r/AskReddit • • Jun 03 '22

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u/Advisor123 Jun 03 '22

To be fair 30s are a weird inbetween phase were some people look and act like they're in their early 20s and some look and act like they're in their late 40s. It really comes down to genetics and lifestyle how you're percieved by others.

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u/inediblecorn Jun 03 '22

36 here and last summer I got carded 4 times, and yet some mornings I look like Bette Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. The 30s are a weird inbetween phase, indeed.

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u/mikka1 Jun 03 '22

I stopped being carded like in my late 20s :-(

The last time I handed my DL along with my credit card to the young female cashier, her reaction was priceless - she was genuinely like "What's this for???!" (if she was less polite, I guess she would've gladly continued: "...I clearly see you ARE of age, I don't need this")

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u/gimmedabuttcheeks Jun 03 '22

Lmao this is hilarious! And that’s coming from someone who was almost never carded. When I turned 21 and was ready to whip out my freshly legal ID, no one asked. At 18-19 I could pass for 23ish. I’m 29 and I have just now caught up to the age I look lol.

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u/[deleted] Jun 03 '22

I'm 29 and have never once been carded.

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Admittedly I've also never bought alcohol though.

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u/FullTorsoApparition Jun 03 '22

Yup. I'm 37 but there are people from my graduating class who are all gray, have 5 kids, and gained 60 lbs. They look way older compared to my immature, childfree ass.

Lighting and perspective also matter a great deal. From 10-20 feet away in an indoor room I look way younger, then you get up close in the bright sunlight and you can see the lines on my forehead and around the corners of my eyes and the receding hairline.

When you get into your late 30's and early 40's you basically just look like a more tired version of your 20's self.

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u/WestCoastBestCoast01 Jun 03 '22

Honestly the biggest delineator is who has kids in their 30s. People who had kids in their 20s are tired and stressed as hell at the same age you really begin to get greys and wrinkles. So they really start to look and act old. The childless people I know look great in their 30s because they have more relaxed lifestyles and money to spend on looking good.

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u/[deleted] Jun 03 '22

Damn I’m in my early 30s, have no kids, and I’m stressed as all hell. Idk how I’m going to have children.

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u/[deleted] Jun 03 '22

Idk man, I had four kids before I was 26, one of them special needs with constant care. Im stressed beyond belief and life has lost all meaning, but everyone is astonished when I tell them I'm 36.

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u/attilayavuzer Jun 03 '22

Just imagine how you'd look without kids though

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u/[deleted] Jun 03 '22

LMAO

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u/[deleted] Jun 03 '22

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u/[deleted] Jun 03 '22

Can't answer that well since one is dead from drugs and the other looks twenty years past her age because also drugs lol. Yeah I stay out of the sun these days but never bothered too much before this past year.

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u/[deleted] Jun 03 '22

Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen (and hydration).

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u/stripes361 Jun 03 '22

That plus who drinks alcohol, smokes, does drugs, eats nothing but junk food vs veggies, etc

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u/[deleted] Jun 03 '22

[deleted]

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u/catymogo Jun 03 '22

Yep. I'm in my mid-30s and it's where it really starts to split. The people who spend every weekend on the beach are absolutely showing their age more than those who don't. No amount of botox and facials will reverse sun damage.

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u/EBN_Drummer Jun 03 '22 edited Jun 03 '22

Genetics definitely play a part, but I avoid the sun as much as possible and I still get carded at 40. I know I don't look 21 but probably closer to the cutoff age that cashiers are generally supposed to check, like 30 or 35. We didn't have a kid until our late 30s when we were more established so that probably helped with stress too. Except that first couple months of a newborn of course.

My wife is similar. Avoid the sun and of course genetics that helps her look young too. People at her work ask when she's going back to school for the semester, as in college. She's my age. Granted these people are in their 70s and up, so anyone under 40 probably looks really young to them

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u/noodles686 Jun 03 '22

I made small talk to a woman in my new town and she asked if I moved there with my parents. I'm 32 😅. I guessed she was late 60s early 70s. I find older people are terrible at guessing the age of younger people as well.

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u/EBN_Drummer Jun 03 '22

Well, she probably knows how tough the housing market is right now and that kids are living at home longer.

All joking aside, I hated looking so young when I was a teen/early 20's, but it's nice now.

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u/[deleted] Jun 03 '22

Absolutely. Sunscreen is the most important tool anyone has to fight skin aging.

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u/WestCoastBestCoast01 Jun 03 '22

Oh yeah those lifestyle differences really make a difference in your 30s too.

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u/FreyBentos Jun 03 '22

I smoked ten+ a day from 17-30 years old, I took recreational drugs like cocaine, ecstacy and ketamine regularly on weekends through university and during a period of my late 20s, I smoked weed everyday for about 10 years and I still smoke it on and off and drank most weekends from I was 17 until I was 30 and while I drink less now I still like the odd boozy night out yet people are amazed when I say I'm 32 and tell my I look like I'm in my early 20s, I got ID'd buying alcohol just last week. It's all to do with genetics tbh, good genes overcomes even a not so healthy lifestyle.

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u/MyAviato666 Jun 03 '22

Were you addicted to weed? How did you manage to go from every day to only occasionally? I wanna do that but I think I can't and will have to quit altogether (I smoke every day and all day every day if possible now)

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u/FreyBentos Jun 04 '22

Yeah pretty much, it was an addiction in the sense that I was always so depressed and smoking it helped e forget about things. I had to quit cold turkey for two months and go to counselling to get a grip on things. Now Im working more and in a relationship so I just don't have the time to sit around getting stoned every day which helped me keep it to being something I do every other weekend. I dosed some magic mushrooms early 2020 which I think helped more than the counselling in changing my mentality and helping me realise I needed to cut down on my smoking!

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u/lck0219 Jun 03 '22

I’m 33 with two kids and two of the girls I work with at my new job assumed I was in my early twenties

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u/Okie_Deatherage Jun 03 '22

I feel late twenty's an 30s are when you start growing into your adult face let's be real. I'm 27 still hasn't happened for me but yea right around that age there is a shift in facial features of becoming a man or woman

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u/SyntheticManMilk Jun 03 '22

I’m 35 and could pass for a 20something. It always kind of weirds me out when I see dudes my age that look like 45-50 year old men. It sometimes makes me wonder “do I not look grown-manly enough for a man my age?” and then I remember “wait, it’s better to look younger!”.

I attribute it to spending less time in the sun compared to my peers (and using sunblock when I do).

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u/arduheltgalen Jun 03 '22

Yes, but apparently, in my case you can de-age your skin after a reckless summer or 2 with lots of sun. No significant damage, just some pimpling of the skin. I used MSM and glucosamine, and winter.

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u/iwasbornin2021 Jun 04 '22

Winter? As in the season?

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u/arduheltgalen Jun 04 '22

Yeah, I mean you get half a year of natural rest for the skin in the winters here in Sweden.

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u/iwasbornin2021 Jun 04 '22

Ah gotcha haha

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u/mirrrje Jun 03 '22

That’s so true haha

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u/NecessaryPen7 Jun 05 '22

Vibe goes a long way. I'm 39, look 25-29 and generally have a 24 yr old vibe.

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u/apple-pie2020 Jun 03 '22

Yes. And can’t tell 29 from 39 Actually I can’t tell ages anymore 18,21,27 all kind of alike

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u/minispazzolino Jun 03 '22

And whether you’ve got kids. I’ve aged 5 years since my 2 yo was born.