Kylie: In her forties and clearly 'past it'

Blog: A lady should never reveal her age – or so the saying goes. But if you happen to be 31 or heading in that direction then you are probably telling anyone who will listen. Yes, flash that date of birth on your driving licence for once because – apparently – you are at your most attractive, have reached the peak of your beauty, are in your prime in the looks department.

This is, of course, wonderful news for all of you aged 31. And a bit of a shame for those of you who have just celebrated your 32nd birthday and are now thinking that someone should have told you this a year ago before you were “past it”.

But, never fear, because next week 35 will no doubt be the magic number and a couple of weeks after that it will be 39, and before we know it there will be another survey about the fabulous forties or even the flirty fifties.

What’s that other saying? Lies, damned lies and statistics. Sums it up perfectly.

At the risk of revealing too much I will admit I liked – yes, as in the past tense – being 31. In fact it probably was one of my better years. And for the very reason quoted in the research – much more confidence than I had in my late teens and early twenties.

But the thing is I don’t believe it was my best year – just one of the better ones.

In fact, I don’t think I’ve had a “peak year”  — and not because I believe I’ve not yet reached it; it’s that I am not so sure there is such a thing.

I mean, don’t you just hate ticking those age boxes on forms at the best of times? Why on earth we would we let a survey put us in another box? Especially when it’s the latest in a long line of contradictory ones. I certainly don’t think women should be giving up on their beauty credentials at 32!

It’s not that age is just a number. Of course it’s not. But it’s what you do with it that counts. Helen Mirren is stunning in her 60s and try telling Jennifer Aniston she had a 12-month window when she was at her most atttractive, or even Kylie Minogue for that matter. And they, like most women, will have days each and every year when they look in the mirror and like what they see, and days when they would happily smash every looking-glass into tiny pieces. Being born in 1979 or 1980 has nothing to do with the roller-coaster ride that only the female of the species seems to have to endure.

Then again my husband has been looking rather longingly at an old picture of us on holiday in the Lake District recently.

Come to think of it I would have been about 31 at the time…

By Tracey O’Sullivan