OMG, I could actually cry.

[YouDontKnowBoutBenom]

Took dog for a walk and just had some Leopard print wide leg pants, black sandals and a black band tee.

DH took some candid photos of me and just sent them over whatsapp.

Jesus Christ :( I look awful. I look so old. So tired.

I'm 41. 5ft5. 9st.

I look ill, I look hunched. My hairs a state.

I look about 60 years old.

What the hell has happened to me :(

Omg I feel the same. Had a picture of me taken the other day from behind, I have exactly the same shape as my mother (which is not a good thing !) . I thought I looked really nice and stylish too, but I just looked middle aged and frumpy!

Oh this made me snort.

Echoes of Suzi Quattro’s fat Nan which is still one of my most favourite ever lines on MN. IYKYK

Oh yes.. I now look like my mother from the time I remembered her and how ugly she said she was which probably doesn't help.

But then I remembered I though I looked old and fat at 35, 31, 28, 26 and 22.

I then watch Ghostbusters and Bill Murry was 32 in that film.. and I look younger than him now.

WHY WHY WHY would you stop doing something that makes you feel good, and is good for your health, just because of the fact you might look a bit red or sweaty or whatever? (Which is perfectly normal when exercising).

Who gives a fuck what other people think when they look at you out running? Nobody cares, honestly those people might glance at you for one second then get on with their own lives and thoughts, and who cares what those thoughts are anyway.

Keep running for YOU.

Our Coop ones make everyone look like a serial killer. Something about the perspective. We all look like we have just escaped from solitary confinement, mad eyed and white as a ghost. It’s a local joke.

😂 Poor ol' Bill

I feel the same about my mother, her behaviour probably tainted her looks in my eyes but sometimes I see her in myself, especially lately and it isn't pleasant.

Dead, buried then exhumed 😂😂😂😂😂

My Charlotte Tilbury tinted moisturiser is a game changer! No need for colour match as it matches skin tone and its not heavy whilst making your skin lovely. Can just order it online :)

How so?

The ones in our massive Boots are shocking, it's a wonder they don't print them out at the end of your transaction with recommendations about which products could help the horror that is your face.

They probably want you to rush back in for medication!

My dp took some photos of me walking along a beach on a cold day so wrapped up in layers. I looked like Julie Walters doing a character 😂😂😂

I look great in them 😊

They suit me too. Skinnies look like shit on me. They don't suit many people.

This is what I did when I hit 41 and felt like I'd suddenly aged overnight. It's helped. I feel a lot better and people keep commenting on how well I look. I feel that's less about my appearance and perhaps more because I'm walking around more confident again with a smile on my face.

• decent haircut (chopped mine off) and redken leave in conditioner for the dry bits (hair went like straw and this gives the appearance its less strawlike)
• more walking. My which I mean an extra 15 mins a day. That's all... but its helped me feel less slobbish
• No foundation, just tinted spf (trinny london BFF). Also use the trinny lips to cheek and now always have rouge'd cheeks (just a tiny bit). Makes a huge difference! Less death warmed up
• Face oils before bed such as plant based squalene and jojoba oil. This has helped lots! Skin is looking best it ever has been and make sure to include your neck!
• daily full body moisturise. I slap it on, takes 1 minute. Skin looks improved on upper arms especially which were looking a bit cellulite-y
• drink more water. I already drink a lot but I've upped my game and drink even more.

When I see photos now, I don't feel as horrified. Perhaps make a few changes and then book yourself a glam photoshoot so that you can see yourself in a new positive light

I was shocked when I saw recent photos of myself. Think it's not unusual.

Oh my god. That is brutal. 🤣

I am 46 yrs old, 5 ft 5 and 8 stone 5 lbs and I suddenly look HORRIFIC in photos. I genuinely think it's not about weight it's about rapid ageing

Come to the dark side of heavy weight lifting. You look HENCH as hell, everything sits better (fat and clothes), and because you know you could squat any male of your acquaintance, somehow it translates into giving an amazing proportion less of a shit about anything. Bad hair? Yeah, obviously, I've just been in the gym. Look like you just rolled out of bed? Clearly just about to go to gym. I'm not being facetious, it just really helps.

I think it is probably down to a bad photographer. When DH takes a picture of me I always look terrible, if one of our sons takes the picture I look really good. I think younger people have the knack as they take so many photographs.

I thought I looked good when I left the house today. I’m now in the hairdressers and I look like the wicked witch of the west in the mirror. I’m 61 and look like a wrinkled old crone.
A friends daughter, aged 23 and genuinely stunning, posted a picture of herself on SM and she looked a decade older, the camera (and hair salon mirrors) lie.

I've NEVER looked good in photos but I do get a bit fed up of how old and tired I look and I am 53. Funnily enough, my husband feels the same way. Someone took a good picture of him a few months ago speaking at a conference that he really likes and he is still beaming!

I have taken some steps to improve my appearance - much better skin care routine, tons of water, regular hair cuts, more research into products that bring out the best in my wavy hair and I bought some decent makeup so I look more put together when I go out. I love clothes and have upped my spending per item to buy things that are better quality cloth and a better cut, because cheaper clothes can be very unforgiving on a more cough doughy body. I dress up whenever I get the chance and where all the beautiful things I have. I go to the gym now as well and do weight training. I have horses and ride regularly but I was really shocked at how much muscle I had lost in my core (which partly explained an onset of nerves in the saddle!).

But most of all, OP, when I get ready to go out and I think I am looking good, I file that mental image away and I do not mess with it when I am out! No looking in shop windows or self service cameras! Do not doubt yourself! I also remind myself that I am not competing with anyone for the love of my family and friends. The people who care about me don't see any of the flaws I obsess over. I took a photo of my DH that I loved and put it up FB last year and he was so upset about how he looked in it (again, fat, old, tired). I genuinely could not see it because I don't see that when I look at him. To me, he hasn't changed much since he was 27. We are our harshest critics. x

I think this is important to remember. I used to hate getting my photo taken until my kids told me how much it upset them that they had no photos of me. If they were away from home on school trips, they found it very comforting to scroll through pics on their phone. It made me realise I was being a bit of a dick!

A bit of colour in your face really helps with the old and tired look. I use Benetint just to give my cheeks and lips a bit of colour on days I don't fancy wearing make up and it does help.

Hairdresser's mirrors and gym mirrors are designed (for reasons unknown) to make us all look our absolute worst, and then placed strategically to force us to sit in front of our reflection like a reverse Narcissus for an hour plus feeling like crappola

On the positive side, a woman stopped me as I left the hairdresser and asked me who had done my hair as it looked amazing. I nearly cried! Perhaps I don’t look as if I’m on my way to auditioning for a part as one of the witches in Macbeth.