How women are happiest in their skin at 29 and confidence in their overall appearance peaks just a year later

The days of yearning for the fresh skin of our early twenties are on their way out, according to a new study.

Today’s women are happiest about the way they look at the age of 30, cosmetics brand Lancome found.

Most women think their skin is at its best when they are aged 29 and say that just one year later they feel the most confident in their appearance.

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The survey reveals UK women believe that they are looking and feeling younger when it comes to visible signs of ageing.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents said that they were happily embracing their looks more and more as they aged.

The study, commissioned by Lancome Advanced Genifique, suggested that 43per cent of women feel they look younger than they actually are.

Contrary to expectations, nearly a third cent of respondents admitted to pretending they are older in order to fit in with colleagues or attract compliments about how young they look.

However, youth was still prized, with a third of 1,000 UK women who took part in the research saying they felt their most confident between the ages of 18 and 25.

When asked about how they feel about their real age, some 43 per cent of women said they felt justified in shaving a few years off it because they genuinely felt younger than their birth certificates showed them to be.

A Lancome study last year showed that most women do not believe they look old until the age of 46, and feel confident about their appearance into their fifties and beyond.

Lancôme’s #loveyourage campaign is encouraging women to celebrate their age.

The campaign features celebrity ambassadors Kate Winslet, Pénelope Cruz, Lupita Nyong’o and Lily Collins appearing together in adverts for the first time.

British actress Helen Mirren, 69, was the celebrity most admired for her youthful appearance, followed by Dame Judi Dench, 80 and Pretty Woman star Julia Roberts, 46.

Amandine Ohayon, Managing Director L’Oreal Luxe UKI said: ‘With a sensible skincare regime, there is absolutely no reason why British women shouldn’t be admired as they grow older.’

The research also revealed women continue to believe that there is a social stigma associated with ageing with 47 per cent of British women saying it still exists.

Three in four women (77%) believe current perceptions associated with ageing are the same - or in some cases even worse - than they were a decade ago.

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