I'm not aging gracefully! Warning: whining and more vanity

[Hoggirl]

:(

 

We just went and had church directory photos taken. I do not like how old I look. Sometimes I think I am still pretty attractive, or at least attractive for my age (47), but when I looked at those photos...bleh. I feel like a hag. I may weigh close to the same as when I got married, but my face sure looks like cr&p. I have a friend who says thin people look older than "fluffy" people. I think she's right after seeing our "proofs." And, why do I have "smoker's lines" around my mouth when I have never smoked! No fair!

 

But, I wasn't TOO vain. I did NOT spend the $40 to have touch-ups done. :D

[MrsMe]

LOL and hugs. Let me say, that at 50, I have those lines too. And FWIW I look pretty good at home in my mirror. But when a picture is taken or I'm trying on clothes in a store or hit a mirror in public:svengo:, I have to wonder who the heck is looking back at me. Yuck, yuck, yuck.

 

Commiserating.

[UnsinkableKristen]

:(

I have a friend who says thin people look older than "fluffy" people.

 

 

My mom always says that the reason she stays overweight is so she can keep her smooth, wrinkle-free face :D. She says that if she ever lost all the weight she would look like a Shar Pei :lol:.

[Sophia]

Those lines are from smiling! At least that's what I tell myself :D.

[Brilliant]

I feel your pain. If it makes you feel any better - some photos look much worse than real life. Sometimes I look great in photos and sometimes I look like a hag. Just like real life. :tongue_smilie:

[MrsMe]

My mom always says that the reason she stays overweight is so she can keep her smooth, wrinkle-free face :D. She says that if she ever lost all the weight she would look like a Shar Pei :lol:.

 

LOL, I always added weight just so I could have some b**bs! Now I need to add a little more to stretch out the wrinkles. :tongue_smilie:

[Belacqua]

My mom always says that the reason she stays overweight is so she can keep her smooth, wrinkle-free face :D. She says that if she ever lost all the weight she would look like a Shar Pei :lol:.

 

My grandmother always said, "When you hit 40, you have to choose: your face or your figure. You can't have both."

 

Thanks, Grandma. :001_huh:

[Hen]

I feel your pain. If it makes you feel any better - some photos look much worse than real life. Sometimes I look great in photos and sometimes I look like a hag. Just like real life. :tongue_smilie:

 

I've always thought you look very nice and pretty in real life, never seen you with a hag moment!

 

I do agree about photos, I do not photograph well, nor does my mother, it's hit or miss, out of 10 photos I'll come out looking nice in 1...:tongue_smilie:

[texasmama]

I fear that I will soon resemble a bulldog with jowls. :001_huh: I am not "aging gracefully". I feel your pain. (I am 44...)

[Hoggirl]

My grandmother always said, "When you hit 40, you have to choose: your face or your figure. You can't have both."

 

Thanks, Grandma. :001_huh:

 

I'm sure Grandma was right, but I wish she weren't!

[Garga]

I look pretty good at home in my mirror. But when a picture is taken or I'm trying on clothes in a store or hit a mirror in public:svengo:, I have to wonder who the heck is looking back at me. Yuck, yuck, yuck.

 

Commiserating.

 

 

It's the same for me! I think to myself, looking in the mirror at home, "Gee, I'm looking kinda pretty today!" But then (on the same day) someone will take a picture of me, or I'll catch my reflection in a mirror/window somewhere else, and I look awful!

 

I feel your pain.

 

However, with that said, I have started learning about photography, and I have learned that pictures can make you look worse than you really are.

 

And I've also known many people who always look bad in pictures, but when you see them in motion, they look tons better. They are animated and not flat and still. I don't really know how to describe what I'm trying to say. A lot of people look better moving around and having changing expressions, rather than just the one fraction-of-a-second-still-shot that a camera takes.

Edited August 24, 2011 by Garga

[bzymom]

Isn't it frustrating?? I can be feeling pretty comfortable with the way I look, then see a picture that makes me stand in the mirror pulling my face back and trying to remember who I used to be!

 

I'm sure you are fabulous. Some people photograph wonderfully, and others (including me) do not. The trick is not to let those pix make us crazy.

[Parrothead]

The weird thing is that people who are older than me, like 10-20 years, look really good.

 

I'm going to have that lifestyle lift by the time I'm 50.

[Danestress]

I think really, in our hearts, we just don't want to look old. But look at some photos of 75 year old women who have not had plastic surgery. They have wrinkles. They have double chins. Thin or fat, 70 year old women look older than 30 year old women.

 

Lines around your mouth? Normal part of aging. Some women have more, some have less, but it's not a failure to age "gracefully." It's a failure to simply not age, and we all fail at that.

 

You can see a specialist about options for surgery, line filling, botox. I recommend retin A. You can make sure you keep your skin moisturized and you can wear makeup. You can keep the sun off your skin and have proper nutrition. Some of these things will help, but in the end, we all end up with deep lines in our faces. Period.

[4everHis]

I'm going to a reunion this weekend and am terrified of the picture thing. Like others, I think I look 'OK' as I leave my mirror but then I see myself in a window or picture and just about die! I'm trying to figure out which one is lying to me. . . the pictures or my mirror :001_smile: (Dear God, Please let it be the pictures. amen)

[Hoggirl]

I'm going to a reunion this weekend and am terrified of the picture thing. Like others, I think I look 'OK' as I leave my mirror but then I see myself in a window or picture and just about die! I'm trying to figure out which one is lying to me. . . the pictures or my mirror :001_smile: (Dear God, Please let it be the pictures. amen)

 

Dh has a 30 year high school reunion this fall. He attended an all-boys Catholic school, but they have their reunions with their "sister" all-girls Catholic school. Those chicks are pretty "fancy." Hoping I can at least keep up. Maybe I could wear a veil over my face. Remember how Cybil Sheppard always had that hazy look about her in Moonlighting. THAT'S what I need!

[LibraryLover]

Botox? Laser cell regeneration? ? Thats common if $$$. Maybe risk droopy eye or jowl with the Botox, but its afer than major surgery. A face lift is major surgery. I'm all for hoping plastic surgery procedures get simpler and simpler. ;) A doctor friend says he can't believe how far liposuction has come. Now you can liquify the fat with laser, whereas as it used to be they had to suck out globs of fat, which was much more difficult. The fat also took up many canisters. ;) I hope I am explaining that right. lol I mean, yanno, Luke Skywalker got a new and perfect hand in a few minutes. Lol

Can I get a new neck someday as easily? Do the research people... And cure cancer while you're at it. :)

 

We could just grow old naturally and be proud. Always an option. Inexpensive, too.

Edited August 24, 2011 by LibraryLover

[Georgiana Daniels]

Dh has a 30 year high school reunion this fall. He attended an all-boys Catholic school, but they have their reunions with their "sister" all-girls Catholic school. Those chicks are pretty "fancy." Hoping I can at least keep up. Maybe I could wear a veil over my face. Remember how Cybil Sheppard always had that hazy look about her in Moonlighting. THAT'S what I need!

 

LOL, I think a LOT of women on TV use that hazy thing. Must be part of the contract!

 

I feel your pain. Now that I've lost over 20 pounds I can see a bit of aging in my face. So true about choosing face or figure, but in this case I have to choose my health.

 

But for me, the true danger is losing TOO much weight, because then my teeth look positively enormous!

[NorthwestMom]

The problem is not that you are not aging gracefully; the problem is that famous, heavily photographed women in their 40s (and older) do not appear to be aging AT ALL, which sets us up with unrealistic expectations. I was watching a rerun of Oprah last week, and Stevie Nicks and Sheryl Crow sang a duet together. Sheryl was 46 (?) and had some wrinkles on her eyes and forehead, but she still was very beautiful. Stevie was 62 and her face was completely smooth and wrinkle-free. When Oprah asked her how she kept her skin looking so beautiful, she claimed it was because she stopped tanning after 30 and always removed her makeup after performances. :lol: Ooookaaaay....... sure.....

 

And as for me, at 41 I lost 8 pounds due to stress, arrived back at my college weight, and have an ugly pair of permanent under-eye bags as my reward. Sigh.

[HollyBee]

And I've also known many people who always look bad in pictures, but when you see them in motion, they look tons better. They are animated and not flat and still. I don't really know how to describe what I'm trying to say. A lot of people look better moving around and having changing expressions, rather than just the one fraction-of-a-second-still-shot that a camera takes.

 

And this is why we need wizard pictures, Harry Potter style!

 

:tongue_smilie:

[3peasinapod]

My grandmother always said, "When you hit 40, you have to choose: your face or your figure. You can't have both."

 

Thanks, Grandma. :001_huh:

 

Scary. :ohmy: Yes, I'm being vain.

[LG Gone Wild]

I am starting to look jowly. Oh well.

 

Think of it this way, the alternative is to look like you are trying too hard and end up looking ridiculous (plastic surgery, inappropriate clothing and make up).

 

OR (grudgingly)

 

Realize that we are not supposed to be strong and beautiful forever. We are to pass that onto our children.

[Hoggirl]

Realize that we are not supposed to be strong and beautiful forever. We are to pass that onto our children.

 

Well said! I will try to remember that!

[jenangelcat]

It's the same for me! I think to myself, looking in the mirror at home, "Gee, I'm looking kinda pretty today!" But then (on the same day) someone will take a picture of me, or I'll catch my reflection in a mirror/window somewhere else, and I look awful!

 

I feel your pain.

 

However, with that said, I have started learning about photography, and I have learned that pictures can make you look worse than you really are.

 

And I've also known many people who always look bad in pictures, but when you see them in motion, they look tons better. They are animated and not flat and still. I don't really know how to describe what I'm trying to say. A lot of people look better moving around and having changing expressions, rather than just the one fraction-of-a-second-still-shot that a camera takes.

 

I hope that's true. I think I look pretty good in the mirror but almost every photo of me looks like a completely different person. It always blows my self-esteem apart when someone manages to get a photo of me.

[Negin]

My grandmother always said, "When you hit 40, you have to choose: your face or your figure. You can't have both."

:iagree:

I have a very plump face and it's the first place to gain weight and pretty much the last place to lose :glare:. Now that I'm 43, I appreciate the fact sometimes that my face is plump and round, but for all my teen and adult life, I did not ...

I remember FIRST magazine had an article a while back showing woman of the same age - one very thin and one more normal - and the latter always looked younger. For example, Christie Brinkley and Cyndi McCain - Christie Brinkley looked MUCH younger. They also had Madonna and someone else and Madonna looked really old. She herself said that she made a conscious choice many years ago to choose figure over face. She knew about this. Well, it certainly showed.

There was a great thread several months or so ago about what makes someone look young and someone here posted this:

There was a website I saw once where they had twins or siblings who looked very different ages but were really close in age. It explained why you thought that X looked older. Some of the biggest reasons were - smoking, bad teeth and being thin. It seems like in young people (under 30 or 35), thinness looks younger but in people over 35, it makes you look older.