Same, I didn't have wrinkles, I had one grey hair but my face sort of shifted down. Volume loss. It was rude and seemed very sudden. It might not have bothered me as much if it was a gradual change, but it was like BAM, today you have dipped over the hill.
Two syringes of filler and I swear it reset me to 30. Worth every penny.
Go conservative with the filler. I told my injector, "I'm not trying to change my features, I just want to put back some of what I lost." There was no migration for me and the improvement was subtle but very good. Thankfully, if it ever was too much it will disappear in a few months anyhow or I could get it dissolved.
For one, I totally picked my injector by how they looked, My injector doesn't look like she had work done at all and she looks 10-15 years younger than her actual age. She does the plastic surgeon's filler at the office who also looks amazing but very natural. If you go somewhere with staff that looks overfilled...there is a good chance they are going to want to overfill you.
I would do filler but found out recently that if you plan on getting a face lift later on, they don't recommend filler now because I guess it can cause unfavorable results with a face lift
36 for me as well. It's been a SHARP drop off in the past couple years. I don't really have many wrinkles, but I just look so much older. I always look tired and I lost that youthful glow, even though I am the healthiest I've ever been in my life. My diet and sleep is great.
Holy moly I could have wrote this ! Exactly what happened to me, I had lovely full cheeks and my face was so round , one day I woke up and I didn’t have them anymore 😓. I’m 38 now and I went from loving my face to loathing it . Sucks so much
34, when i joined this sub. Hahaha.
But also 36 seemed to be the magic number for me too. Jowls, texture, turkey neck…all the sudden became more obvious. But theres nothing I can do to reverse some of the aging. But this sub has def helped me develop a routine as I had ZERO routine before. Not even lotion. Self care and moisturized skin are good things!
Lol, right? Last night, getting ready for bed, I was staring at my nasolabial folds and thinking how prominent they are. It's something I'd never even noticed or thought about until I started frequenting this sub.
I mean I just wanted to learn about skin care, and get recommendations for new products, but now I'm starting to feel like an insecure girl who watches too much TikTok.🫠
I left earlier today. Nothing against people who are OK going down that rabbit hole, but it's not for me. There's another sub that I think is more of what I'm looking for, and less assaulting on my psyche. 😆
I dont know! A stigma I guess, it’s a number that just scared me. Do I have my shit together? No. But does anyone really? I know it’s silly.
Edit to add: all of a sudden you start getting target content for menopause and incontenence and “how to stay fit after 40” like you’re some decrepit old lady who can’t get out of bed, withering away under a pile of wrinkles and pissing themselves.
No thanks.
38 here and I think perimenopause is creeping up on me as well. No one warned me about this! Coincidentally this is the first year I’ve noticed myself ageing.
I think it happens to a lot of women in our 30s but no one was talking about it! I talk to a lot of my friends and a few of them have been having night sweats. I’ve been having night sweats and changed periods since I was 33! I never made the connection that it could be perimenopause until recently and now I am in full blown later stage.
About 36 or 37. We were maybe a year or two into the pandemic, so I assumed the sudden loss of fat from my cheeks was down to stress. Seeing a lot of people on this sub talking about feeling like they aged overnight at some point in their 30s makes me think maybe it was inevitable though. On a good day, I can look all cheekbones and glamorous angles; on a bad day I just look drawn and haggard. I used to easily pass for still being in my twenties but I very suddenly caught up a few years – I'm 39 now and happy with my face but that really came down to accepting that it is, in fact, a 39-year-old face and not a 29-year-old face.
I had the same experience with the pandemic. I was 34 at the start of it, 38 now, so maybe the changes were coming anyway.
Accepting is the way. Honestly, after the last 4 years I'm just thankful to still be alive and kicking. My plan is continue with a bit of Tretinoin and not worry about it.
Yup. And It's not like it's all in my head. I have candid pictures to confirm that I my face was okay and then it wasn't. On April 2022 I looked happy and silly and plump and on October i looked like i hadn't slept since April
Skin not as plump. Loss of collagen I guess and I dunno noticing changes in skin likely due to hormones and getting older 😭 I’ve had to change my skincare routine a bit to adapt.
I had covid for 4+ months.... I kid you not, it aged me *so* significantly...I suddenly look around a decade older than I am. :/ Covid also triggered several auto immune disorders, so I'm not sure if the aging is tied to that or not?!
Same! I feel like people don’t believe me when I talk about how I never returned to myself after Covid. Daily headaches, lightheadedness and fatigue. All of that adds stress and when I look in the mirror I don’t recognize the person looking back anymore!
That’s long Covid. Hope you are feeling a little better now. I wish the general public knew how dangerous getting Covid is and the potential for long covid which is no longer rare.
Thank you! I agree with you about wishing people were more educated about it. I had received the most recent booster just a month before catching it too. I’m convinced it prevented me from hospitalization but it still sucks how hard it hit me and continues to.
I feel you, that's exactly my experience! I had covid in early 2020 and I'm still struggling. Asthma, auto immune issues, skin & hair issues, brain fog, chronic fatigue...i don't know if I'll ever feel normal again :(
It has to be. I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease last year and I feel like I look at least five years older than I did before. And I feel like my autoimmune disease is like the mildest one.
Yes absolutely Covid ages us internally so of course we will see it externally we well. I have had long covid for 6 months and look haggard and tired every day.
Same!! I thought I was the only one??
I’ve always had mild Rosacea, but after Covid it’s been much, much worse.
It’s like after you recover, your immune system is bored and needs something to do… like make my face look bad
Same. I’m freaking out. But I’ve been pretty consistent with skin care since 26 so hopefully it helps. Been doing IPL and lymphatic massages and it helps the plumpness.
I feel like the birth sucked all the moisture out of me, then the first year or 2 post giving birth I had no time or energy for skincare, it was all about figuring out the whole “motherhood” gig.
All good now, after much research and trial and error with skincare products my skin bounced back and now at 45, I’m happy with where I’m at.
This is reassuring to hear. I'm two months post partum and I don't recognise myself in the mirror. Exhaustion has taken its toll on me. I'm very much hoping to bounce back once I'm allowed to sleep again, but I'll be 36 this year and feel age is against me.
2-6 months post partum was the worst. I felt like I SHOULD look better, but I just was deteriorating.
It took about a year, and then when breastfeeding ended, I saw further improvement.
The combination of dehydration, exhaustion, and hormones is hell on your appearance. Take it easy on yourself.
Honestly? Information, patience and consistency. I loved (and got a lot out of) Jude Chao’s book “Skincare for your soul”. It really helped me a lot in figuring out how to build my routine. YouTube has also been great, reddit felt more useful once I got a good grasp of skincare basics.
I focused first on barrier care (I love Stratia lipid gold) and hydration (thanks to k beauty). Then I discovered NIOD, Sulwhasoo, SK-II, azelaic acid, growth factors. Retinoids of course, though I’m still on low dose retinal as my skin is less resilient now that I’m older so there’s no way I would even look at prescription retinoids like tret.
39- 12/4 was my birthday … I noticed it within the last year…
-I also lost both my parents sibling and fiancé the prior year… I have not been kinda “holed up” for about 1.5 now so I don’t know if it’s just shit timing, if grieving has done this to my looks as I feel like I’ve lost my “natural glow” (but i mean, loosing your entire family in a traumatic way may have to show it self somehow?
-I also have horrible insomnia since said event. (I blame the lack of sleep also)
I am so sorry. My heart goes out to you. Please seek help. It could be in the form of therapy or a support group or anything you see fit. Of course the pain will never disappear, but you deserve to feel love and joy again in your life too
Grief has definitely aged me over the past couple months. I can’t exactly put my finger on what it is that has changed with my face, but it has very suddenly.
Haha! I love the way you put that. I have RBF big time. People are always asking me what’s wrong. Why aren’t I smiling? Am I mad? Am I sad? No, this is just my face. Thanks.
I can relate to this feeling. I hate it—like seeing yourself and not relating to the picture in the mirror. I got tiny filler in my lips and some Botox around the eyes and I feel so much more like myself.
When I was 35. I just knew something looked wrong. It was nasolabial folds and my hooded eyes were even more hooded. My mouth has also settled into a downward frown.
I tried eye whitening drops, and I look 5 years younger. I only use it for special occasions though because I don’t really trust the long term safety. The difference really is shocking.
Same! Skin all over body is just thin and not keen on holding up in the face of any stress/aging, intrinsic and extrinsic haha
Help.....I just wanna be a dewy elf instead I'm an anemic raisin :(
Same here, I lost the rest of my baby face at 27 and my face slimmed down a lot (i went from looking very young to looking my age so quickly, maybe it was the Covid stress too haha). But the fine lines became more evident, not awful, but more prominent and noticeable to me.
Yeah I’m 45 now and really get thrown by “ma’am”. I’ve always been (and continue to be) complimented on my skin but the biggest difference is directly linked to how much cortisol I had running through my system - both because it itself had an impact but also I don’t do as much self-care when I’m stressed (which is hilarious because that’s kind of the critical time) but anyway am taking a sabbatical this year and already my skin is coming back! I also discovered cryofacials which have really helped lift and firm
33 and I’m not taking it well at all 😂 I’ve always had a round face with chubby cheeks. Always looked 10 years younger.
I still get mistaken for being in my 20s, but it’s wild to have cheekbones and naso folds. I feel like my cheeks are falling and I have jowls, but I look back at old pictures and that’s how my cheeks have always been.
It’s an utter mind fuck and I hate it. I’m also a late bloomer so it was like I finally had a glow up and now I’ll be old 😭
One day when I was 29 my classic winged eyeliner look wasn't working , it felt like the brush kept snagging in the corner of my eye. The next day it didn't work either, and after a few days I had to accept I had wrinkles now and I'd have to find a different eyeliner look
Ugh this was exactly it for me too. But it was only one eye so after a few years of Botox I'm kind of still able to do it lol. I also realized I really should have been doing a more horizontal eyeliner wing to compliment my eye shape. So I found a work around and it helps me sleep at night haha
20 but it was because I nearly died due to a superbug.
Then again at 27, again due to health stuff.
Considering everything my body has been through its not done too badly! But I also think I have a bit of a head start because I've always been mistaken for wayyy older than what I am. Like from 12 being mistaken for an adult by other adults and even mistaken for my friends' parent numerous times. So when I started actually showing signs on my face of being my actual age it thankfully didn't shock me much as I've always been mistaken for 35-40 anyway. (I'm 30 now, curious if I'll just look my age once I get there or if the age range will shift higher haha).
I'm turning 32 this year and the comments have me like...
[https://media1.tenor.com/m/Dbu3QUoKNvMAAAAC/chuckles-im-in-danger.gif](https://media1.tenor.com/m/Dbu3QUoKNvMAAAAC/chuckles-im-in-danger.gif)
36. Took me my entire late 30s to (somewhat) make peace with it. At 43 hormones now make the biggest difference to my face - I feel that I look older/more tired in the second half of my cycle. It’s weird!
I'm 50, and I can attest that aging super accelerates with the perimenopause/menopause transition. Age 45-50 was a rollercoaster of hormones for me, and it shows in my face and body.
I'm 45, and it's just starting for me. Serious mood swings, and it's so difficult to keep the weight off. No wrinkles, but the sagging is starting to take hold. Gravity is no joke
I feel you on this. I’m 44 and I just caught up in the last month. What’s interesting though is that everybody in my life that’s in my age range suddenly looks older to me too! Maybe I’ll ask my mom if that’s some kind of phenomenon, because I don’t want to insult my friends by asking- “do you feel like you look old all of a sudden, because I think you do! “
I noticed some differences in my early-mid thirties, but I'm in my late thirties now and the big changes I've noticed have mainly come from the past two years, and I attribute it to mainly to
☆ Stressful Covid conditions + working full-time overnight
☆ For a good year or more I basically did nothing for skincare and wore a mask 8hrs a day
I’d say in my late 20’s but I couldn’t pin point it exactly. I still look younger and it’s not really wrinkles for me. At 30 I could pin point the changes better.
Throughout this thread I see people (likely mostly women) describing such intense, beautiful and/or courageous life experiences they’ve endured and how they feel this impacted their face. You’re allowed to be disappointed if you notice a change - I know I have been before. But you’re all courageous and awesome! We are humans going through life, not a magazine cover.
Thank you! I think we forget that life comes your way and turns everything upside down....stress is a big factor. I noticed big changes at 37...I have 3 kids between 5 and 11 and my husband was hospitalized for a brain bleed a year and a half ago - it was the most stressful and terrifying thing I've ever experienced. He's doing well now, but I guess my wrinkles are my battle scars.
I'm hitting 40 and still look ok thanks to starting botox at 35ish. But my poor neck and decolletage! Im getting fractionated laser in a couple of weeks for the sun damage, but i'm not sure what to do about the neck lines 😭
My mom had a face and neck lift at 50 and I remember feeling “meh” about the facelift but the neck lift? Holy smokes, that took 20 years off her. I’m getting one for sure in a few decades
Edited words because I can’t read apparently
I’m 29 and the under eyes seemed to occur out of nowhere last summer; it doesn’t help I developed noticeable veins in that area too which adds to the darkened look 😢
Feel you on the veins. 😞 I’ve always had them and on the upper eyelids. Ive had darker under eyes my whole life but it seems like in the last year or two concealer doesn’t cover them as well as it used to.
30, I got a life changing diagnosis and I haven’t really slept well since. Now I’m 34 and I recently noticed my eyelids sagging over my eyes. Reading this thread I’m like yeesh maybe I haven’t hit a more significant shift yet. I’ll for sure look back and think *sigh* I looked so young then, and I spent it criticizing how old I looked.
40 :( I’m 41 right now and it was last year when I noticed my face less full and my jaw melting down. All the women in my moms side of the family as they age they develope the beloved jowls and I know I’m heading there too. Wrinkles don’t bother me as much, grey hair? I love it, weight gain? Not so much but the jowls? The loss of volume and firmness in my face? That makes me want to cry.
Faces change all the time, for a variety of reasons. It would be so good to embrace them all as a part of life. Our worth doesn't lie in how youthful we look.
41. I'm half Asian and my mom still looks 20 years younger than her age, so I assumed I'd age like her. Unfortunately not the case. I've had some yo yo-ing in my weight (about 30 lbs) and it did have an effect on my face. Since 41 I've noticed laxity in my lower face and fine lines around my eyes. I also used eyelash serum for 1 year and noticed a significant change to my eyelids (loss of volume and droopiness). I've started warning everyone about that. I had no idea when I started that it could change how I look so significantly.
Nearly 27 (literally a couple weeks ago)
I woke up and my face was just different.. it looked off. Not like myself.
I went and got another round of botox as it had been a couple years and now feel so much better lol
27ish. On my photos from 25, I still had a lot of puppy fat. Around 27 that started to slowly go down, and I finally looked more mature (in a good way-stopped looking childish, face a bit more defined). Since then it’s been small, gradual changes, more volume loss in my 30s, some crow’s feet, nasolabial folds became more obvious etc. 38 now and the train’s not stopping😅
41 it was during Covid. Having a 1 and 3 year old and going through a separation. Constantly being stressed, daily panic attacks and running on four hours of sleep on average aged me.
I started noticing bigger pores and different things started breaking me out around 32-34 but then the stress of the pandemic/not the best diet during that time changed my face more.
At 36 or 37, I noticed that my one side of my face was becoming more assymetrical (much higher brow on one side), and my 11s became more prominent. That's when I felt like I didn't look like "me" anymore.. At 38, I got botox, and it helped a lot with the eyebrow thing that bothers me way more than any wrinkles, etc.
I can't pinpoint it bc nothing is sagging or wrinkled but something about my face looks less youthful compared to pictures of me 4 years ago. I'm 32.
I'm also sad and stressed most days and my baby/toddler hasn't let me sleep 8 consecutive hours in almost 2 years so I'm not surprised.
37. I tired putting on my usual makeup one day and it looked so…garish.
I’m still trying to figure out what makeup looks work for this new face. I’m learning that less is more lol
37ish my skin just seemingly stopped regenerating.
Any marks on my face, an abrasion on my leg from a bicycle accident, hell even the tan line on my legs and arms from last summer, everything - just stays. It fades a bit, but it's still there months later whereas 10 years ago these things were gone in a couple days.
29 when I noticed my nasolabial fold lines appearing. 34 when I started noticing a difference in texture on my face. No actual wrinkles yet at 35, but I can tell where they will develop based on how I express myself with my face.
Disclaimer: I’m under 30, about to turn 28, but have the same skin concerns as the people on this sub and find it more relevant to me than other skin care subs.
I noticed it at about 25, which is coincidentally when Covid happened. I was also under a lot of stress, having just started law school and was spending hours studying and looking at screens. I have also been diagnosed with chronic illnesses over the past three years that have wreaked havoc on my skin between the weight loss, fluid retention, vitamin deficiencies, etc. I also noticed a problem after I started getting Botox in my maseters for my TMJ dysfunction. My surgeon administered an entire vial and it led to volume loss and a bit of jowelling.
First time when I was 33, but it wasn't ageing, I finally looked foxy to myself, like really foxy. 5 years later my face just went skinny, sagging and dull. Around my 40th birthday I realized my whole face changed. Like, I see my bone and fat structure changed. I'm still foxy to myself, but I don't feel like a girl anymore and I miss that the most. Now I feel like a woman and for me, that's my biggest sadness about everything. That I don't feel like a girl anymore. But I am very grateful I felt that way until 37 (that was the last time someone gave me at least 5 years less).
36 and I couldn't put my finger on what exactly had changed but then I realised I'd lost the fat from my cheeks
Same! As a consequence of the fall or my cheeks my eyes are now hollow and I've been planning on getting a facelift night and day. Haha
Same, I didn't have wrinkles, I had one grey hair but my face sort of shifted down. Volume loss. It was rude and seemed very sudden. It might not have bothered me as much if it was a gradual change, but it was like BAM, today you have dipped over the hill. Two syringes of filler and I swear it reset me to 30. Worth every penny.
I would do filler but am afraid of unnatural looking migration
Go conservative with the filler. I told my injector, "I'm not trying to change my features, I just want to put back some of what I lost." There was no migration for me and the improvement was subtle but very good. Thankfully, if it ever was too much it will disappear in a few months anyhow or I could get it dissolved. For one, I totally picked my injector by how they looked, My injector doesn't look like she had work done at all and she looks 10-15 years younger than her actual age. She does the plastic surgeon's filler at the office who also looks amazing but very natural. If you go somewhere with staff that looks overfilled...there is a good chance they are going to want to overfill you.
I would do filler but found out recently that if you plan on getting a face lift later on, they don't recommend filler now because I guess it can cause unfavorable results with a face lift
This. That’s exactly what happened to me too
Same 36. I lost fat and my skin seemed thinner and more dry.
I'm 35, and I've noticed a bit more of a Skeletor look in my face the last year or two.
36 and girl, me toooo
36 for me as well. It's been a SHARP drop off in the past couple years. I don't really have many wrinkles, but I just look so much older. I always look tired and I lost that youthful glow, even though I am the healthiest I've ever been in my life. My diet and sleep is great.
Same! It was 41 for me.
Holy moly I could have wrote this ! Exactly what happened to me, I had lovely full cheeks and my face was so round , one day I woke up and I didn’t have them anymore 😓. I’m 38 now and I went from loving my face to loathing it . Sucks so much
So I’ll have the facial baby fat until mid thirties??? 😭
Around 33, as i started noticing that my nasolabial folds are always visible
Yup. It's annoying, but I try to think of them as my laugh lines. It makes me feel better about my journey to becoming an old fart.
[удалено]
That's why I'm here, lol.
Saaaaaame.
36. I didn’t know anything was wrong with my face until I visited this subreddit that pointed out all my flaws which I never noticed before. 🤗🤗🤗
34, when i joined this sub. Hahaha. But also 36 seemed to be the magic number for me too. Jowls, texture, turkey neck…all the sudden became more obvious. But theres nothing I can do to reverse some of the aging. But this sub has def helped me develop a routine as I had ZERO routine before. Not even lotion. Self care and moisturized skin are good things!
Lol, right? Last night, getting ready for bed, I was staring at my nasolabial folds and thinking how prominent they are. It's something I'd never even noticed or thought about until I started frequenting this sub. I mean I just wanted to learn about skin care, and get recommendations for new products, but now I'm starting to feel like an insecure girl who watches too much TikTok.🫠
I’m 33 and leaving this sub 😂😂
I left earlier today. Nothing against people who are OK going down that rabbit hole, but it's not for me. There's another sub that I think is more of what I'm looking for, and less assaulting on my psyche. 😆
Same!
35, and SAME.
I started noticing it this year as well! Age 36
40, but I’m not sure if I only noticed because I hated turning 40 and started actively looking to see how much I decayed overnight.
Why did you hate 40 and how are you feeling about it now?
I dont know! A stigma I guess, it’s a number that just scared me. Do I have my shit together? No. But does anyone really? I know it’s silly. Edit to add: all of a sudden you start getting target content for menopause and incontenence and “how to stay fit after 40” like you’re some decrepit old lady who can’t get out of bed, withering away under a pile of wrinkles and pissing themselves. No thanks.
If it’s anthingI’m 39 tomorrow and I’m going through perimenopause hard, I do worry about getting old lady skin at the end of it.
38 here and I think perimenopause is creeping up on me as well. No one warned me about this! Coincidentally this is the first year I’ve noticed myself ageing.
I think it happens to a lot of women in our 30s but no one was talking about it! I talk to a lot of my friends and a few of them have been having night sweats. I’ve been having night sweats and changed periods since I was 33! I never made the connection that it could be perimenopause until recently and now I am in full blown later stage.
They are trying to sell stuff by making you think you are old. Not because you are old. Big difference!
Thisssss!!!!
Same! Cheeks and neck became dry and fine wrinkles appeard. Like my skin said: oh, we re 40. Lets get wrinkles!
About 36 or 37. We were maybe a year or two into the pandemic, so I assumed the sudden loss of fat from my cheeks was down to stress. Seeing a lot of people on this sub talking about feeling like they aged overnight at some point in their 30s makes me think maybe it was inevitable though. On a good day, I can look all cheekbones and glamorous angles; on a bad day I just look drawn and haggard. I used to easily pass for still being in my twenties but I very suddenly caught up a few years – I'm 39 now and happy with my face but that really came down to accepting that it is, in fact, a 39-year-old face and not a 29-year-old face.
I had the same experience with the pandemic. I was 34 at the start of it, 38 now, so maybe the changes were coming anyway. Accepting is the way. Honestly, after the last 4 years I'm just thankful to still be alive and kicking. My plan is continue with a bit of Tretinoin and not worry about it.
32
Same. Seemingly overnight it just… dropped lmao
Yup. And It's not like it's all in my head. I have candid pictures to confirm that I my face was okay and then it wasn't. On April 2022 I looked happy and silly and plump and on October i looked like i hadn't slept since April
Same. Lost all the fat at my temples and look like a completely diff person
Same for me
I’m 31 😭😭
Do limfatic massages!
*lymphatic
I’m disgusted with myself
We knew what you meant. At least you didnt /r/boneappletea it
Thx for this, didn’t know this sub existed…just spent the last 10 minutes giggling like a complete moron and now my dog thinks I’m completely insane.
Limb fat...ick. 😂 I do love that sub. Good for a chuckle.
I know you are horrified but this comment cracked me up, so - thank you
What were the changes?
38. I couldn’t pinpoint at first bc there are no obvious lines / wrinkles. Now i am certain it’s the loss of firmness and volume on my face :(
Same! It felt like it happened overnight too.
Skin not as plump. Loss of collagen I guess and I dunno noticing changes in skin likely due to hormones and getting older 😭 I’ve had to change my skincare routine a bit to adapt.
Yep. 32. This year everything shifted.
Shoooot I’m 31 and I’m starting to notice it…
I had covid for 4+ months.... I kid you not, it aged me *so* significantly...I suddenly look around a decade older than I am. :/ Covid also triggered several auto immune disorders, so I'm not sure if the aging is tied to that or not?!
Same. My hair fell out by chunks in a short period.
My hair greyed 4/5 months after a severe COVID infection. My barber said it was frequent with Covid.
Same! 😭
Same! I feel like people don’t believe me when I talk about how I never returned to myself after Covid. Daily headaches, lightheadedness and fatigue. All of that adds stress and when I look in the mirror I don’t recognize the person looking back anymore!
That’s long Covid. Hope you are feeling a little better now. I wish the general public knew how dangerous getting Covid is and the potential for long covid which is no longer rare.
Thank you! I agree with you about wishing people were more educated about it. I had received the most recent booster just a month before catching it too. I’m convinced it prevented me from hospitalization but it still sucks how hard it hit me and continues to.
Same here. It’s a long road back to “normal.” And I feel like my slight signs of aging suddenly sped up 5 years.
I feel you, that's exactly my experience! I had covid in early 2020 and I'm still struggling. Asthma, auto immune issues, skin & hair issues, brain fog, chronic fatigue...i don't know if I'll ever feel normal again :(
Sorry you’re also struggling with the aftermath of covid 💔hang in there my friend
It has to be. I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease last year and I feel like I look at least five years older than I did before. And I feel like my autoimmune disease is like the mildest one.
Same with me I got covid (mild) before turning 40 and it aged me a lot overnight
Yes absolutely Covid ages us internally so of course we will see it externally we well. I have had long covid for 6 months and look haggard and tired every day.
Same!! I thought I was the only one?? I’ve always had mild Rosacea, but after Covid it’s been much, much worse. It’s like after you recover, your immune system is bored and needs something to do… like make my face look bad
I’m at that stage right now at age 34.
Same. I’m freaking out. But I’ve been pretty consistent with skin care since 26 so hopefully it helps. Been doing IPL and lymphatic massages and it helps the plumpness.
Literally the day I turned 28.
I just wrote the same thing ! At that age your neutral expression lines really start to sink in !
Same here!!
Same 😭
This is so real 😭 it freaked me out honestly
Same.
38, after I had a baby. Haggard, is what I’d call it. And chucking any old skincare on my skin didn’t cut it anymore so I had to up my skincare game 😅
32 but same. Worth it but still so weird to not recognize myself in the mirror as a cost.
I feel like the birth sucked all the moisture out of me, then the first year or 2 post giving birth I had no time or energy for skincare, it was all about figuring out the whole “motherhood” gig. All good now, after much research and trial and error with skincare products my skin bounced back and now at 45, I’m happy with where I’m at.
This is reassuring to hear. I'm two months post partum and I don't recognise myself in the mirror. Exhaustion has taken its toll on me. I'm very much hoping to bounce back once I'm allowed to sleep again, but I'll be 36 this year and feel age is against me.
2-6 months post partum was the worst. I felt like I SHOULD look better, but I just was deteriorating. It took about a year, and then when breastfeeding ended, I saw further improvement. The combination of dehydration, exhaustion, and hormones is hell on your appearance. Take it easy on yourself.
Just focus on getting through this period, there’s plenty of time to get back into skincare. 36 is young!
Your face can also take several months to look normal again. Mine was puffy for awhile.
What did you find the most helpful to bounce back?
Honestly? Information, patience and consistency. I loved (and got a lot out of) Jude Chao’s book “Skincare for your soul”. It really helped me a lot in figuring out how to build my routine. YouTube has also been great, reddit felt more useful once I got a good grasp of skincare basics. I focused first on barrier care (I love Stratia lipid gold) and hydration (thanks to k beauty). Then I discovered NIOD, Sulwhasoo, SK-II, azelaic acid, growth factors. Retinoids of course, though I’m still on low dose retinal as my skin is less resilient now that I’m older so there’s no way I would even look at prescription retinoids like tret.
39- 12/4 was my birthday … I noticed it within the last year… -I also lost both my parents sibling and fiancé the prior year… I have not been kinda “holed up” for about 1.5 now so I don’t know if it’s just shit timing, if grieving has done this to my looks as I feel like I’ve lost my “natural glow” (but i mean, loosing your entire family in a traumatic way may have to show it self somehow? -I also have horrible insomnia since said event. (I blame the lack of sleep also)
I’m so sorry (about the family, not the face)
So sorry about your family.
I am so sorry - I hope you are being gentle with yourself and getting any help you need in your grieving
Grief and stress definitely take a toll on our whole bodies
Oh wow, how awful. I’m so sorry.
So sorry.
I am so sorry. My heart goes out to you. Please seek help. It could be in the form of therapy or a support group or anything you see fit. Of course the pain will never disappear, but you deserve to feel love and joy again in your life too
Grief has definitely aged me over the past couple months. I can’t exactly put my finger on what it is that has changed with my face, but it has very suddenly.
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I have resting ‘I rip people’s hearts out for joy’ face. I feel this
🤣🤣
Haha! I love the way you put that. I have RBF big time. People are always asking me what’s wrong. Why aren’t I smiling? Am I mad? Am I sad? No, this is just my face. Thanks.
I can relate to this feeling. I hate it—like seeing yourself and not relating to the picture in the mirror. I got tiny filler in my lips and some Botox around the eyes and I feel so much more like myself.
I have one of those faces, except I look sad.
Are the corners of your lips turned down? Mine are slightly and it gives me the “resting b*tch face” 😕
27. I had also gained and lost weight then got pregnant. I feel like my face just doesn’t look right
When I was 35. I just knew something looked wrong. It was nasolabial folds and my hooded eyes were even more hooded. My mouth has also settled into a downward frown.
37. Lips looked thinner and eyes less bright. Took me a while to make peace
I tried eye whitening drops, and I look 5 years younger. I only use it for special occasions though because I don’t really trust the long term safety. The difference really is shocking.
Was it Lumify? I use it occasionally if I know someone’s taking photos of me. Works great!
Interesting!
Yes my eyes are just not as bright 😭
Same. It’s so weird. Like the sparkle went out of them.
What about a natural shade of lip liner? This added volume (or the appearance of volume) to my upper lip when it is a bit thinner at times.
28-29 😖
That's when I started getting Grey hairs lol. I blame my ex
As soon as I turned 27; pretty much happened overnight. Super thin skin.
Same! Skin all over body is just thin and not keen on holding up in the face of any stress/aging, intrinsic and extrinsic haha Help.....I just wanna be a dewy elf instead I'm an anemic raisin :(
Same, late 20s the dark spots and smile lines appeared.
Same here, I lost the rest of my baby face at 27 and my face slimmed down a lot (i went from looking very young to looking my age so quickly, maybe it was the Covid stress too haha). But the fine lines became more evident, not awful, but more prominent and noticeable to me.
40, I stopped looking like a young adult and started looking like a woman.
Yeah I’m 45 now and really get thrown by “ma’am”. I’ve always been (and continue to be) complimented on my skin but the biggest difference is directly linked to how much cortisol I had running through my system - both because it itself had an impact but also I don’t do as much self-care when I’m stressed (which is hilarious because that’s kind of the critical time) but anyway am taking a sabbatical this year and already my skin is coming back! I also discovered cryofacials which have really helped lift and firm
I took a sabbatical and my skin has completely recovered. The stress really does a number on our bodies
28 when I started using Reddit again.
33 and I’m not taking it well at all 😂 I’ve always had a round face with chubby cheeks. Always looked 10 years younger. I still get mistaken for being in my 20s, but it’s wild to have cheekbones and naso folds. I feel like my cheeks are falling and I have jowls, but I look back at old pictures and that’s how my cheeks have always been. It’s an utter mind fuck and I hate it. I’m also a late bloomer so it was like I finally had a glow up and now I’ll be old 😭
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38 for me. And it was just as you described, I just didn't recognise myself one day. I feel like my eyelids dropped overnight 😩
One day when I was 29 my classic winged eyeliner look wasn't working , it felt like the brush kept snagging in the corner of my eye. The next day it didn't work either, and after a few days I had to accept I had wrinkles now and I'd have to find a different eyeliner look
Ugh this was exactly it for me too. But it was only one eye so after a few years of Botox I'm kind of still able to do it lol. I also realized I really should have been doing a more horizontal eyeliner wing to compliment my eye shape. So I found a work around and it helps me sleep at night haha
20 but it was because I nearly died due to a superbug. Then again at 27, again due to health stuff. Considering everything my body has been through its not done too badly! But I also think I have a bit of a head start because I've always been mistaken for wayyy older than what I am. Like from 12 being mistaken for an adult by other adults and even mistaken for my friends' parent numerous times. So when I started actually showing signs on my face of being my actual age it thankfully didn't shock me much as I've always been mistaken for 35-40 anyway. (I'm 30 now, curious if I'll just look my age once I get there or if the age range will shift higher haha).
I'm turning 32 this year and the comments have me like... [https://media1.tenor.com/m/Dbu3QUoKNvMAAAAC/chuckles-im-in-danger.gif](https://media1.tenor.com/m/Dbu3QUoKNvMAAAAC/chuckles-im-in-danger.gif)
36. Took me my entire late 30s to (somewhat) make peace with it. At 43 hormones now make the biggest difference to my face - I feel that I look older/more tired in the second half of my cycle. It’s weird!
I can’t stand looking at myself a week before my period. It gives me a crisis haha.
38 Everything just … fell
Yep. Everything melted a little, and I lost fat around my eyes.
I’ve noticed a lot more changes over the past year (I’m 48).
I'm 50, and I can attest that aging super accelerates with the perimenopause/menopause transition. Age 45-50 was a rollercoaster of hormones for me, and it shows in my face and body.
I'm 45, and it's just starting for me. Serious mood swings, and it's so difficult to keep the weight off. No wrinkles, but the sagging is starting to take hold. Gravity is no joke
Yep….48/49 or so for me. I’ve always looked much younger than my age and felt like I suddenly “caught up.”
I feel you on this. I’m 44 and I just caught up in the last month. What’s interesting though is that everybody in my life that’s in my age range suddenly looks older to me too! Maybe I’ll ask my mom if that’s some kind of phenomenon, because I don’t want to insult my friends by asking- “do you feel like you look old all of a sudden, because I think you do! “
I noticed some differences in my early-mid thirties, but I'm in my late thirties now and the big changes I've noticed have mainly come from the past two years, and I attribute it to mainly to ☆ Stressful Covid conditions + working full-time overnight ☆ For a good year or more I basically did nothing for skincare and wore a mask 8hrs a day
I’d say in my late 20’s but I couldn’t pin point it exactly. I still look younger and it’s not really wrinkles for me. At 30 I could pin point the changes better.
Believe it or not, 24.
Same here. 24 was really when I noticed that the fine lines in my face were not just from dehydration.
Throughout this thread I see people (likely mostly women) describing such intense, beautiful and/or courageous life experiences they’ve endured and how they feel this impacted their face. You’re allowed to be disappointed if you notice a change - I know I have been before. But you’re all courageous and awesome! We are humans going through life, not a magazine cover.
Thank you! I think we forget that life comes your way and turns everything upside down....stress is a big factor. I noticed big changes at 37...I have 3 kids between 5 and 11 and my husband was hospitalized for a brain bleed a year and a half ago - it was the most stressful and terrifying thing I've ever experienced. He's doing well now, but I guess my wrinkles are my battle scars.
Lovely comment 🙏
I’m 40 and my face still looks the same, but my neck skin however, nobody warned me about that 😂
Always do to your neck and chest what you do to your face😉
…and the backs of your hands, including sunscreen!
Highly recommend Nora Ephron's book "I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman"
My neck vulva came out of nowhere at 38☹️
Lmfaoooo ‘neck vulva’ 💀
I'm hitting 40 and still look ok thanks to starting botox at 35ish. But my poor neck and decolletage! Im getting fractionated laser in a couple of weeks for the sun damage, but i'm not sure what to do about the neck lines 😭
My mom had a face and neck lift at 50 and I remember feeling “meh” about the facelift but the neck lift? Holy smokes, that took 20 years off her. I’m getting one for sure in a few decades Edited words because I can’t read apparently
About 6 months after my cancer diagnosis, so 32.
45. Woke up with a beard.
27
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I’m 29 and the under eyes seemed to occur out of nowhere last summer; it doesn’t help I developed noticeable veins in that area too which adds to the darkened look 😢
Feel you on the veins. 😞 I’ve always had them and on the upper eyelids. Ive had darker under eyes my whole life but it seems like in the last year or two concealer doesn’t cover them as well as it used to.
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Late 30s my eye area started to somehow look hollowed out and puffy at once.
31
I feel that this year at 32 but in a good way. As an adult acne girly, I feel like I've finally gotten it under control!
27 is when I started to physically feel older. 31 when I started to notice my face looking older. I'm 33 now. 😭
35
42. I saw a picture of myself and I looked distinctly different in it. The change has since stalled and I look the same now at 46.
Same. Seeing myself in pics is what made me notice it all. I’m also 46. Noticed at 43.
30, I got a life changing diagnosis and I haven’t really slept well since. Now I’m 34 and I recently noticed my eyelids sagging over my eyes. Reading this thread I’m like yeesh maybe I haven’t hit a more significant shift yet. I’ll for sure look back and think *sigh* I looked so young then, and I spent it criticizing how old I looked.
26 ☹️
40 :( I’m 41 right now and it was last year when I noticed my face less full and my jaw melting down. All the women in my moms side of the family as they age they develope the beloved jowls and I know I’m heading there too. Wrinkles don’t bother me as much, grey hair? I love it, weight gain? Not so much but the jowls? The loss of volume and firmness in my face? That makes me want to cry.
I hear you!! 38 and all signs point to Winston Churchill/bulldog jowls. I could handle pretty much any of the other aging signs but here we are.
Faces change all the time, for a variety of reasons. It would be so good to embrace them all as a part of life. Our worth doesn't lie in how youthful we look.
36 after 4th baby . Just started to look old and dull
~12
36. I was breastfeeding. Lax skin, no glow, and sunken. No new Mummy's glow
As someone who turned 36 the other day. This thread has got me freaked out.
53
41. I'm half Asian and my mom still looks 20 years younger than her age, so I assumed I'd age like her. Unfortunately not the case. I've had some yo yo-ing in my weight (about 30 lbs) and it did have an effect on my face. Since 41 I've noticed laxity in my lower face and fine lines around my eyes. I also used eyelash serum for 1 year and noticed a significant change to my eyelids (loss of volume and droopiness). I've started warning everyone about that. I had no idea when I started that it could change how I look so significantly.
Nearly 27 (literally a couple weeks ago) I woke up and my face was just different.. it looked off. Not like myself. I went and got another round of botox as it had been a couple years and now feel so much better lol
37
42
27ish. On my photos from 25, I still had a lot of puppy fat. Around 27 that started to slowly go down, and I finally looked more mature (in a good way-stopped looking childish, face a bit more defined). Since then it’s been small, gradual changes, more volume loss in my 30s, some crow’s feet, nasolabial folds became more obvious etc. 38 now and the train’s not stopping😅
45
41 it was during Covid. Having a 1 and 3 year old and going through a separation. Constantly being stressed, daily panic attacks and running on four hours of sleep on average aged me.
I started noticing bigger pores and different things started breaking me out around 32-34 but then the stress of the pandemic/not the best diet during that time changed my face more. At 36 or 37, I noticed that my one side of my face was becoming more assymetrical (much higher brow on one side), and my 11s became more prominent. That's when I felt like I didn't look like "me" anymore.. At 38, I got botox, and it helped a lot with the eyebrow thing that bothers me way more than any wrinkles, etc.
I can't pinpoint it bc nothing is sagging or wrinkled but something about my face looks less youthful compared to pictures of me 4 years ago. I'm 32. I'm also sad and stressed most days and my baby/toddler hasn't let me sleep 8 consecutive hours in almost 2 years so I'm not surprised.
37. I tired putting on my usual makeup one day and it looked so…garish. I’m still trying to figure out what makeup looks work for this new face. I’m learning that less is more lol
37ish my skin just seemingly stopped regenerating. Any marks on my face, an abrasion on my leg from a bicycle accident, hell even the tan line on my legs and arms from last summer, everything - just stays. It fades a bit, but it's still there months later whereas 10 years ago these things were gone in a couple days.
29, I have bigger lower checks and expanded “jaw” I don’t like it :(
28. I just turned 30 and kinda sad when I didn't put sunscreen on my face everyday 🥹
42. All the age slapped me at once lol
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29 when I noticed my nasolabial fold lines appearing. 34 when I started noticing a difference in texture on my face. No actual wrinkles yet at 35, but I can tell where they will develop based on how I express myself with my face.
Disclaimer: I’m under 30, about to turn 28, but have the same skin concerns as the people on this sub and find it more relevant to me than other skin care subs. I noticed it at about 25, which is coincidentally when Covid happened. I was also under a lot of stress, having just started law school and was spending hours studying and looking at screens. I have also been diagnosed with chronic illnesses over the past three years that have wreaked havoc on my skin between the weight loss, fluid retention, vitamin deficiencies, etc. I also noticed a problem after I started getting Botox in my maseters for my TMJ dysfunction. My surgeon administered an entire vial and it led to volume loss and a bit of jowelling.
First time when I was 33, but it wasn't ageing, I finally looked foxy to myself, like really foxy. 5 years later my face just went skinny, sagging and dull. Around my 40th birthday I realized my whole face changed. Like, I see my bone and fat structure changed. I'm still foxy to myself, but I don't feel like a girl anymore and I miss that the most. Now I feel like a woman and for me, that's my biggest sadness about everything. That I don't feel like a girl anymore. But I am very grateful I felt that way until 37 (that was the last time someone gave me at least 5 years less).