Does anyone on here enjoy style but actually like their ageing face/body such that they just are happy with the skin they are in?

[SnazzyHotFlush]

I thought it would be interesting to start a thread for those of use who like wrinkles and grey hair, refuse to cover our bingo wings and think anti-ageing cream is just a lot of old rot really.

I love style and fashion but I feel beauty is about authenticity- growing into your skin as it were and liking yourself at the age you are.

Anyone else feel baffled by the seeming need a lot of women have to look younger?

[WildBillfemale]

I'm far from a gym bunny and the grey is sprouting now. I feel incredibly comfortable in my skin, I walk around our house naked and proud, I refuse to apologise for any bits that aren't perfect. It's my body and it's unique, I even squidge my own bits sometimes just because I like the feel of my soft squidgey bits. This is the benefit of getting older. I find others distress at getting older and trying to look younger usually backfires.

re the grey I'm chuffed it's coming through a silvery grey - I'm going to let it all come through (I haven't coloured my hair for years anyway) and get my hair cut in the sharpest bob, wear red lipstick and silver jewellry.

[Laska42]

I try.. but still do fall for diets , however I dont kill myself doing exercise routines , and now i have (some little) disposable income as kids grown, I do love buying clothes and think i know what suits me.. actually on the whole i think i look ok..

Winkles, tops of arms a bit falbby , but not too bad as I do lots of digging , a bit of a tum, but good legs so can wear shorts and shortish skirts still and dye my very uneven grey hair white/ blonde and keep it very short and spiky.. if myhair ever goes an even grey rather than in white patches, id definately ditch the dye..

Sad though that my resting face has downturned mouth.. but that just my genes ..

[Laska42]

oh yes and do wear a bikini on the beach .. ( who cares? ). am in my 50s

[Esmum07]

I had been dyeing or highlighting my hair for almost thirty years and last year decided to grow out the highlights just to see what the grey looked like...it looks like highlights! Bloody typical! I have been covering the grey for probably ten years and the grey looks exactly the same as the sodding highlights!

I only use Asda own brand cleanser and moisturiser as I suffer from rosacea and it is the only brand that doesn't either cause dryness or spots and I don't use anti wrinkle stuff for the same reason - too harsh for me.

I am on a diet at the mo though... Partly because I would like my bum to stop dancing when I do but also because I have been diagnosed as per diabetic and the nurse told me (bluntly but honestly) that I may stand a chance of getting back under control if I lost at least a stone and a half but preferably nearer two! A bit of a benefit seems to be my bingo wings are beginning to fade to a tremor rather than a full scale wobble.

My role models at the moment are Helen Mirren, Judy Dench and Jamie Lee Curtis...silver haired, happy in their skins and lovely!

[Esmum07]

PRE diabetic, PRE diabetic. Bloody tablet!

[WildBillfemale]

I think Sharon Stone should be in our club - she always seems to be having a great time and isn't too obsessed with aging either.

[Aruamom]

Me: I'm almost 40, never wear makeup or skin preservative products, go out in the sun too much (with no sun screen) and generally don't understand why anyone would want to be frozen in time (re their looks). I don't get the whole being giggly/ditsy/girly stuff either. I blame it all on patriarchy which tends to value women only as sex objects.

[Laska42]

Ive never worn any make up, (except sometimes occaisionally mascara when i was in my teens but then usually forgot it was on and so ended up looking smudgy rather than good )

But I have in the last couple of years used a gradual tanning moisturiser on my ( almost blue) legs and defuzz.. this is because i now can wear shortish skirts and dresses (being a lot slimmer than I was) whereas a few years ago i was constantly in trousers ..

I also now get my eyelashes dyed as they are very pale (so i suppose I am a bit fake..)

I do use sun lotion on th ebeach as im very prone to burn..and also the cheapest body moisturiser like E45 or palmers (on face also ) when I remember (and boots foot cream as i often walk around barefoot or in sandalsand skin gets hard..

Dont wear purfume , but do wear toenail polish in the summer, but not onfingers ..(and often keep it on until it chips off use i just cant be bothered to change it .. which reminds me...)

[Castlemilk]

I don't care what I look like, really.

I have fits of getting into it and enjoying fussing about, but deep down - I don't care a fig, get distracted, and end up hairy and bumbling again.

Ha ha ha!!!

[MrsAtticus]

Sounds like me, no make-up, enjoy clothes but wear what I like rather than what's in fashion. Am currently struggling slightly with the realization that I don't have as much natural beauty to pull this off as I used to (!) but am trying to remain happy in confident in my own skin (despite receding and graying hair, drooping eyelids, droopy under-chin skin, the development of 'jowls', and a body utterly ruined by pregnancies and c-sections, yay ).

[WildBillfemale]

I wear a little makeup when the mood takes me but I can happily exist bare faced. I de-fuzz, have pedicures, have groomed eyebrows and well cut hair etc I'm just not interested in trying to look younger with botox, hair dye, young clothes, obsessive dieting.

[mintysmum]

I'm happy to look my age and just go with the flow and accept the natural changes. But I love make up, enjoy messing around with it in the bathroom before going out and some days I love planning my clothes and putting together an outfit that suits me. Mainly when I'm going to work meetings or for an evening out. The rest of the time I couldn't care less how I am and who sees me, make up lesson my slouches and slippers, with my pinny on if I'm cooking!

I have many wobbly bits now after two massive pregnancies and droopy boobs after years of breast feeding but I feel so proud of my body when I look at my huge strapping sons that I can't help but love it. I bought my first bikini in 14 yrs this summer and can't wait to wear it on the beach!

[Floisme]

I am totally in provided I am still allowed to cover my elbows?

[CateBlanket]

I thought I was the only person on MN who looked my age and had wrinkles Every other poster claims that they look younger and have no lines!

I do colour my hair because I don't look good grey. I wear make-up when the fancy takes me and - please don't freak out - purchase the occasional patterned top from White Stuff

[CateBlanket]

I should have known mentioning White Stuff would kill thread.

I'll get me coat ...

[SpringyReframed]

I really struggle with the fact that I love fashion but realise I cant wear everything any more. That makes me sad. There is no point trying to fight it either as I know I look ridiculous when I try some things on.

On the upside, I still wear a bikini, and never worry about bingo wings or other signs of ageing and I do TRY to be happy in my skin.

[Floisme]

Springy, there are things I 'can't' wear any more too, not specifically because I'm older (I have no truck with any of that 'no shorts after 40' kind of shite) but because my body shape has changed. However on the plus side, I've found that things I didn't look good in before now suit me. So I still find fashion fun.

[BravePotato]

Well, I am 45 but I look like 25, or so most people say, but then again I have no lines at all...

NOT!

But this is the sort of thing one often hears, not uttered by me though.

I am comfy in my skin, I am 40s, I look 40s, I like to wear nice clothes, if I can be bothered. Don't dye my hair, but not saying I never will.

I like to look after myself, but am no obsessed by looking younger.

[Floisme]

To be honest, I really don't have that many lines! My jowls however, are a bummer and my face is going saggy. I think you get to a stage where lines can actually help - they add definition which is what I'm losing.

My aim is to look as good as I can without denying my age (57) if that makes sense.

[chockbic]

Its funny when they have foetus women advertising face creams.

You too can look about 15 with this wonder product.

Having said that I probably wouldn't turn down some free cosmetic surgery. Just a little tuck...

[CateBlanket]

I just want the freedom to grow older without being made to think I should feel crap about it. Do you know what I mean?

[Floisme]

Yes I do. I don't suppose I'll ever stop being vain (and I don't particularly want to). But my age is a big part of who I am and I don't see why I should disguise it in order to fit in with some twisted notion of what is supposed to constitute looking good.

[SpringyReframed]

That's interesting Flo. What do you find you can wear now that you couldnt before? I can't think of anything I can now wear.

[Floisme]

Springy the main thing was that, after a lifetime of being flat chested (pregnancy and breast feeding aside) I came out of the menopause with boobs! What's more I hadn't even noticed until a good friend pointed out that I was falling out of my bra It does mean some old favourites (e.g. breton tops) now look awful but on the other hand, I can now wear pencil skirts and deep V necks which feels like a fair exchange.

I'm sure it happens to a lot of women - not necessarily growing boobs but ending up a different shape and not even noticing, just wondering why all your clothes look frumpy and kind of giving up.