Baby faced @ 30 years old, still lookin' young @ 50?

[Mr Buttons]

So recently my 27th birthday came and went, and I still could easily pass as an undercover cop trying to bust the druggy kids @ any local high school. I can never buy cigs/beer anywhere without getting carded every time.

So to sum up, when i turned 18, I looked around 14-15, at 27 I look like I'm around 18-21. Does this hold up into old age?

Guess I'm mainly asking older dopers about their experiences with this. I'm really hoping to look 35 when I'm 50ish, that's be freaking awesome.

So anyone else who's been there/done that to reply back with an answer.

[Hazle Weatherfield]

I'm 41 and get carded fairly frequently. An Aunt that lived to be 100 could've passed for 80 (which sounds pretty funny!) and my Mom is 65 and could pass for early to mid 50s. So, I get no credit for it personally, but I've seen it happen!

[maggenpye]

Both me and my Mum say yes yes yes! I've gone from hating this as a teen and loving it in my 40's. Mum's mid 60's and usually taken for mid 50's.

[DianaG]

I'll be 38 in a couple of months, and I wouldn't say I get carded frequently, but it happens. I'd say I look late 20s to early 30s. My mom is 56, and she's let her hair go grey, but looking at her face alone you wouldn't take her for much past 40.

When my (two years younger than me) sister and I used to hit the bars when we were young, she always laughed that I'd get carded and she wouldn't. "Ha, I look older than you!" I always responded, "Yeah, ten years from now you're still going to look older than me, and you're not going to think it's funny anymore." Sure enough, fifteen years later, she is Not Amused.

[seodoa]

My father is over 65 and, were it not for his beard turning gray, could easily pass for a man in his late 40s. My mother looks equally young.

I am in my middish 20s and I have been mistaken for 15 or younger. My senior year at uni, I was shopping for some clothing in the Macy's boy's department (I have a small frame and adult clothing seldom fits me well) with my mother. When the clerk saw us together, shopping in the beginning of summer, she said to me, in that talking-to-a-child-condescension-style voice: "You getting ready for summer camp?" :smack:

[Diogenes the Cynic]

I had this problem until I was in my 30's. I always had a slight build and without any facial hair hair, I looked like I was about 13. On more than one occasion, I had bouncers and liquor store clerks tell me that my drivers license was fake. Into my mid-20's, I even got hassled trying to buy cigarettes. I basically had to always sport some kind of facial hair and I eventually gained weight when I quit smoking. Now I'm in my 40's and look like I'm at least in my 30's. I'm starting to get some gray in the whiskers now too, and that helps.

[CAT=^..^=]

I looked fairly young until I was in my early 30's but getting close to 40 and then hitting it realy aged me. Now unfortunately, I look my age.

When Mr. CAT and I got married, people accused him of being a craddle robber. He was 34. I laughed so hard, when I found out his friends thought I was just out of college, and around 23 or so. I was 32!!

Now he looks younger than me. UGH...darn men, they seem to age better for the most part.

[Scarlett67]

Mr. S has always had a baby face. He's 53 now, and only the gray in his beard (and the bags under his eyes if he's not well rested) gives him away. I'd say he could pass for 40 or maybe a bit younger. (And I'm the only one who hears him moaning about his arthritis before he's even gotten up in the morning, or sees his first few steps out of bed when he creaks like an 80-year-old man.)

Meanwhile, I'm 41 and getting more gray by the way. I'm going natural and hope to have my mother's and aunts' silvery mane, but I'll probably look like Mr. S's mother by then. <thinking of the old SNL sketch with Pat Stevens and Phil Hartman dressed up as Barbara Bush: "You must be so proud of your son!" "George is my HUSBAND." "Well, she looks so much older, it's hardly my faux pas!" :D >

[Anaamika]

I'm only 33, but I've always looked several years younger. I have a baby face. I hated it when I was in my twenties, but I like it better now. I don't get carded all the time, but mainly because my SO looks very serious and mature and responsible. If I hang out with younger friends, I have been carded.

The silver is starting to show more and more in my hair, though, but thankfully it still can be hidden. Maybe in a few years I'll dye. Maybe, though I like the look right now.

[Larry Mudd]

I'm 38, and have been carded within the last year. I got carded practically every time, well into my thirties - a lot less lately, but I think that might be partly due to a conscious attempt to dress a little more maturely - wearing a t-shirt and beat-up leather jacket with a ball cap apparently makes me plausible as an eighteen-year-old. (Makes sense, I guess - I've had that jacket for more than twenty years.)

I figure I'll probably go the way of Mickey Rooney -- totally baby-faced up until that magic point where it suddenly goes completely to hell. :)

[Mahna Mahna]

I'm 30, but most people tend to guess I'm early/mid 20s. I got carded at the liquor store the other day, which pleased me to no end. :)

I'm also the spitting image of my mom, who's just shy of 60 but still looks like she's in her 40s. I think it runs in the family, as my maternal grandmother is in her mid-80s, but looks significantly younger.

So I'm hoping I'll be similarly blessed. Hurray for good genes!

[Voyager]

I'm 56, but I look at least 15 years younger, if not more. I got carded at 35 also. Still having all my hair helps a lot. I did look young even when in high school, which was a pain then but I'm happy for it now.

And no one offers me > 55 senior citizen discounts. :)

[LSLGuy]

Avoid getting fat and it'll last a long time. Gain much weight and you'll lose the look.

[Clothahump]

I have the opposite problem. I was born looking old, I guess. In my mid-20s, people consistently thought I was in my mid-40s.

[Enola Gay]

I have always looked much younger than my true age. I HATED this when I was in my teens and 20s, but now at 43 it's a blessing. I still get carded and have only a few fine lines....no real wrinkles or anything. The only thing that could possibly give away my age is that I'm starting to get some grey hair. But now I dye it, so only my hairdresser knows...

[Dunderman]

I've always looked younger than I am too. I'm 31 now and it's slo-o-o-o-o-owly turning into something that's not a total fucking annoyance.

[Auntbeast]

I always loved the phrase "if you want to see what a woman is going to look like in 20 years, look at her mother." My Mom has always looked great for her age, and my Grandmother as well. I turned 40 in March and since then, I have been carded for alcohol and cigarettes. The odd thing is, I could pass for older when I was a teen. I think I have one of those faces that aren't really age determining, a muddle if you will.

The last few years have been hell on me, or as I told my husband, "a few more years of being rode hard and put away wet, I might start to look like it." I can't tell if it is the stress or just old age catching up, but I have to say, I still got it. I do like to tell people I'm 50, because I look fabulous for 50. Sage advice from my Gramma, "I never understood why women lie the wrong way about their age, I'd rather lie UP and look good, than lie down and look like hell."


Psst! Watch Telemundo for a day, ever wonder what happens to the scantily clad latina lovelies? Yeah, those frumpy women on the other shows are them. Living in Florida, I've always been amazed at how, well, exhibitiony youngish Hispanic girls are, and how utterly matronly the older ones are. There isn't a whole lot of middle ground.

[CairoCarol]

I always looked young for my age, but this past year was extremely emotionally stressful and I have gone through menopause, which changes a lot physiologically for women. So, after a lifetime of looking younger than I am, I now think I do look about my age (50).

Of course, no one I know will say out loud that they agree with me...

[Monstera deliciosa]

I always loved the phrase "if you want to see what a woman is going to look like in 20 years, look at her mother."

I sure hope not. IMO, my mother is still a beautiful woman, but she has not aged particularly well. Her spirit is youthful; her face not so much. Smoking, dental problems and excessive suntanning/burning have all taken their toll.

None of those apply to me. I was a rather mature-looking teen, but since my late twenties, people have been telling me I look younger than my age. I'm in my late forties now, and look much younger at this age than my mother did.

[Lightray]

Avoid getting fat and it'll last a long time. Gain much weight and you'll lose the look.
More importantly, avoid tanning. Sun-worship while younger is a sure-fire route to leatherface when older.

I'm in my early 40s, and younger folks occasionally take me to be in my late 20s, which I find both flattering and annoying, but mostly amusing. More amusing when their flirting gets halted by the horrified realization that I'm twice their age. Less so when it is a professional situation and they treat me like a newbie.

Personally, I just think people are really bad at guessing others' ages.

[Stauderhorse]

I'm 20, and people constantly tell me I look 15 or 16. My brother is 32, but looks 25. It's weird, because my sister is 33 and looks 35. Maybe the both of us just won the gene lottery.

And it's not annoying or embarassing; hell, it's flattering. I like the idea of being able to fool all the young'uns when I hit 40. ;)

[Invisible Chimp]

I was out this weekend and got carded. I told the barmaid that at my age I take it as a compliment. She looked at my ID and almost did a double take; she commented that I looked really young. Not that I'm that old, I turn 30 about a week from now. People always peg me as being in my early 20's.

My dad is 8 months older than my mom. He is 13 years older than his wife. My dad and stepmom look about the same age. My mom, despite dyeing her gray, looks much older. Being a son, I think I will take after my dad. Also, my mom has unhealthier habits, which might be a factor.

[Roderick Femm]

I'm 59 and look it.

Sun, yup. Fat, oh yeah. Caffeine, if that makes any difference, you betcha.

Oh, well, I like to think it gives me gravitas. Yeah, that's it, gravitas. Dignity. A statesman-like presence. I radiate trustworthiness and experience. Who are you going to trust, the old guy or some kid who looks fresh out of high school? I could tell you stories...

Oh, screw it. I'm 59 and look it.

I was never carded, even in my early 20's. When I was 21 people thought I was 30, but I think that was more attitude than actual appearance.


Roddy

[Hazle Weatherfield]

Avoid getting fat and it'll last a long time. Gain much weight and you'll lose the look.

I think that once you hit 40 or so, skinny may look good on your body but not your face. I think that heavier people look younger because their faces fill out the wrinkles. Case in point. My Dad is 65 and has turned into a real health nut. He's lost quite a bit of weight and his face looks haggard to the point that people have asked if he's ill. On a personal note, when I'm the weight I think I should be, I have dimples in my cheeks that are usually not noticeable and I am complimented on my jawline (which, obviously, is good, but I think some may see it my face as looking "drawn.") Sorry I'm not making much sense of this!

[DMark]

I have a good friend I have known since grade school. I sort of talked him into being an actor and he is still very successful in the theater world.

To make a long story short, he always looked like a "boy", even when we were both in our mid 20's. Even today, if I put my arm on his shoulder, I feel like a pedophile. Decades later, he looks like he is about 25 years younger than I am and I know he has not had any work done on his face.

A mutual friend (a woman he used to date) and I think he is Dorian Gray.

[Minnie Luna]

I am 32, but look about eight-ten years younger. I have never stopped being carded for booze, haven't been carded for smokes in a couple years. If I am with my husband (38), I am less likely to be carded, if I am with my younger sister (30 yo) we both get carded. My sister owns her own business and is very successful, but if she meets a client for the first time, they always mistake her for one of her college interns or the secretary. When I told a friend of mine that knew my sister that she was turning 30, they didn't believe me, they thought she was much younger.

A few years ago my husband and I went to a housewarming party for a friend. Husband was probably 35 at the time, so I was about 29. A relative of the homeowner and I got into a conversation and basically she thought I was high-school aged. She really must have thought my husband was trolling the high schools for dates before I told her how old I actually was.

It seems the shorter I wear my hair, the younger I look. Also, I think weight is a factor. I have always been thin, but when I went off birth control, I put on 10 lbs. People who hadn't seen me in a while commented that it made me look older.

FWIW, my grandmother has always looked young. She is over 80 now and still has very few grey hairs. We were convinced after she had chemo and radiation after cancer that her hair would grow in grey and much thinner, but her hair is still very thick and black. I think Dad carried those genes and gave them to my sister and I.

[pbbth]

Avoid getting fat and it'll last a long time. Gain much weight and you'll lose the look.

Not necessarily. I am 26 and frequently get asked if I am getting ready to graduate high school this year. I am pretty plump so my weight doesn't have much to do with how old I look, though I admit that I do take pretty good care of myself otherwise. I don't smoke or drink and I get plenty of aerobic activity in my daily life and I think that has an impact on my youthful look as well. Though there are some people who gain weight and you can tell gravity is working against them, so it might depend more on your body type than your weight.

My boyfriend actually started going grey and losing his hair at about 18 or so and looks much older than his 27 years and is frequently mistaken for 35 or older. A few weeks ago we were waiting on line for theater tickets and this guy came up and started asking my boyfriend if he remembered some song from the late 60's (putting him in a bit of a mood because then this man obviously assumed he had to be at least 50 to remember back that far) and I looked at him and said, "Hehe...that guy thinks you are 50 and everyone thinks I am 17. I bet they either think you are a wealthy old man or that I am your daughter!" He didn't think that was too funny.:p

[Prelude to Fascination]

I don't drink anymore, and I've never smoked, but I'm 47 and have been repeatedly told I look to be in my mid-30s.

My father died at age 73, and looked at least 10 years younger.

My great-aunt is 94 and looks no older than 70.

It seems to me as though the OP picked good genes.

[ZipperJJ]

Actually, I find that being overweight and staying overweight keeps you looking younger, like pbbth said. Not to say that it keeps you living longer, tho.

I know a few folks who lost a lot of weight in their 50s and to be honest they look teeeerrrrible. Basically their skin wasn't as resilient as it would have been 30 years ago.

My mom is 57 and, although she has been dying her hair since she was 16, she looks fantastic. I'd say definitely in her 40s. Her face barely has any wrinkles. I attribute it to staying out of the sun, not smoking and losing the "battle of the bulge."

I'm only 29 and I'm fat, I look quite young. I get carded a lot.

[control-z]

As long as you live a healthy lifestyle I'd bet you'll stay young looking. Stay out of the sun, don't drink to excess, don't smoke. Try to keep stress to a minimum. And no meth!

[UnwrittenNocturne]

I'm 40 and get carded. Interestingly I also smoke heavily and have not had a healthy lifestyle. I do have graying hair, but I suspect that keeping it in a mohawk probably drops a few years off me. Prior to his death from colon cancer my father never looked his age either. At 60 he easily passed for 40

[Elenfair]

My father, who is in his 50s, has maintained a beard since his early 20s because he looks like a teenage choirboy without it. He is *finally* starting to gray, juuuuust a little (in the beard only!)... but other than that? He looks about 30. When we go out as a family, people mistake me for his wife and/or have been known to ask my mother (who doesn't look THAT old, but DOES look old enough to be my parent) if we're "both hers."

This has been going on since I was little. It's rather scary, but dad (and mom, bless her) gets a kick out of it.

[scout1222]

And no meth!

NOW you tell me.

[Sleel]

My wife looks about 10 years younger than she is. I'm four years younger than her and people think the age difference is the opposite way. People usually guess about 4–5 years low on me too, so it's not like I look like an old dude. I looked my age or older a couple of years back when I was fat, so anecdotally being in shape does help a lot.

It's a family thing. Her sister is 40 now, has had a kid, and would be judged as being someone in her late 20s, early 30s. Her dad is 65 and looks maybe 50, her mom is 61 (doesn't look it of course) and has a boyfriend in his late 30s :eek:

[InterestedObserver]

So recently my 27th birthday came and went, and I still could easily pass as an undercover cop trying to bust the druggy kids @ any local high school. I can never buy cigs/beer anywhere without getting carded every time.

So to sum up, when i turned 18, I looked around 14-15, at 27 I look like I'm around 18-21. Does this hold up into old age?

Guess I'm mainly asking older dopers about their experiences with this. I'm really hoping to look 35 when I'm 50ish, that's be freaking awesome.

So anyone else who's been there/done that to reply back with an answer.

I just turned 43 (today) and the carding shit still happens (as in buying $100 worth of groceries and getting carded for the bottle of wine. WTF? :dubious:)

Used to irritate the hell out of me (like when DH and I would be going to a club with a group of same-aged frends and the bouncer would single ME out and demand an ID....I decided maybe I just looked like a cop or something :D)

I even had to get my FIL to buy me cigs one time, as I didn't have an ID on me and despite me being 30 something, they refused to sell them to me. Was sort of funy, this 70 something yr old man going in and saying, "you gonna card ME?" :cool:

I have and still do get it a lot...the OMG, no WAY are you that old!!!!:eek:
A coworker of mine once said, when my DH drove me to work, "who was that guy?" and I told her and she didn't believe me (DH always seemed older than he was, only a few yrs older than me. He was buying beer and cigs at 14 with no problem, lol) She went on to demand to know my age and I told her and she didin't believe me.

Now, I don't mind it so much, but at 25 or 35 it was a pain.

Now, not sure that it will hold out as the years pass...it may all catch up to me overnight for all I know. But for now, I can happily pass for 10 or more yrs younger and am not complaining. :D

[InterestedObserver]

Want to add that I have, overaall, not lived that healthy of a life (my aforementioned coworker said, "wow, you must have taken really good care of yourself!" and I said, "No, not really." :rolleyes:

Have drunk heavily for about a decade of my life, Did my share of other drugs, smoked for decades, had more unprotected sun exposure than I care to recall, eaten fairly well (vegetarian for 13 yrs or so), but overall, I should look like Keith Richards:p

And my weight (currently about 20 lbs above ideal) doesn't seem to matter, though I know it can, making age more apparent as a rule. I got carded when I was very thin and when I was pudgy, both.

But a lot is genetics, I think. I have a rather olive complexion, and seldom burn, and that means fewer wrinkles as one ages. My granny lived to be 100 and was very active and healthy well into her 90s. (despite being a redhead with very fair skin, she looked much younger than her years)

Hey, Johnny Depp was a "baby face" at 30. Look at him now....he pulls off 44 VERY well:)

[panache45]

Do you want to wind up looking like Dennis Kucinich?

[Nava]

At 25 I usually got taken for 18. At 40 I get taken for 32. I've had to show ID to people who thought I was pulling their leg re my age.

Mom is 68; she gets mistaken for mid-50s.

My grandparents are 95 and 94. For the last 3 years, people have been mistaking them for early 80s. I have a picture from 4 years ago where they can easily pass for mid60s; I've had coworkers who were in their 50s and looked older than my then-late-80s grandparents.

[Illuminatiprimus]

I'm due to turn 30 next year and people frequently guess I'm in my early 20s, generally not past 25. As others have said I think not smoking/drinking help a lot, as does staying out of the sun (I'm closer to the albino end of the spectrum so doesn't work for me) and drinking lots of water. Since I've lost best part of 30lb this year people have also remarked how much older I looked in photos from the start of the year, so I agree weight really doesn't help.

[gigi]

I was just thinking about how baby-faced Frank Whaley has not aged well.

Then

http://content6.flixster.com/question/53/24/48/5324484_std.jpg

Now

http://www.topnews.in/files/images/Frank-Whaley1.jpg

[ShelliBean]

The silver is starting to show more and more in my hair, though, but thankfully it still can be hidden. Maybe in a few years I'll dye. Maybe, though I like the look right now.

Don't dye on me man! You will live! Oh...

Yeah, I'm 33 too and the silver is getting more pronounced. But I do get carded and get mistaken for younger depending on the kind of clothes I am wearing. It has seemed to keep up for a while. I have always looked younger. Part of that is being 5'1" with a small frame, though. When I do my Oprah style gain and loss of weight, I definitely get mistaken for younger when I am small. Smoking and tanning a lot is a pretty good way to get rid of this phenomenon, though. I do both. I wonder how young I would look if I took actual care of myself better than just hitting the gym.

[Voyager]

I always loved the phrase "if you want to see what a woman is going to look like in 20 years, look at her mother." My Mom has always looked great for her age, and my Grandmother as well. I turned 40 in March and since then, I have been carded for alcohol and cigarettes. The odd thing is, I could pass for older when I was a teen. I think I have one of those faces that aren't really age determining, a muddle if you will.

I've been married long enough to have seen my wife's mother at the same age my wife is now, and they look nothing alike. So I'm not much of a believer in that phrase.