A great grandma who is regularly mistaken for being decades younger than she really is says a cheap all-in-one cream is the secret behind her youthful looks. The 92-year-old claims that people often don’t believe her when she tells them her age.
Joan Richmond-Woodhouse, who is known online as Grandma Joan, still loves wearing a swimsuit – and shares snaps of her doing so on social media. She also enjoys a predominantly-beige diet of heart pub grub but says she hasn’t ever gained any weight.
The grandma-of-18 has found herself inundated with comments from people who can’t believe her real age. Many insist she looks more like a woman in her 70s than someone who’s almost 100 and some have even mistaken her for being in her 50s.In a recent post on social media, Joan, who is originally from Blackburn, Lancashire, revealed the affordable skincare product she’s used for over 75 years. Joan previously said she doesn’t ‘do anything special’ to stay looking young – but shared that Nivea cream is the product she’s always used to care for her skin.
Joan, who posts on TikTok as @joansumner1930, said: “I was born on the 6th of September in 1930. After the war, when I was about 16, Nivea cream had just come out and my friend just came to the house and she said, ‘This cream has just come out. Try it, it’s brilliant.’
“So I’ve used Nivea cream for years and years and years. Now everyone I know uses Nivea cream, too.”
Many on the app were stunned by Joan’s simple skincare routine, with many saying they would be buying their own Nivea products in the hope of achieving similar results. One person said: “‘I’m off to buy some Nivea! You look amazing.”
A second comment said: “Really unbelievable!” And another person echoed Joan’s recommendation, saying: “My Mum is 90, everyone thinks she’s 20 years younger, she also uses Nivea.”
Nivea products can be found in high street drugstores and even supermarkets. Nivea’s Refreshingly Soft Moisturising Cream for face, hands and body costs just £2 from Boots.
The most popular Nivea buy, the Nivea Creme, costs £5.99 at Boots for a 200ml tub. The same can also be purchased at Superdrug for £4.29 or a 50ml tub is £2 from Ocado or £1.50 from Amazon.
Joan uses a Nivea cream to moisturise her whole body once a week. She now spends her days travelling with boyfriend, David Winder, aged 84, and relaxing in her garden after moving to Costa Calida in Spain.
A retired dress maker, Joan said: “I don’t know how to behave like a 91-year-old – I just act the same as I did when I was 21. I’ve always looked young, and people are always shocked when I tell them my age as I don’t look, talk or act like I am 91.
“I don’t do anything special to stay young – I love pies and English grub so even in Spain I’ve stuck to eating that. I love wearing a bikini and going to the beach with my granddaughter.”I’ve never put any weight on. I think that must be my secret to my young looks that and I just love life and have never had the mindset of being old.”
Joan says she has never dieted or stopped eating her favourite food – pies. “I always go for a carvery every Sunday,” she said. “I don’t follow any silly diets – I just eat what I want and what makes me happy.
“I just love English food – especially hearty pub grub. I do have more salads now I’m in Spain because it can be so hot, but I’ll never not have my pies.”
The mum-of-eight has battled colon cancer but continues to live every day to its fullest. Her granddaughter Lydia, 27, said: “It’s mad people 20 years younger try and chat her up. They don’t believe us when we tell them her real age.
“She literally doesn’t age. I hope when I’m older I’m like my grandma and inherit her genes and look as good as she does at her age.
“I really hope to have her luck. Lots of members of our family get complimented on our youthful looks and it’s almost like we get to a certain age then we age backwards.”