Editor’s note: This article was first published in November 2017, when the author says he is “approaching 40 (38, to be exact)”.
The years catch up with all of us, and nothing can be done to stop the clock, but I don’t think we should assume that we can’t look younger either, or at least make people doubt our age. There are countless reasons why looking younger would do us good, from the most basic instinct, through matters of the heart and our own ego when we hear “you look younger than that”, all the way to job hunting and the halo effect in the professional world.
I remember that when I was 18 and 19, some people thought I was over 30. Funnily enough, now that I’m approaching 40 (38, to be exact), people sometimes think I’m under 30, which is certainly flattering.
And, curiously, I don’t think it’s all down to looking after yourself physically, although that matters too. In my particular case, I think my change of character and attitude has played a bigger part. We’ll explain this in a moment.
But first of all, why am I writing this article? Firstly, because many people have asked me to, and secondly, because it’s related to everything we talk about here. This is not a beauty article. That said, in a previous article we already explained some ways to be more attractive, which I recommend you read, because although we can’t be better-looking than we are, we can all become more attractive, which is worth more than beauty in absolute terms.
I don’t intend to write a doctoral thesis, just to pass on something I have observed in most of the people who have surprised me by looking younger than they really are; I found certain patterns present in all of them. Something else most of them had in common? People enjoyed spending time with them.
The usual advice is to switch to more youthful clothes, or even to do strange things with your hair to look younger. In many cases, when you see a man of 40 or 50 trying to pass for a teenager, that’s exactly what you end up seeing: a 40-year-old man who still hasn’t grown up, or a 50-year-old man who won’t accept that he’s 50.
See also: 11 things to be grateful for that are a good starting point
1. Character and attitude
At 18 and 20, my character was marked by seriousness. I confused being professional and taking what I did seriously with being serious. If you added formal clothes to that, people almost always thought I was a man in his thirties. In fact, my friends used to tell me I was a “young old man”.
Over time my character changed, I suppose because of certain people I met along the way. These days you could say it’s hard to see me serious: I’ve developed an easy-going character and a great sense of humour. Always being in a good mood and smiling rather than looking serious must be one of the ingredients of this change in how my age is perceived, because my clothes are still the same: plain, dark-coloured suits.
2. Have a purpose in life
Stand for something, believe in yourself, have a purpose in life. Nothing makes a man look older than he is like a man who has basically given up on life. Phrases like “I’ve already done everything I had to do” or “I’m too old for this”… Good grief! They are phrases that kill, that bore people and that create an incredibly bad impression.
At 40 and 50 you can consider yourself at the end of your life, or you can consider that you’re still getting started. As the saying goes, whichever way you think, you’ll be right.
Stop that negative attitude. Stop thinking that your best years are behind you and think that the best may be yet to come. Show energy, and you’ll pass that energy on. Keep learning things.
If you convey vitality and enthusiasm, people will rarely see someone who is washed up or old.
Stop telling others what you did and start talking about everything you’re going to do. That’s enthusiasm, and enthusiasm takes years off.
3. Your smile
Smiling has many benefits on every level. You spread positivity and it makes you more attractive, so it also takes years off.
That’s why, although we can save on countless things, it’s not advisable to skimp on the dentist. The mouth is one of the parts a woman will look at. As the years go by, teeth deteriorate. Fortunately, there are many treatments today for a gleaming smile.
4. Your skin
As for your skin (especially on your face), you’d better look after it from a young age, because it will be the first to show the passing of the years.
There are lots of creams and treatments, some of them homemade. And going back to basics, skin colour can also add or take away a few years. Pale skin will always be associated with worse health than well-tanned skin.
Getting enough rest will also make the skin on your face look more radiant. Moisturising creams are a good option too.
Eating a healthy diet and including fruit and vegetables in it should, supposedly, also improve how we look.
5. Exercise
It’s not about competing in championships or running marathons, but at least some maintenance exercise, or something that helps you burn the fat that builds up as we age, will always give you an extra touch of youth.
6. Throw out the clothes you don’t like
Some clothes just don’t suit you. Full stop. You probably don’t even like them yourself. To look younger you don’t need to follow fashions, nor do you need to buy jeans so tight that, rather than putting them on, it looks as if you’ve been upholstered into them.
You can fill a wardrobe with just a few kinds of garments, depending on your job and the image you want to give on certain occasions.
Choose only the clothes that, when you put them on and look in the mirror, make you say to yourself, “I like what I see”, and pray that you have good taste.
The same goes for colours. Some colours suit us better than others. It’s a matter of trying out which colours can take a few years off you while still keeping your essence.
Just remember that the character and attitude you bring to every day can be your biggest and best ally when it comes to looking older or younger.
Featured image: Gauthier Delecroix – 郭天, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr.
