This is what 70 looks like - patronising shite about beauty in old age.

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www.theguardian.com/fashion/2018/aug/05/this-is-what-70-looks-like-the-new-generation-of-beauty-influencers

Not one of them is a man of course. It's all down to women to hold on to that beauty ideal. Whatever your age.

Clothes are important as is keeping healthy and keeping in touch with your friends.

But NO, us women have to confirm to looks, and facial looks, only.

To be honest Lass I really don't care about your personal experience: you've never experienced sexism and you don't understand it. You've never had a problem with men, despite being in a life long relationship with just one son. You've always taken care with your appearance, despite never living in poverty.

Lass you are an outlier when it comes to most women's experience.

Personally I don’t choose my interests for their worthiness. I choose them cos I find them fun and engaging.

That said, I’m not a fan of the skincare - and particularly not of the anti ageing industry. There’s certainly a feminist discussion to be had about it. Sadly I can’t ever see it happening on here because whenever the subject comes up, there are always posters who simply cannot hide their disdain.

You’ve never had a problem with men despite being in a lifelong relationship with just one son

I’m sure Lass is perfectly capable of looking after herself but can I just say, what the fucking fuck is that comment doing on here?

Ha. Feel free to name me Lass. You might as well. You've accused me of snearing before which implies hostility where I feel none. I choose to glorify makeup free women. I appreciate them and for me some of them are role models. If someone came on here to say they aspire to be like I dunno Julie Andrews or (insert name of stylish older woman here) I wouldn't have an issue with it. I guess I guess I expanded on the older woman theme by introducing the role model idea but I also have a personal view around makeup which I believe is a feminist view in that there is far too much pressure on all women to wear it.

Apologies for repeating that comment - I was so gobsmacked I wasn’t thinking.

Floisme

Lass goes on threads regarding childcare and husbands and goes on about how she has never had a problem with it. She also goes on threads regarding everyday sexism and says she has never had a problem with it.

ETC

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I know that and I am perfectly aware of Lass's combative posting style. Her views do not always chime with mine.

I doesn't matter. We're all strangers on here. No matter how much or how little we reveal about ourselves the truth is that we know nothing of each other's personal circumstances or the reasons for them. And no matter how riled you are with someone, I think bringing in their personal situation in order to score a debating point is crossing a line.

Just think about it.

Lass does it all the time though.

I agree with Lass on many issues but in this case it's a no from me.

And don't give me that man thing about

'just think about it'

What's that about?

Let's put it another way. Let's say I too have one child. Or as you would put it, 'just one child'.
Is that out of choice?
Maybe, maybe not. The point is, you don't know what the story is behind that and I'm certainly not about to tell you.
You don't know people's reasons and I think it's seriously off to bring something like that into an argument.

If people write articles like this then people cry "oh look, we're expected to look amazing even at 70!"

If there are no articles like this then people cry "oh look, just because we're 70 we apparently don't give a shit about our appearance any more".

If it was about a group of 70 year old surfers I don't think people would be interpreting it as "pressure" or "expectation" to surf.

I think its a good thing that brands are encouraged to cater for an older market and create great products for people of all ages. Lots of women are interested in make up and looking good. It can be a helpful way to increase self esteem and mental health. It's not everyone's cup of tea, so what?

"oh look, we're expected to look amazing even at 70!

I’ll be happy just to have a pulse.

The hair. Nobody told me about the hair thing.

I'm closer to 40 than 30 and clinically perimenopausal, because of surgery, and nobody told me my previously very thick, curly hair would become weirdly timid and flyaway (to the extent that my description of a good hair day is now 'whiskers on fleek!').

I like to look not mad, so grooming tips are mostly welcome.

As has been pointed out, the only reason there are now 70+ beauty bloggers is because women in this age group will spend a lot of money on beauty products. Bloggers are advertisers and nothing more. My MiL is 81 and has literally thousands of pounds worth of products in her bathroom. Thank God she's not into YouTube or you might not get through the front door.

I love makeup but never spend a penny on face creams as I think they are a massive con. I'm very happy with my face despite my age and I'm convinced my skin looks the way it does because I drink loads of water.
However, I noticed recently that the skin around my mouth has started to pucker very slightly now and I have slight lipstick bleeding. I always use quite bright colours so it's a problem. Coincidentally, I bought the 'never feather lip prime' from the company of the first woman mentioned in the piece - Lookfabulousforever - and it is marvellous.

My hair has gone a bit weird too. It's so dry! Hairdresser confirmed that it most likely is hormonal and says it should sort itself out within a few years, but I can't say I'm enjoying this transition period

There's definitely stuff to do with ageing that we could talk about without it turning into some sort of product placement via shaming thing - these are natural processes that we're all going to experience sooner or later, nothing wrong with sharing tips on how we're managing the process.

@AngryAttackKittens

There's definitely stuff to do with ageing that we could talk about without it turning into some sort of product placement via shaming thing - these are natural processes that we're all going to experience sooner or later, nothing wrong with sharing tips on how we're managing the process.

Deffo this.

And on that note, for the curly hair that's gone a bit odd due to perimenopause, depending on how thick it is either Kerastase Oleo-Relax serum (if fine/doesn't react well to heavier products) or the Elixir Ultime (if thicker/hair reacts well the heavier products) can make your hair feel a bit less like you just stuck your finger in a light socket.

If anyone who's already been through the menopause could offer some insight on how long the whole everything's gone a bit different phase lasts that would be interesting info to have. Hairdresser said "a few years", which could mean anything from 3 to 10 I suppose.

I'm several years past the menopause - early 60s. I'm sorry to have to tell you that my hair's getting thinner all the time.

I still get the occasional hot flush - that'll be 10 years now - but my sleeping is pretty much back to normal.

My face and body are getting quite saggy and, although I've only put on a couple of pounds, I'm a completely different body shape and when I do put weight on, it's much harder to lose it.

Is that fairly standard in terms of hot flushes lasting that long? I remember my mother's menopause lasting a long time.

This type of thread always has posters queuing up to say that it is no interest to them and how much they admire women who have no interest in this sort of thing.

I particularly like the sneering tone of high mindedness as if wisdom and mental stature, and the ability to make a contribution to society is only possible if one ignores this.

Pot, meet kettle! This is priceless.

It may not be standard but I don't think it's unusual. I remember a friend telling me she was still getting them after 10 years and being really shocked. And then the same happened to me. It wasn't 10 years continuously mind you - they came and went and there were a couple of times when I went months without one and thought I was through, only to have them come back!

So far I've had a couple of what I think were hot flashes at night and that was it, really hoping it's not going to be a multi decade process! My MIL seems to have had a much easier menopause than my mum did, but it's my mum's genetics that I have so I'm assuming mine may be tough too.

I blamed my weight gain on steroids I was prescribed until I realized it was more of a weight change because of metabolism change post menopause. Now I don't care very much except for a few favorite things that don't fit any more.

I wouldn’t say mine was tough - it was annoying more than anything. The worst thing was the sleeplessness - that really drove me nuts.