So with only a month to go to my 19 birthday I'm pretty excited but when I go to a restaurant and I'm asked if I want a child's portion I almost feel like I'm turning 13 next month. I'm not even kidding. The guy asked me and I asked him how old he thought I was. 12 was his honest answer. I get the whole "you'll be thankful when you're older" but I am genuinely upset by this because strangers will talk down to me as if I'm a child.

I forget that I'm an adult sometimes and as a kid I hated being treated like a kid because I always had a much older mentality that no one would ever bother to see because I was just a kid. I couldn't wait to be older to be taken seriously but its still not happening. Its like one night my mums mates came over and the topic of sex came up and one of the guys said to me "cover your ears". I laughed but was secretly thinking "f**k you. I've probably done wilder things than what they're talking about." I even went upstairs and changed into a tank top so the guy could see my tattoo to prove I'm not a child! Honestly this upsets me so much I honestly forget my age.

When I looked feminine people always thought I was older. When I was 15 and doing work experience in my school I was sat at a PC and a girl said to me "A level music is hard isn't it?". I said "actually its my first year of GCSE's and I'm on work experience". She was really surprised that I was that young but now that I've made myself more male I look like a cute little boy. I sometimes look like Justin Bieber which is so depressing its untrue. I can't get served without ID. Once they wouldn't even look at my ID. She refused to because she didn't think it was possible that I could be 18. Eventually I got a drink out of her when she finally looked so I felt quite smug then. So how can I look older? My facial features are quite unisex but i do have very smooth and soft skin. Is there any kind of make up technique I could use here. My jawline is pretty pathetic too. Also anyway of making some kind of fake facial hair which doesn't look like I've drawn on a 'tash or like I glued a wig to my face?

Any suggestions I appreciate. Thanks

I'm younger than you, but in about the same boat. I've even had some of the same experiences - child's menu at restaurants, "you'll be glad when you're older," being thought of as much older when I presented as female, having an older mentality, etc. My facial features are fairly androgynous and I usually have smooth, ridiculously soft skin.

I've found that what helps people perceive me as older is dressing in somewhat more of a masculine androgynous style rather than just 'man' clothes. Also, hair is important. When my hair is somewhat shaggy, not only do I pass even better than when it's short,  but people also think I'm older. I think that it's mainly because I'm emulating a sort of vaguely gender-bending (effeminate male)style that's fairly common/popular at the moment. I'm not saying that you should change your style or anything. I've only noticed that this works for me because that's the style I enjoy anyway.

I can empathize on the lack of facial hair. My brother had a full goatee before entering junior high (no joke, he took after my mom). My dad, however, has very little body hair and it takes him a week to grow a really short, scraggly beard. I took after my dad in nearly every physical way except being born male. When a stranger meets both of us, then that person thinks of me like my dad, so he/she perceives me as older. So, find some feminine looking guys who have smooth, soft skin and try to be somewhat near them when meeting new people. You'll look older/more masculine by comparison.

I've heard that shaving your face (despite having a lack of whiskers and whatnot) will help since it'll make you look like a clean-shaven young male, but I've never tried, so I can't vouch for the success. If you go out in the sun a whole lot, over time your skin will get a little more leathery and wrinkled than someone who never goes outside, so that could help. On the contrary, if you make a big deal out of never going outside, then people will just think you're smooth and soft from that.

Wow, it's so odd, it's always 12 that they pick as the age... I'm 18 and someone saw a picture of me asking if I was 12!
You're right, it could totally get you the "cute little boy" status with girls but it's not quite what I had in mind... I hear bad things also about having the fake facial hair because you have to do it every day and not forget. Also you'd have to do it gradually, so people don't all of a sudden wonder where all that facial hair came from. But if you forget even for one day, you have to make like you shaved it and start all over.
Good luck!