Monday 23 May 2011

Age Ain't Nothing But a Number???

Today's my birthday and I'm now the ripe old age of 32.  I was chatting with quite a few 'older' beauty bloggers (that is to say 30 plus) on Twitter on Friday night and I started thinking about the benefits and disadvantages of blogging when you're older rather than younger.


A few people said that if they had started blogging when they were 19 or 20 they would have been doing face of the day posts every day.  I'm sure that I would've been doing that, as well as outfit of the day posts, with my skinny late teens/early twenties figure.  The lines and wrinkles which are slowly being to appear were the least of my worries, then, and I had not a grey hair in sight!  I could also fit into clothes much better than I do now, even though I'm now about the same weight I was then, it's distributed differently now.  So, I'm sure there are loads of benefits from being a younger beauty blogger; not least the clear skin, bright eyes and the ability to be able to fit into figure hugging outfits!

However, on reflection, for me personally I'm happy that I didn't start blogging until I was older for a number of reasons.

1. I had absolutely no style when I was younger.  I liked fashion and clothes, but I had no idea on how to style outfits or put things together.  Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn't, more often than not, it didn't!  I'm embarrassed enough at some of my sartorial statements making the odd appearance on Facebook, so I'd rather not have them for all the world to see on a personal blog!  Although I still get it wrong occasionally, I'm much more confident in my personal style and tastes now, and make a lot less bad fashion decisions!

2. I had no money when I was younger.  This would've been quite a hindrance to beauty blogging, as every six months or so, I'd have a new item to blog about!  It wouldn't make for great reading...  I remember when I was a young teenager actually saving up my pocket money for several weeks to buy some clear mascara from Collection 2000!  I think it cost about £2!  I did always work part time when I was an older teenager and at uni, but I still couldn't afford many goodies.  I once bought some Clinique cream when I was at uni, and I treated it like gold dust - I think this was my only high end purchase until I was about 30.  Not that I earn mega bucks now, but I do have the disposable income to treat myself to posh makeup and beauty products from time to time, as well as being able to buy cheaper brands, and I like that very much.  I think if I'd started blogging earlier, I would've been tempted to buy products that I couldn't afford and that could have been a financial nightmare!

3. GHDs hadn't been invented.  There was a dim and distant day, back before 2002, when I did not own a pair of GHDs and had to struggle with my hair myself.  My hair is thick, wavy with a tendency towards frizz.  I can blow dry it straight and sleek if I like - however, this takes about 45 minutes to do, and I simply never had the time or could be bothered to do it properly.  My hair was awful back then, usually a horrendous, frizzy mess - not a good look for blogging purposes.  GHDs have given me back my hair, and they are my absolute top beauty product ever!

4. Technology wouldn't allow me to blog.  Well back in 1997 when I left home, I had a clunking old pc that took up half my uni desk.  It didn't have internet, although you could get online in the computer labs at uni. I didn't even get my first mobile until 1998, and I was an early adopter, being the first of my friends to get a mobile.  I remember making a catalogue of my jewellery by taking photographs, getting the film developed, and scanning in the photos.  I didn't get a digital camera until 2002 and that would never take good close ups.  Until I got a decent camera a couple of years ago, I'd use a scanner for taking pictures of jewellery for ebay etc.  I certainly couldn't have taken good face of the days unless I'd scanned my face - have you ever tried that with a photocopier - not a good look!

5. I know myself a lot better now and I'm much more confident.  I'm naturally a shy person, but I'm much more confident in my opinions and what I like now than I was ten years ago.  I'm not sure if I would've had such an interesting blog back then, as I'd keep my opinions to myself!  Actually, I'm a late starter in my career and I prefer that as well, much like blogging, I'm far more confident in myself than I was as a 20 year old.  I'm also more confident in my writing style, as I write stuff all day at work.

So there you go, this is why I like the fact I'm a slightly older blogger!  I'm not saying it's wrong to be a younger blogger at all, and I love reading blogs by people of all ages.  It's just that for me, I do actually like being in my 30s and I'm happy that I didn't start this blog ten years ago.  It's just a shame that I have to deal with wrinkles and grey hair at the same time...

Thanks for reading! xx

15 comments:

ihavemostlybeen said...

Great post and mirrors something I have in draft for later about whether its poss to be too old to beauty blog - I am 45 :(

Onna said...

Happy Birthday! Fabulous post! If it makes your feel any better I'm 19 and I've been trying to lose weight for two years! I definitely missed out on that 'young persons metabolism' Hope you have a good day hunny x

Lisa said...

Happy Birthday have a lovely day

ha ha brilliant post.

Being ahem 37 myself I know what you mean. Although don't worry you are quite a bit younger than me.

The funny thing is when I was younger I probably was slimmer but I actually feel more confident now than I did in my 20's ( I not an over confident person now so imagine how I was when I was younger).

I used to wear nice clothes but they were somewhat revealing and I think I style myself much better since I hit 30.

I think the best I looked in my life was between 30-34.

I have not got any grey hairs as yet and get told I lok good for my age so I am happy with that and I do agree age is just a number.

I always thought when I was young that when I got to 35 I would have to have cut my hair short and wear sensible clothing but I am never going to do that. I will cut my long hair when I a 60 and it goes grey lol and not before.

xx

Ola said...

Happy Birthday! What an interesting post, perfect for a birthday :) And you're right - I'm 26 now and I am not saying I'm superconfident now, but definitely more so than when I was 20 or 21. Of course I do care if people like me, but I stopped worrying if some people don't. Life's too short and if someone doesn't like my opinions or doesn't get my jokes - so what? There are loads of people that do!
Getting older's definitely not all bad :) Have a fabulous day! x

TheBristolBeautyBlog said...

@ Debbie - it's never too old to be a beauty blogger - looking forward to seeing your post!

@ Oona - thanks hun - when I was younger I always thought I was fat - now I realise I wasn't and I should've enjoyed it more! It's nice to have the opinions of all ages as well.

@ The Brunette - I agree about being much more confident and although I don't have the fresh face now, I feel much better groomed and able to style myself better! I'm actually growing my hair long after a decade of having it quite short and I love having long hair! xx

ihavemostlybeen said...

And of course Happy Birthday *head palm* moment!

Unknown said...

Happy Birthday. Very interesting post, I think I must be the oldest blogger on the block but I think it's fab to have bloggers from all age groups. I think the blogging community would be a boring place if we were all around the same age. I love to read reviews from younger bloggers as I can then recommend products to my daughters,younger friends and work colleagues. There is room for all of whatever our age. Jude xx @jadlgw

Louise H said...

Happy Birthday My Love I Really Enjoyed Our Chat The Other Night xx

Stacey said...

Happy Birthday!! I feel what you're talking about too hun. I turned 31 a few weeks back and was thinking along the same lines. I'm tempted to start a YT channel but not sure if I'm too old to do it. There's a lot of girls doing it now that are younger and have tighter skin than me. Getting old sucks! xx

TheBristolBeautyBlog said...

@ Ola – You’re right, life’s too short, and you do get more confident as you get older!

@ Debbie – thanks very much!

@ Jude – I agree, I read posts from all ages of bloggers and it’s nice to see lots of different opinions.

@ Louise – thanks my dear! I enjoyed our chat as well!

@ Stacey – You should go for it if you want to! Do it for yourself, not for anyone else!

Thanks all for your interesting comments and birthday wishes! x

Alice at SuperGorgeous said...

Happy birthday - I hope you have had a lovely day x

Anonymous said...

It makes sense that a lot of bloggers are in their 20's as like you stated in the late 90's the internet was hit and miss and computers were large and clunky. I remember going to an internet cafe and London and I was just get used to checking email and looking at Yahoo let alone blogging.

It shouldn't matter when you start anything and blogging definitely has no age limit.

Happy Birthday sweetie! x

White Bazaar said...

Happy birthday! It was mine last week and I'm well into my 30's and older than you so I can totally relate to all things you've said! I'm glad I didn't start a blog when I was younger, I was extremely shy too and also think it would have taken up way too much time and money! Not sure how long I'll keep my blog going! x

Ray said...

Hope you've had a fab birthday!!! xxxx

TheBristolBeautyBlog said...

@Alice - thanks!

@ Skin Scrubs - I can't believe how we managed with stone age technology. I studied at uni when I was 18 without an internet connection in my room - don't know how I did it! When I went back to uni later it was essential!

@ Style Frost Happy birthday for last week as well. I'm not sure how long I'll be blogging for - maybe in the future we'll have different technology anyway...maybe less FOTDs, but they're few and far between anyway...

@ Ray - thanks, I had a great day! x

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