I don't look my age. The harsh realities of guys who look younger than their age

Incredible Facts

Do you want no one to guess your age?

Then avoid making these clothing and make-up mistakes so you don't look older than you are.

You may not notice it, but sometimes our age is given away by simple little things, such as boring accessories or inept makeup.

Here are a few mistakes that often make us look older.

How to look younger

1. Plucked eyebrows

The time of eyebrow threads is far behind. Thick eyebrows are universally considered more attractive and can make you look more youthful.

If in the past you have tried to pull them out more than once, just use an eyebrow pencil to fill in the voids. Also, avoid applying creams and lotions to the brow area, as they clog the follicles and interfere with hair growth.

2. Flared trousers

Each of us is free to choose clothes to taste, whether classic style or more modern. However, stylists advise getting rid of things that were fashionable a few decades ago. Flared trousers look old-fashioned and immediately add a couple of extra years to you.

3. Clothes that don't fit

Bulky clothing, even if it is fashionable, is not for everyone. It is best to bet on a classic jacket or a classic black dress, which can be adjusted to the figure and look younger and slimmer.

4. Peach nail polish

mauve colors - not the best the best choice nail polish. This can make your skin look older than it really is and give you an unattractive look. appearance.

Opt for glossy whites or creamy pinks that bring freshness to your skin. Also remember that long "claws" are no longer in trend, so bet on slightly rounded nails of medium length.

5. All accessories are the same color

We all once learned the rule that the color of the handbag, shoes and belt should match. However, this approach has long been outdated, and immediately gives you a woman of the old school. When you try to match everything the same color too carefully, it looks like you're trying too hard to be younger, which makes you look older.

Instead, choose one trendy item, such as a bright handbag, or combine a neutral handbag with shoes with an interesting print. You can also try a monochromatic scheme by combining different shades of the same color group, such as pinks and reds.

6. Thorough cleansing of the skin

In the pursuit of clear skin, we are sometimes too zealous to get rid of oiliness, which seems to us something dirty.

However, cleansing is too aggressive means for care, greatly dries the skin of the face, because of which it quickly loses its youth. Sometimes this leads to even more oily skin, and as a result, you can get teenage acne along with wrinkles.

Tip: Choose cleansers with fewer ingredients that contain healthy fats. They tend to do their job better and keep the skin supple and hydrated.

Why do we look older

7. Disproportionate silhouette

When you're trying on trendy pieces like high-waisted pants, always think about how to balance your proportions.

High-waisted wide trousers or long skirt will look better with a cropped jacket, a sleeveless blouse or a top that slightly reveals the stomach.

The same rule applies in reverse: a puffy sleeve blouse should be paired with a pencil skirt or tight pants.

8. Covering imperfections with foundation

Of course, we are all trying to mask some imperfections in our skin, but it is important to be careful here.

Abundant make-up with a thick layer foundation emphasizes wrinkles and gives the face a dull look.

To freshen up your face, simply add highlighter to the top of your cheekbones and under your browbone, or use a lighter foundation.

9. Wear age-appropriate clothing.

It seems to many that fashion is the prerogative of exclusively young people, but this is not so. Be daring in your choice of clothes and accessories.

If you want to try on fashion dress sleeveless, but you don't feel comfortable flaunting your cleavage or baring your arms, try wearing golf under it. You will not only feel more confident, but also accentuate your face.

10. Apply blush too low.

Blush, as a rule, is applied to the most protruding part of the cheekbones. However, with age, this protruding part moves down, and blush will emphasize your flaws unfavorably.

It is best to apply blush just under the eyes at the very top of the cheekbones, which will visually slightly tighten the face.

11. Not getting enough sleep

Unfortunately, lack of sleep very often becomes a companion of modern life. Insufficient sleep increases stress levels and contributes to weight gain.

But there is another reason why you should choose healthy sleep. During the deep phase of sleep, our body produces growth hormone, which repairs and renews damaged cells.

A regular sleep pattern will have a positive effect not only on your condition during the day, but also on your appearance.

12. Provocative selfies

Duck lips do not add charm to either young ladies or older ladies. Numerous studies emphasize that a simple smile can always make you look younger.

Agree that wrinkles on a smiling face look much more attractive than the unnatural grimace that you are trying to portray.

13. Passion for alcoholic beverages

Alcohol deprives us of water, and moisture is known to be a key aspect of a youthful and fresh appearance. If you drink alcohol, you need to make sure you drink enough water to reduce fine lines and bags under your eyes.

In addition, alcohol reduces the amount of vitamin A in the body, an antioxidant that helps cells renew themselves. So once again think about whether another glass of alcohol is worth your beauty.

14. Too serious style

As we get older, we begin to prefer comfortable shoes without heels and other comfortable and practical things. But that doesn't mean you can't play with your looks.

After choosing the right silhouette according to the figure, add some fashionable accents with the help of an original handbag or shoes.

15. Wear only neutral colors

With age, the skin becomes duller. And while natural and neutral colors help keep you looking elegant, they can make you look dull and dull. At the same time, the right patterns and colors can instantly transform you for the better.

Hint: most shades of red and blue refresh the look of almost any woman and help you look younger.

It's almost a bad taste to look your age these days. Women are ready to give all their money and soul in addition to hear the cherished: “You will never give your age!” Yes, and men have not considered their years as wealth for a long time, although they do not demonstrate this so clearly. Against this background, it seems even strange that there are people who consider too young a look to be a real problem.

And they are. We tried to find out what prevents those who look 10 years younger than their age from living.

Daria, 27 years old: “They will crush the child!”

- It's nice to look younger than your age, but it often gets in the way. I worked in mall promoter, and every day a woman came up to me and said that the employer has no right to exploit me for 10 hours, because I am a minor, and this is a violation of the Labor Code. I could not convince her that I had already graduated from the institute. At rush hour, aunts on the bus usually shout, looking at me: put the child in, otherwise they will crush him!

Maria, 26 years old: “Everyone is rude to me!”

- I almost do not paint, I wear a backpack, overalls and panama. I am twenty-seven, but even the doctors at first decide that I am seventeen years old at the most. There is only one concern: having automatically decided that I have not even crossed the threshold of adulthood, people often treat me condescendingly, if not rudely. It is especially difficult to deal with the official world of Russia like passport offices and hospitals. There, everyone is always rude to me: from those waiting to receiving. True, as soon as they find out that I will soon be thirty, they fall into confusion - a clear illustration of "expectations and reality." Such dynamics are especially offensive: why don't I deserve the same detailed, calm tone of communication if I am N years younger than you thought?

Andrey, 29 years old: “They demanded to return the car to their parents!”

Because of my teenage appearance, I look 14, so I can't arrange a personal life. It is difficult to find a girl who wants to look older than her man. I dreamed of working as a driver, but they constantly stop me and check my documents at every post. When they see age, they are surprised. A couple of times I was stopped in the middle of the road and demanded to return the car to my parents. When I showed the rights and invited to my 30th birthday, they apologized. You have to travel by metro and bus, because you never know how the trip by car will end.

Marina, 36 years old: “They decided that I was a young mother!”

- I'm petite, not tall. The clients at the bank did not perceive me because I looked like a teenager. I had to add years to myself with "age" hairstyles and strict clothes. And when I got married and my husband and I moved to a new house, the neighbors began to have questions. When my daughter was born, I began to go outside with a stroller and noticed that the grandmothers at the entrance were looking at me somehow askance. Once I heard how they discuss me. They decided that I was a young mother, although I was already 27. Once in kindergarten the new teacher, giving me the child, muttered that the parents themselves could come for their daughter, and not send a sister for her. But I can wear youth clothes And I don't look stupid in it. My daughter and I buy children's store identical funny t-shirts or sundresses for a family look. And on the playground, I can climb any ladder or slide with my child.

Evgenia, 27 years old: “They didn’t hire me!”

I have always looked 10 years younger than my age. Because of this, I was not hired by a bank, despite having a red diploma. Although at the university I could not learn anything at all, the teachers were ready to give me grades for the angelic look. I tried to make up more, but it looks ridiculous. I'm married but not ready to have kids yet because I feel like I'm half a child.

Irina, 42: “He just didn’t know what to do!”

- It turned out funny with my second husband. I fell in love so that for the first time in my life I began to take more or less active steps, made it clear that I wanted to meet him. And he just didn't know what to do. I am 39, I looked young, the men were surprised, they say, a maximum of 32 can be given. And he is almost 50, and he thought that the difference between us is 18-20 years. And now he almost shied away from me, saying, why does he need such a big difference, he wanted a family, he was looking for a woman a little younger than himself, but obviously not for almost 20 years! When I found out my age, I exhaled straight and relaxed, began to make appointments.

- I'm 26, but I look outwardly at a maximum of 16! This gives me great inconvenience! It's okay that the store asks for a passport, I'm used to it. Although it's funny to see how the sellers' eyes widen when they see my date of birth. In the hospital, when I go through medical examinations, they also constantly ask how old they are, like, boy, do you need to go to the children's hospital - it infuriates! When I meet on the Internet without a photo, they give me 25 years of communication, but when I show my photo, they write: don’t lie, it’s not you! But those who like it, and especially those who are older and we are on the same level in communication, always do not let go beyond the friend zone ... Sometimes I just negotiate with available girls, because I am not interested in my peers, and youngsters are not interesting to me.

Olga, 27: “They thought I was 12!”

- I have long been accustomed to the fact that they do not sell alcohol to me, so at the checkout I immediately show my passport, without waiting for questions. The funniest incident happened at the wedding of a cousin. The guests opposite noticed that I had a bottle of whiskey in my hands, and they said: “Try a little, and then give it to adults, okay?” They thought I was 12. Friends reassure me that at 40 I will look 30, but now it doesn’t make it any easier.

Tatyana, 28 years old: “I was late for the lesson!”

- Pupils also sometimes think that I am still at school, and colleagues take me for a student. Last winter, I went to the school where I work, I stood waiting for my glasses to sweat, then the janitor came up to me and asked so warmly: “What, were you late for the lesson?”

Anastasia, 30: “How did you get such an expensive camera?”

- I have long been accustomed to the fact that they give me approximately 22-23 years old, and if without makeup, then generally 16-17 years old. The matter is aggravated by my short height - 160 cm, natural blonde hair and baby dimples on the cheeks. Funny situations happen in connection with my occupation. I am a photographer (I shoot weddings, portraits and so on). And a couple of times when I came to the shooting, the groom’s parents, for example, or other people who didn’t know my face, came up to me and said: “Girl, when will the photographer come up? How did she entrust you to keep such expensive equipment? ..” I laugh, and they blush and turn pale with embarrassment when it turns out that I am the photographer, and not just guarding the camera ...

“They didn’t sell me alcohol in the store today”, “They asked me for a passport when I ordered a glass of wine” - you must have often heard such phrases from acquaintances and girlfriends. Sometimes, in response to such a story, you really want to say: “That's right, you really look much younger,” and in other cases, you can only nod understandingly so as not to seem impolite. The phenomenon of how we tend to evaluate our own age and how our assessment correlates with the assessment of others is of interest to both ordinary people and scientists. Before moving on to the signs of youth, let's find out what the latter think about this.

Forever Young

The problem of age perception has long been actively studied by psychologists. Scientists have even identified a special term - subjective age. They denote the attitude of the person himself to his own age, and there are several grounds for evaluation: How old do you feel, how old do you look and how old do you act?(this includes an assessment of one's own interests, hobbies, work, etc.). We are interested in the second point - how old we look a) in my own opinion, b) in the opinion of others. In the West, research in this area began in the 1960s. Domestic psychologists took care of the problem a little later, but they are also actively developing it.

In 2013, the journal Psychological Research published the results of a study of several age groups: from 20 to 30 years, from 40 to 50 and from 60 to 70 years. During it, it became clear that the majority of respondents in all age groups tend to think they look younger than their age. If we summarize the data, it turns out that, on average, we believe that we look 4-5 years younger than our real age. And after 25 years, the tendency to consider yourself younger is only gaining momentum.

There is another interesting detail: when people are asked to guess the age of others from photographs, they are rarely wrong. Often the error is less than a year, sometimes up to two years.

In world psychology, our tendency to consider ourselves younger than our calendar age is explained by psychological defense mechanism: a person wants to somehow cope with the problem of aging and not lose his place in a society focused on youth.

Signs that you look younger than your age

So how do we know if we really look younger or are just happy to be deceived by looking at our own reflection in the mirror? There are several signs that will help determine this. Of course, it is unlikely that you will be able to get an accurate objective assessment using this list, but it will help you to navigate.

1. Corner of youth

A clear line of the lower jaw and a pronounced obtuse angle that it forms from the side greatly affect the perception of the face. When the line is vague (and it happens even in young people), the face immediately visually adds 4-5 years.

2. Invisible pores

“Think of a pore upright, it looks like a V,” says Amy Wexler, a US dermatologist. - That is, at the base it is narrower, and closer to the surface of the skin it expands. Enlarged pores tend to make you look older.”

It is unlikely that pore size can be radically changed with the help of cosmetics, because this parameter (like almost everything in our appearance) is determined by genetics, but regular cleansing and exfoliation will help improve the situation, the doctor explains.

3. No freckles on chest and arms

Pigmentation is often a sign of age. And now we are not talking about cute freckles on a obviously young or even teenage face, but about placers of dark spots on the chest, shoulders and arms. According to the same doctor Wexler, they immediately add up to 10 years to the appearance.

4. Thick natural eyebrows

Recently, the role of eyebrows in the architecture of the face has been appreciated to the maximum - and this plays a cruel joke with many. Girls begin to draw a non-existent volume, width and length, being overly carried away and going beyond the limits of reason. Therefore, we do not propose to consider eyebrows drawn with too generous a hand as a sign of youth. But real, thick, beautifully shaped eyebrows - quite. By the way, the validity of this rule is also proved by the stars: for example, the top insta blogger Natalya Davydova (Aunt Motya) admitted that she had an eyebrow transplant because she could not grow natural ones, and this procedure instantly transformed her face.

5. Face without puffiness

Photo: LEGION-MEDIA

Excessive puffiness is clearly not a sign of youth and freshness, but the so-called “pillow face” immediately adds at least a dozen years to its owner. Remember, for example: a quite young girl in recent photos looked like a mature woman only because, according to rumors, she was fond of alcohol and illegal drugs. Lohan's face has become too puffy for her age, her cheekbones have ceased to stand out, that very “corner of youth” has blurred. The same trouble overtook Madonna, but for a different reason: the pop queen was carried away by fillers based on hyaluronic acid. And they, in turn, attract and accumulate water around them, which is already in the body. As a result, the singer got the opposite effect of what she wanted: she not only did not look younger, but also visually added a few years to herself.

6. Strong nails without yellowness

Hands betray age, and this thesis is not new. However, this is not only about the condition of the skin on the hands, but also about the nails. An interesting study was published in the American Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery on how people perceive nails. Respondents were asked to estimate the age of several people by their hands. They were given two types of photographs: photographs of brushes with bare nails, and photographs of hands with varnished nails and jewelry on their fingers. It turned out that hands with unvarnished nails are perceived as older. This is most likely due to the fact that the varnish covers the yellowness, uneven nail relief and other imperfections. Researchers have concluded that unkempt nails can add up to five years to your actual age.

7. Ease of movement

It's not just our appearance that influences our perception of others. How we move plays a significant role. It is known that the movements of young people (or those who are perceived as young) are wider, more active, more energetic. For example, young people often turn their whole body, and not just their head, when they need to look back or to the sides. They do not save energy by intuitively trying to move more "sparsely", as usually happens with age.

Hello! My name is Anna, I am 16 years old. I am the oldest in the class. It's not that this is my problem, no, I'm already used to the jokes of my classmates, but ... NOBODY BELIEVE THAT I WILL BE 17 THIS YEAR! I have normal growth, I'm thin (I have no complaints about the body), but I have a small face, not very small plump lips and eyes with rather heavy eyelids, dimples. All this gives me seemingly cute features, but no one takes me seriously! I probably still consider myself a child ... if you look at peers or even those who are younger than me, you get the impression that they are all a few years older than me. I don't know the terrain very well, I don't always know where and what things to buy. Of course, at times, I tell myself that today's teenagers have become too early adult girls - heels, hair dye, glamor in a word ... What am I, no, I also use makeup. I paint my eyes to make them a little bigger, but with shadows I can’t use it because of my eyelids, so I use eyeliner, I paint with a foundation. But even if you put a ton of makeup on me, I will remain a child ... Well, of course, I am not an adult yet, but often I am shy about my appearance. Of the guys, I pay attention to those who, even if by a few months, are older than me.
I have best friend, she also uses cosmetics, only much more than me. At the same time, she does not have skin problems, but she is a little larger than me. She knows where and what to buy and what is now possible, sometimes I don’t even know where this store is and it becomes somehow embarrassing for me. Increasingly, it seems to me that I recently turned FIFTEEN, and she will soon be 17!
In addition, only recently I began to buy normal things! I was always attracted to some children's things. Now some kind of soft jacket with a lock, then some other jacket, as if from the children's world!
I can only console myself with the fact that I am like a teenager and should be like me, that this is normal. Maybe that's how it is...
If the little girls who are in the photo look much older, but this is again not my case! Am I going to be this kid for the rest of my life?
I think yes. After all, it also depends on the character, and I have it, well, just like a five-year-old! I am jealous of my relatives and friends, I take everything to heart, I remember the offense and the offender for a very long time, I remember all the terrible words that they say to me, but I quickly forgive for this, I am kind, I want to become a veterinarian.
They tell me that when I'm 40, I'll look like 25) Well then it won't be bad at all...
I hope you will answer me, despite the rather short story.
Thanks in advance!