆

I had similar. I remember when a man let a door slam in my face in my late 30s - it had never happened before. It felt odd. I then realised how men had favoured me all this time and now I was invisible. It was quite a sudden, sharp switch!

Not me but DD. Almost 17 and I constantly get told how beautiful/stunning/gorgeous she is by family and friends. Big blue eyes, blonde hair to her waist, heart shaped face and has the best features from two average looking parents.

She’s still very young but is aware of it. We were in the supermarket last week and this girl (5/6) just kept staring at DD. It was really sweet. She probably thought she was a real life Barbie 🤣 One of my friends who hasn’t seen her for a while said she was looking at her thinking she almost doesn’t look real, as she’s so beautiful to look at.

However, it makes me worry when she’s out with her friends (one in particular who is also stunning and the opposite with long dark hair and eyes) that they will attract unwanted attention. They do anyway by the 16/17 year olds in their school, but it when they’re out and about and I can see men staring. Makes me feel sick. That’s not to say only beautiful people get attention, however as this thread shows, beautiful women often get more unwanted attention.