How old you really look?

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I've gotten many comments ranging from "you look very young from strangers" to "you definitely look 18 to me" from my stepmom. My bio mom says I look young b/c she does (she's in her mid 40's & her co-workers have mistaken her for early/mid thirties) & I never wear make up (I hate having paste on my face ewww! ). Other times people don't comment that I am aware of. I also can go w/o sunscreen & usually neither burn nor tan (my mom says I was born w/ natural sunblock in my skin ) but I still wear it when I can. I only ever get a very slight tan (I go from "dead looking" as my moms say to "healthy looking" geez). Plus my acne issues are always mild-none (you have to actually look to see it). When I changed my last name the people who gave me the paperwork didn't believe I was really 18 (not good). Another reason I don't think I look my age is b/c last time I went to a restaurant w/o my parents (I went w/ siblings, classmates, etc.) they asked which of us was the oldest (my siblings are 3 & 4 yrs. younger than me ). I've heard a few people here who are on the spectrum say looking younger than they really are may be an aspie/autie thing. Is their a way to tell how old you actually look? I don't really care either way b/c I'm not interested in anyone but I might be able to figure out how to act around strangers/family if I knew (whether to take their comments about the way I look seriously or not/I assume family is trying to be nice but its really annoying). I don't think I look "baby faced" at all (not round faced w/ round cheeks or big baby eyes) so I don't get how I could look younger than I am. This a common aspie/autie issue?

I don't think there is a way to tell how old you really look...I guess it is all subjective.
I really don't know, for example, what a 34 year old is supposed to look like.

If definitely seems to be an Aspie thing. I didn't know that before coming to this forum, but it makes sense now. Most people think I'm no more than mid-thirties, if that.

I think it's a combination of the way we physically look, as well as a naive, child-like persona. Not "childish" ... child-like.

No idea, and I don't care.

I'm 19, but everyone has always seemed to think I was around 13.

I definitely have the childlike persona....unfortunately I am also getting a tad jowly in the face...

Bearded, I look old. Beardless, I look young.

I'm 27. I've been told I look early 20's with my hair combed, and younger with it messy.

I grew my beard out when I was 30 because I was tired of being asked what high school I attended. I decided when I was 38 that I might try shaving it to see how I liked it, but my supervisor at work told me that I looked like he had hired a high school kid to run his computer system, and my daughter complained that she wanted her Daddy to look older than she is, so I grew it out again. Now at age 59 its advantageous to look 15 to 20 years younger. But sometimes it's funny when people who I know are 10 years my junior tell some story about something that happened to them when they were an adolescent, and then they look at me and say something like, "But of course that would have been before your time."

It comes up here from time to time and there does seem to be some weight to the notion that its an 'Aspie thing'. I've been mistaken for much younger than my actual age all my adult life, though I think regular exercise helps maintain the phenomenon. I was still frequently 'carded' until nearly 30, and those who see my ID for the first time now seem shocked that I'm past mid-thirties. Ma Nature giveth and Ma Nature taketh away - must be token compensation for the things we were forced to live without.

I guess I must look young... well, sometimes. I grew a beard once, hated the maintenance, and looked young when it came off.
I also lost a lot of weight a couple of years back, and got carded buying alcohol because I apparently looked under 18. Shame the weight's gone back on, really...

With facial hair I get maybe 18-19, without probably around 16. I'm 25. When I lose weight I'm lucky if I get 13-14 without facial hair and around 16 with it.

It just gets really weird. I just graduated from HS but spent the whole time their having to tell everyone (to their shock) how old I was. I was mistaken for a middle schooler 'til I was a junior & than once I was 17-18 I was mistaken for anything from 15-17. The weirdest comment was my brother's friend (who is a twin) thinking I was my brother's twin sister! I am 18 (was than too) & he, this girl & her twin sister are all 15! It's pretty bad if your brother's friend thinks you're your brother's twin. (We only met b/c of gym class, but really how could she make that mistake! ) A ten yr. old once thought I was 8 even (I was 14 at the time & throwing her around in acro classes. I think she & my brother's friend might be missing some marbles/no offense to them but...)

I love beards on men!

Sorry, that has nothing to do with the thread ...

Well i turn 23 next thursday but most people say that i look 16.

Maybe not, but it's got me thinking I should throw out the razor