“I’m not trying to look younger, I just want to look and feel good for my age"

let's talk about beauty standards

Anti-aging. Turn back the clock. Youth in a bottle. These phrases have been sold to us as gospel for decades, suggesting that the ultimate beauty goal is to erase time altogether. But what if the conversation shifted? What if, instead of chasing the idea of looking “younger,” we embraced the idea of looking - but more importantly, feeling - good for our age?

This was the conversation I had with friends and family as we sat around the table on the Friday of Thanksgiving shopping Black Friday deals. Somewhere between vitamin C serums, retinol comparisons, and an email from one of our derms on discounted Botox, one of them said, “I’m not trying to look younger, I just want to look and feel good for my age.” A quote that I just loved and immediately said, “I need to write about this.” But more importantly, I need to live by this philosophy.

What she was saying is that she’s not chasing something that is behind her, yet embracing and enjoying where she is now. A place that’s inherently empowering. Aging as a declaration that your beauty isn’t contingent on looking 25, or more accurately, attempting to look 25.