Help!! my face is melting :(

[GeraniumRoses]

I am 43 and in the last 2 years or so my face has changed quite a bit.
I always looked v young for my age till recently, think maybe as I am ND and often we look younger.

I went to the hairdresser today and the haircut was good but I barely recognised myself- my face looks like it is melting like a candle or something. It had started already but it's reached a different tipping point now.

Is there anyway to reverse this???

I keep getting targeted ads for facial yoga but not sure if it'll make a difference? Has anyone tried this?

I don't think facecreams will work; it isn't the texture of my skin or even the fine lines that is the issue.

It is that my mouth is a rainbow-shape, and i have hollowed bits under my eyes. My jawline is a funny shape now where it goes "out" at the sides after my chin.

I am really unhappy with how I look.

The only other thing aside from the face yoga i can think of is that i went for a b12 shot and the nurse also does botox and she was saying if I got it higher up on my face it would make a difference.

But I don't know anyone who's had botox (or at least told me they get it) so not sure whether what she said was correct.

I have been taking collagen for a year but it has made no difference and today I can see my face has 'slipped' even further than it was a year ago.

Any suggestions very gratefully received thank you in advance!!

Please no "this is normal part of aging" replies l know I am here and fit and well and should be grateful for this, and I am... I just want my face to stop looking so droopy x

I think talking about faces melting is horrible language especially in your 40s.

So you insult the OP's bone structure instead?

What is ND?

Oh this is helpful, thank you! X

cheers for that 😁 🫠

Par for the course on a public forum, there'll always be one or two comments like this from people who really ought to know better.

Lucky that despite my face melting, I do have very thick skin 😉

Neurodiverse; I have ADHD and am autistic.

Oh my god I agree- especially if I’ve forgot to ‘make up’ before I go

There really are some complete bitches out there these days

I do think botox usage has become way more normalised now, it is kind of interesting in sociological sort a way. Agree it can look quite strange / uncanny valley if done badly and there are so so many more places offering it and I guess some are better than others.

It is the same with lip fillers I think; some women have them and they look good but often they look quite obvious.

Although I guess maybe there is now a look people go for where they don't mind if it doesn't look natural. Sort of in the same way that blue hair doesn't look natural, or very extreme make-up, or very thin eye-brows, etc. etc.

I had this when I was in my mid fifties. It was sorted by a thread lift. THe trouble is they don't last forever. I ended up having 3 spread over 7 years. I'm 64 now and hope to get a couple more years out of this current one and then that's my lot because as I get older I've found the recovery time increasingly uncomfortable.

I also have regular Botox to lift my eyebrows and drooping eyes and make me look more awake.

Edited to add - Botox still works really well on me. When it stops working I'll stop that too.

Thanks @GeraniumRosesI thought so but didn’t realise that came with looking young!

I must admit it's a far cry from Disturbia's 'women who are rocking their 40's post' 🤭

It’s gravity. I’ve read that if you jettison off into space that this may lessen the effect.

Sorry, only just seen this. Mine came with the kit but they are basically identical to these.

www.amazon.co.uk/BOXOB-Goggles-Protection-Tanning-Sunbathing/dp/B0GHMSBJWM

If you are ok with Botox would you consider something like Sculptra?

I’m 43 and felt like my face was suddenly melting last year, especially around my mouth and chin. Unfortunately it’s just normal fat volume loss that comes with age.

I found an amazing aesthetician who is also a GP and have had a few treatments that have definitely improved my overall happiness with my face. Microneedling, some biostimulator injections (e.g. Sculptra) which are a far better alternative to filler and a bit of Botox.

The microneedling and biostimulator takes bit of time to show the effects but I’m happy with it.

Sorry for the late response, haven’t been on here for a week.

HRT is from the GP - had some blood tests and pushed back when told my symptoms could also be down to me being depressed 🙄

Testosterone cream is online via Hormones+ - NHS are generally very resistant to prescribing test for women and there aren’t many options online - this one was quick and accessible but too early to judge how effective it is!

Azelaic Acid / Skinoren I get from The Independent Pharmacy online - complete a consultation and send pics and it was dispatched within a few days.

Tretinoin - I have previously used Dermatica and Skin+Me (again online consultations and prescriptions) but have just switched to Renew+Me which is specifically targeted at over 40s (same company as Skin+Me). I didn’t get on with their serum formula as found it pilled on top of the basic hydrating toners and eye cream I used underneath. Just switched to their Nightly Active Treatment and that seems to be working much better, although I’m not sure it’s a strong enough dose of tret to be as effective as I’d like (current prescription is for 0.010mg, when I’ve previously had between 0.025 and 0.050 mg).

Sadly, as EU regulations have tightened and prescriptions are required, gone are the days of bulk buying 0.05 or 0.1mg tubes of Retirides over the counter at a Spanish Farmacia! And I do find the UK online pharmacies are much more cautious about giving the higher strength creams out, unless you can demonstrate a use history and subsequent level of skin tolerance.

Thank you for your reply!!
Is Sculptra not a filler? Is it like Profhilo (sp?) where it makes you kick-start your own cells (or whatever they are)

Thanks so much this is really helpful xx

Do you use the skinoren and the tretonin on the same parts of your face @gillefc82? X

Yes, all over, avoiding eyes and nose. I don’t tend to use the tret around my mouth but do with the skinoren as I have a bit of a melasma moustache that I want to lighten!

I alternate use of them every other evening. It would be too much actives on your skin otherwise and compromise my skin barrier.

If you’re just starting with tret it can be very drying so may be best to start at a lower dose and every 3/4 days to begin and build up. You can also use the sandwich method for applying - moisturising serum, then tret, then thicker moisturiser, as that reduces the likelihood of any peeling or dryness.

You could have had a facelift for the money you spent on thread lifts and it would last much longer.

People don’t necessarily want to look younger , they just don’t want a crepey, floppy neck and jowls staring back at them.

I don't actually care about any of that for my personal life but at work I see the discrimination ramping up for older women. I won't do botox but if I can do some strategic treatments to get me 5 more years before I'm written off I will do.

neuro diverse people look young for their age? what all of them? if you say so 🤣