Looking more grown up
 

Hey Ladies.
I need some help looking older. Before anyone gets upset. I am 24 and I normally look 18 to most people, and I know that I will be happy when I am older that I look young.
I usually wear makeup for professional events or going out. I like very natural make up in nuetral colors but occasionally I'll glam it up for a more formal event.
I think hair may be more of an issue. It is shoulder length and blonde. I have tried dying it red and that looks really great, but the color does not last long.
So any advice for hair or make up that can make a girl look more sophicated and/or older.
Thanks

i'd head to mac. they gave me a great new look when i chaned my hair.

Start smoking.

That'll do the trick.

People often ask me have I graduated from high school yet.

But when I wear female button-downs and khakis/slacks, instead of jeans and t-shirts...people ask me if I'm 20 or 21. That will work, I'm 21 at heart anyway. :)

And hardcore tanning. :eek:

I have the same problem. I am 23, but I was recently guessed for 14. 14!!!:eek: No joke. I got carded for an R rated movie when I was 21. I really don't worry about it though. It just doesn't bother me that people think I'm younger then I am.

Thinking you're younger than you are is one thing. Treating you as if you're 16 when you're really 25 gets old quickly, though. :rolleyes:

Totally agreed. My coworker treats me like a kid because she's 42, and thinks she knows everything because she's older.

If anybody tells you to cut your hair, DO NOT LISTEN -- unless you WANT to cut your hair. You can have longer hair or blonde hair (or both!) and still look professional. Wearing it up in a French twist kind of deal (not using those ugly claw clips -- doing it the real way) might be an idea. I don't know if you wear contacts or glasses, but I just read something about how people STILL tend to think you're smart/professional if you're wearing glasses, so a hot pair of frames might be good. I don't get it, but it might work.

Other than that, I say don't worry about it too much. Just wow people with your competence and professionalism, and you should be fine. :)

I have the same problem, I'm 26, but I'm only 5'1 and I just don't look that old. Bouncers ALWAYS check my ID twice, I have no problem if I pay the bus the child rate.... etc etc.


My rules for looking a bit older

1: Wear anything but jeans, or if you wear jeans, only wear them with heels and a nicer shirt.

2: Wear make up

3: if your hair is long, when you want to look older, put it up

4: Wear glasses if you have them

also to go along with smoking and tanning, try getting no more than 3 hours a night of sleep for about a week or so, that'll make you look a bit older as well. :p

do coke. girls who do coke usually look older, and they lose weight too. an added plus.

I tried that. :( It didn't work, dammit!

I'm 24 and look like I'm between 16 and 18 (seriously - ask anyone that's met me) - I've been told getting some reading glasses will help. I suggest these:

http://www.zymetrical.com/images/products/groucho.gif

Talk about how all guys are awful, show off your bad skin, demonstrate a lack of any understanding of pop culture, and display your sagging breasts and you'll be accepted in no time.

-Rudey
--For added pizzaz, I recommend becoming an AI of a sorority and getting that weird thing that older chicks gets around their knees and elbows.

These are rules for work only or anywhere?

Definately become an AI of a sorority and talk about how "your sorority this, your sorority that" as if you actually were a member of that sorority while you were an undergrad. It'll seem as if you were talking about the "good ole times back when you were in college". But don't leak out that you just got initiated 3 weeks ago after wanting to be in a sorority for the past 15 years. Then people might think that was weird :(

Start drinking heavily...

Well, I find it works for looking older in general, mostly in a work environment is the only time I PERSONALLY want to appear a bit older, so I'm taken more seriously, not treated differently etc...

If you wanted to just look older when going out to the grocery store or whatever... I guess they would work as well.

I just find that those are the things that work for me, and I know when I wear my glasses, put my hair up, wear make up and all that stuff... people actually think I MAY be 20 something instead of assuming I'm 17.

I get the same thing. I look young, so whenever I'm out with the baby sometimes I get dirty looks and once a woman said something about "teen mothers" under her breath.

I look extremely young myself as well. I am 28, but easily pass for a teenager.

In order to look anywhere near my age, I dress up as professionally and grown-up as possible, put my hair up in a twist or chignon, and wear full make-up. I still look young, but I do look over 18 at least.

Jeeze, why complain!:mad:


Start Biotching when they dont ask You how old You are!:rolleyes:

Everyone wants to look Younger and when You get old You get upset when they dont check You age!:rolleyes:

Live with it and love it for tomarrow when You get Mature, you will ask, damn, what the hell happened?


OOOIE Baby go for the gold!:cool:

RhoChi, you will have much bigger problems in life - be thankful that people don't think you're that much older! When I was a senior in college, people would ask what year I was in, and when I said, "I'm a senior," they'd ask what college I was planning to attend. Several years later, I'm still being carded occasionally, and I love it!

But at work, it can work against you - if you allow it. You're not going to be able to get away with dressing "young" (valkyrie took care of that), and you're going to have to know what you're talking about. Don't let your guard down - show only that you're confident and capable, even when you're not. Don't be drawn into trying to out-drink or out-swear or out-anything the good old boys - it always backfires on you. If someone tries to interrupt you, smile and say, "Excuse me - you'll have your turn, too," and continue to speak. If you haven't taken a Self Assertiveness course, do so NOW!

In doing so, you will have the best of both worlds - maintaining your future both through your looks and your confidence in yourself!

I had this happen to me this past weekend.. I was at my best friend's cookout for her birthday. She had invited couples who live in her neighborhood to come over as well (I have never met them and most are in their upper 20's to mid 30's.)

Well I went to go over to the cooler to get a beer and one of the girls from the group of them hanging out together came over to me and said that I couldn't have that. I was like.. oh sorry I thought these were for everyone. She said then that they were just for the adults, she didn't think it was appropriate if a teenager was drinking. I just looked shocked. I am 25.

I don't think clothes neccessarily matter. I had come straight from work.. and was wearing an outfit I had worn to work that day. I am just small and look younger in the face. I know I look younger, but I think I look at least over 21.

I get this all the time and I don't really mind. I take the bus downtown to my law school and one day somebody on my bus asked me what high school I went to.

I get this alot at work-when I'm in scrubs and have no make-up on. I've had patient's families ask me if I'm old enough to work there. I had one family ask my age, look really embarrased when I told them-and then said they thought I was about 19 ( I was 26 at the time).
But hey, I don't mind!! Think about when we're older and really wanting to look younger!

The other day, I was out at the bars and the police busted me for violating curfew because they thought I was 14. I had to spend the night in juve lockup and they all laughed at me when I showed them my license because, well, it's understandable that they wouldn't believe that horrible picture really is me and then accused me of carrying my mother's license and trying to pass it off as my own. So then my mom came and posted bond but they thought she was my grandmother and she was so flattered by that she went out for a drink with the officer, but then they carded her at the bar and busted her for underage drinking so now she's in juve with me and I don't know what we're going to do because I don't have access to makeup or a professional-looking pencil skirt or anything, but I might be able to use the shank I fashioned out of a comb to create a nice updo, so maybe that will help.

Holy CRAP that reminds me of the time I was stopped by a police officer who reminded me that I'm not allowed to ride a bike attached via rope to a moving car - I told him "SHUT UP MUTHAFUCKA I'M OLD ENUFF 2 RIDE!" and my cousin (who invented electric light and the Electric Light Orchestra but not the concept of the Orchestra) blasted the Ruff Ryders Anthem out the car. It turns out there's no legal age for that - it's just plain illegal - so he beat my young-looking ass with the nightstick. Later, when I was the Prince of Wales, I would have a similar encounter over a man who claimed to have intercourse with me - the police arrested him for statutory but I told him I'm a rape counselor and of legal age (which is 9 in Malaysia but I was really 35) and they let him go with nothing but a slap on the rear and Protease inhibitors (for safety's sake).

Years later, I'm still being carded, and I'm completely indifferent to the process!

Wear heels, not flats. Also shop at more professional stores such as Ann Taylor that have well-cut classics.

Ya know, It's really funny to me, I am young (18) but I have braces, so I look like Im 14! What's weird though to me though is that if I wear my hair down (long blonde hair) people seem to think im in my 20's, whereas if i wear it up, I'm a freshman in H.S. again:P But it's a person to person thing, some think I'm 24, others think Im 15!

If you have bangs, grow them out. They tend to make you look younger (last cut I got... my stylist briefly tried to talk me into bangs. We ultimatley decided against them because they'd make me look younger, which isn't something i need in my career right now). You don't have long hair, so that shouldn't be an issue. I don't know what kind of stylist you go to, but go somewhere more upscale and explain what look you're going for and they can probably offer suggestions.

I agree with those who said to shop at stores like Ann Taylor for more grown up clothing. Be conservative, wear conservative jewelry and shoes. Heels, but more along the lines of pumps, not wedges or strappy sandals. Unless your work environment is more creative and that's the norm.

It doesn't sound like you necessarily wear makeup everyday. Start wearing some. Nothing crazy, but mascara, a little eyeliner and neutral colors. Especially if you're naturally strawberry blonde, your eyelashes are probably light as well, and mascara makes a big difference.

Are you putting your hair "up" as in french twist or chingon, or "up" as in pony tail?? That makes a huge difference. Pony tails make most people look younger.

There's no way on earth I'll wear a french twist or chingon or bun. I'm not that desparate to look older.

Thanks for all the suggustions... it has been a crazy weekend. I graduated with my masters. I don't mind that I look young, except for professional situations. Some people assume that if you are young that you are inable to offer a valid idea.

So guys I saw this woman with white hair (what little was left of it anyway). Anyway, she was telling me about how during the civil war she used to get carded a lot and how it still happens to this day. HAHAHAHAHA

-Rudey

OH MY GOD that totally sucks!!!! I think this was after your time, but I was engaged to the Prince of Wales for a while. He gave me a 5.8 carat Tiffany diamond and I had already picked out my wedding dresses (one for the ceremony and one for each of 12 receptions that were to be held at castles and estates throughout many of Europe's most upscale countries, as well as a frothy little number for a brief meet-and-greet in Yap, Micronesia). Unfortunately, things were called off when I found out that his mother expected us to use her silver. It was an unacceptable pattern. I'm sure you can understand the potential ramifications that would have to any future political aspirations I might have!

Maybe if you're free later you could stop by the Foundation for Those Recovering From Unfortunate Exposure to Nightsticks or the Song “Strange Magic,” which I started while I was a sophomore in college at the age of 16 and also worked three full-time jobs but managed to earn a 4.0 GPA and make Dean’s List while also serving as President of the Future Young Wives of Royalty and/or Steve Buscemi club. I think counseling would make a big difference in helping you recover from what I'm sure are terrible repressed memories related to your Malaysia incident and might to this day result in your frequent, inappropriate sexual behavior with steroid and club-drug users, as well as members of a certain sorority that has as one of its symbols a weighty object that is on occasion used to secure seaworthy vessels in a specific location.