Full disclosure, I’m over 30. Most of my friends are in the same age bracket as me and there’s one phrase we’re all very used to hearing: “You don’t look your age.” What often follows is that there’s “no way” anyone would ever think we’d passed that three-decade milestone. It’s always said as a compliment — and that’s how we’ll take it — though most of us can’t help but wonder, is it true? And is it really a bad thing if we happen to look our age? In 2021, the general expectation seems to be that 30 is over the hill. When the clock strikes midnight on day 365 of being 29, you turn into an old crone from a Disney film. Of course, this isn’t the case in reality. So what’s with this school of thought? Do we really look younger these days or has everyone simply forgotten what it actually looks like to be 30?

Dr Jonquille Chantrey, anti-ageing expert and founder of One Aesthetic Studio, adds: “It’s nothing new that women are judged on their looks and how they age, which can lead to insecurities. Aesthetic medicine can have a profound positive impact on self-esteem and self-confidence but the accessibility and normalisation of anti-ageing aesthetic treatments (particularly through social media) has had a significant impact on the benchmark of what a woman in her 30s ‘should’ look like.”