Babyface

Yes, that's me - babyface, or so I've been told. For those who haven't known me long, this is how I look completely without make-up (and in a frumpy T-shirt):

I've grown used to the looks of utter surprise when I tell people how old I am. "But you look like a teenager!" they tend to exclaim. I've had 19-year-olds mistake me for 19 years old. And back when I actually was nineteen, a US customs officer eyed me incredulously and asked, brandishing my passport, "Are you sure you're not twelve?"

And it's strange, considering I was mistaken for a 17-year-old when I was thirteen. Then, one time, when I was almost nineteen and waiting to start university, I was buying stuff at a provision shop and the lady good-naturedly struck up a conversation.

"Xiao mei mei, what are you doing now?"

"I'm waiting to start school again."

"So which secondary school are you going to?"

Secondary school?? How in the blazes did she think I was twelve? But it was the first time my baby looks struck me.

This is how I usually appear. In case you're wondering what's the difference, it's in the eyebrows. I don't come naturally endowed with much, so, these days, I rarely ever leave home without my eyebrows. I don't like putting on too much make-up, but I need those ebony arches.

I'll probably appreciate being mistaken for younger when I'm over the hill, but that's still a good 13 years away. Right now, I'd be lucky to be taken seriously in work situations. I look like a kid even when dressed professionally, like this:

It's only in the past one year or so that I've stopped getting carded for ordering booze or entering clubs...well, not as often anyway. Also probably because my dress sense has changed somewhat and little lines have made their appearance under my eyes - hooray, my first wrinkles! Then again, I see similar lines in people younger than me too.

And even after wearing a face full of make-up, which I ordinarily hate piling on too much, I've been told I look "sweet", even if it's a look I NEVER go for. See Halloween specimen on the right. (By the way, I learned that night that coloured feather boas aren't always colour fast.)

Maybe it's in the genes. Both my parents looked remarkably young for the longest time. It's only in recent years that my dad actually looked his age (he's now sixty). My mum has aged, but she still looks a decade younger, thanks to her very extensive efforts to preserve her looks. Both my aunts on my dad's side look fairly young for their age, especially the youngest aunt who is health-conscious and has a personality that seems to make her glow.

Then again, I could, like my father, age all of a sudden without warning and everything might decide to droop and crinkle all at once. But, by that time, who cares?