If you’re interested in taking up a dangerous hobby, you don’t need to start base-jumping or alligator wrestling; you could take up age guessing. Few people, especially women, like to be reminded of the physical manifestations of passing years, decreased attractiveness, and ultimately, impending death. Imagine that.
All the same, if you’re going to do it, you should do it well (and subtract 5 years before giving your answer out loud). Here are a few tips you can use to improve your age-guessing skills.
Photo taken from this tutorial
Physical Cues:
· Hands – This is usually an easy giveaway for female age. Most women are fairly diligent about the use of anti-aging creams for their face, and skillfully-applied makeup can downplay a lot of facial cues. It’s rare to see a woman who has been so careful about her hands.
· Eyes – The eyes are one of the first areas to show signs of aging, so this is a great place to start when you’re trying to discern the age of someone in their 20s or 30s. At 20, only the most devoted sun-worshippers are going to show much in the way of under-eye aging. By 30, nearly everyone will have at least 1-2 small lines.
· Teeth – With the advent of cosmetic dentistry and porcelain veneers, it has become a lot more difficult to use teeth as an indication of age, but it’s still worth a look. If someone looks young, but shows a number of horizontal lines on their teeth, you can generally add a bit to your estimate. Teeth also tend to yellow with age, and gums recede.
· Hair – As people age, they often dye their hair to look younger. You can still use hair as an indication of age, though. Look for gray roots and thinning around the part in the hair, as both are reasonably accurate signs of aging. Pay especially close attention to eyebrows, since they’re often passed over during dye jobs, and they’re a lot harder to tease and fluff for the illusion of thickness.
· Facial Sagging – Again, this one can be altered with enough money and tolerance for pain, but in general, the cheeks and jawline are going to be the best areas to evaluate. The cheeks are going to be slightly less accurate with certain face shapes, though. Look at the upper lip compared to the cheek area, or try to see the subject smiling. If the area where the cheeks meet the upper lip area is fairly flat, that person is usually going to look a little bit younger than someone with more pronounced cheekbones.
· Neck/Chest – The neck is almost always an excellent indicator of age, especially in thin to average sized people. Look for neck rings, age spots, thinning skin, and the increased ability to see the “insides” under the skin. In men, the northern migration of chest hair can be another sign of aging (though all bets are off if you’re dealing with a man with Mediterranean ancestry).
· Beards – Don’t let yourself be fooled by the presence of a beard. They can make a man look considerably older than he actually is, so if you see one, remember to adjust downwards on your estimate.
· Kninkles – As far as I know, there’s no way to treat knee wrinkles. They just happen. If you can check out the legs, look for kninkles and adjust your estimate accordingly.
· Veins – While a stray varicose vein isn’t unheard of in younger people, they’re definitely much more common as you age. If you see a person with a large number or varicose veins, there’s a good chance that they’re eligible for an AARP card, regardless of how great their faces may look.
· Lips – They thin as you age, and creases creep in over time. If the person in question is a smoker, take a few years off your estimate. Smoking is hard on all parts of the body, but especially so on the lips.
· Backside – In thin people especially, the butt has a tendency to flatten over time.
· Age Spots – This one is an obvious cue, but it’s not relevant for most people under 50.
· Ethnicity – Fair-skinned individuals tend to show age more rapidly, and darker ethnicities will often look much younger than they actually are.
· Size – A petite individual will generally look a little younger than a taller/larger person with the same signs of aging. Don’t let that throw you.
Lifestyle Cues:
· Age of Friends – People under 25-30 tend to socialize with others their own age. If you’re having a hard time guessing someone’s age, see if you can view him or her with others.
· Smoking – If you find out that someone smokes, you’ll probably need to subtract 5-10 years from your estimate (more if they’re older, less if they are still pretty young). If you don’t have information about whether someone smokes, look for yellow teeth, lips that show signs of wrinkles before their time, and yellow fingertips.
· Prison Time – People in prison tend to age more slowly. I guess that’s what happens when people don’t have to worry about day-to-day things like bills, mortgages, childcare, commuting, and holding a job. If you don’t have a way to know this, look for prison tattoos (mostly on men).
· Heavy Sun Exposure – If you know that your subject makes a point of tanning, you’ll need to subtract years from their estimated age. As with smoking, subtract more years for an older individual and less for someone who’s still pretty young.
· Children – If you know that your subject has children, consider subtracting a couple of years to compensate for the stress and lack of sleep. There’s usually a physical toll, and it’s generally more pronounced in women. It’s not uncommon for people to dress a little differently or style their hair differently (mostly women) in response to the new lifestyle.
· Stressful Lifestyle – While pretty much everyone claims to have a stressful lifestyle, pay closer attention to those whose jobs may have little security, and those that lead to a lack of sleep.
· Money – While money won’t let you cheat death, it will let you look like you’re a little further away from it. If your subject looks wealthy, add a few years to your estimate.
· Speech – If you’re lucky enough to hear your subject speaking, that’s another great indication. You can usually tell a young 20-something from an older 20-something by the speed of their speech and use of slang, as that timeframe represents a common division between the “childhood” years of higher education and the beginning of work and “adulthood”. Certain phrases like “the cat’s pajamas” and “spiffy” might give you less precise clues.
While there are almost definitely more indicators than the ones listed above, this is a good place to start. You’ll pick up more as you go along, but don’t blame us if you get a few dirty looks in the process.
Additional resources:
· Photoshop Age Progression Tutorial - More tips on how people age in this fascinating tutorial where one person artificially aged Katie Holmes.
· Age Project - The entire site consists of photos and age guesses. Don’t submit if you’re not prepared for the truth.
Haha that was good. But Goldie and her daughter will look the same at that age. :D
I really liked the first image of Katie Holmes young and old... really nicely done by the artist. The writeup is also interesting read!
Hmm, yes. They should have used Britney Spears. Or what Anna Nicole WOULD have looked like.
I'm betting that Katie Holmes will never let herself age like that lol