I asked TikTok to guess my age and people were cruel – they said I looked 67
“Radiant skin”, “a youthful face” and “maybe in your twenties or thirties”.
Those are some of the confidence-boosting statements I heard about my fresh look.
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But after joining TikTok over a month ago, I quickly discovered that not only do I look twenty years older than my actual age, but I could also benefit from a few tweaks.
My wake-up call came after I decided to jump on the TikTok age trend that has gone viral.
I’m 34, work in marketing and live in Grimsby, and thought it was an interesting ‘social experiment’ so I posted a 30 second video of myself on the site.
Smiling, facing the camera, I simply asked, “How old do you think I look?” and then waited for the guesses to pour in.
People always assume I’m in my 20s or early 30s, so – without dropping any hints as to my real age – I hoped TikTok users would pick between 20s.
I’m very comfortable with my appearance, so what harm can it do? Overnight I gained over three million views, 1,000 followers and 20,000 comments.
I was completely shocked that my self-filmed post, with no makeup, fresh-from-bed hair and a cozy, striped sweater, could attract so much immediate attention. How did my au-naturel face cause such a stir?
The TikTok algorithm, of course.
After #agedfilter, which uses AI to accelerate the aging of your face by decades until the year 2073 went viral and was used 169 million times in less than a week, it’s clear that social media continues to fuel our obsession with aging.
According to the Washington Post, TikTok has actively promoted de-aging filters and challenges to capitalize on the public fixation with youthfulness, sparking a trend that became a global sensation.
Stunned by the number of responses, I started scrolling through the comments.
I couldn’t help but laugh hysterically as my eyes scanned over some people’s guesses: apparently I look 42, 47, 50, and even 67. And while a few fellow millennials guessed I was in my 30s, the 20s were few and far between. with most guesses being forty and fifty.
That was a bit surprising considering I don’t smoke, am active, love my skin care, and wear SPF 50 SPF daily. Still, TikTokers advised me to wear more, because apparently I have sun damage.
I actually wasn’t that fond of the numbers. Yes, 42 hurt, but some of the other guesses were so wrong I had to laugh. Instead, it was the unsolicited advice that sapped my normally cheerful spirit.
With my work I know how cruel social media can be.
But I didn’t expect strangers to be so willing to take apart someone else’s face.
In my video I asked, “How old do I look?” not “How can I look younger?”, yet many of the comments gave well thought out reasons why I look so old, along with suggested “improvements”.
Many said I look older because of my bags under my eyes, a family trait I am very proud of
One comment analyzed my face as if it were forensic evidence: “You wear glasses so your eyesight must be deteriorating, which makes me think you’re 50.” Ouch!
Or how about this: “You have gray teeth fillings, so I think you’re in your late 40s.
Even my & Other Stories sweater took a hit; Apparently stripes are now only reserved for middle-aged people.
Many said I look older because of my bags under my eyes, a family trait I am very proud of.
I was also told I needed a brow lift for my hooded eyelids, full dental work, tear filler for the aforementioned bags under my eyes, and Botox for my forehead wrinkles.
Those fine lines have been there since I was in my twenties.
While I have nothing against cosmetic treatments, it’s not something I’ve ever thought about – especially after watching my mother, who is now in her early 70s, age naturally. And I’ve always believed that growing older is a privilege that not all of us get to experience.
I’m still very happy with the way I look, but for some, this TikTok trend may crush confidence.
Telling someone they need to invest in Botox or fillers is not okay and the experience showed me how normalized cosmetic treatments have become and how distorted our views on aging are.
Content promoting youth is huge on TikTok, with the hashtag #antiageing generating 7.4 BILLION posts.
And children as young as eight have begun to adopt strict beauty routines. According to the British Association for Dermatologists, some are already using the powerful skincare ingredient retinol.
A quick scroll through my video commentary shows that many young people are afraid of growing older.
Surprisingly, many of the 50+ guesses came from people in that age group, possibly because it made them feel better about thinking someone younger than them looks older.
That said, the mixed array of responses, some of which viewed me as a granddaughter and others as a grandmother, proves that our perspective on age is skewed. It’s clear that no one knows what someone should look like anymore.
I’m still very happy with the way I look, but for some, this TikTok trend may crush confidence
TikTok user @theskincarediarist, who also tried the trend, said: “I’m told I look like I’m 28, 38, 48 and 58. This shows that everyone’s view of aging has been distorted thanks to Photoshop, filters and facelifts.”
In the last 12 months, 7.7 million people in the UK have had aesthetic treatment.
The number of patients under the age of 30 requesting plastic surgery or injectables has increased by 75 percent.
At 34, I don’t want to look the same as I did when I was twenty.
I’ve lived a life since then, and my face – and the signs of aging – are simply a map of that.
To anyone considering following in my footsteps and trying this TikTok trend, I say: be careful. Hiding behind a phone or an anonymous account makes people brave and can get personal and pick you apart for fun.
That said, I would do the trend again. It generated engagement and helped my TikTok account grow. I can’t help but smile about it.
And at least my natural laugh lines prove that I can still giggle.
- As told to: Siobhan O’Connor
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