It’s a fact – we are all going to age! There are several stages of facial aging, and we know a timeline of what to expect. Structurally, many things happen that we cannot control. Our skulls actually shrink and sink inward, bones resorb and fat pads deflate. These changes are what contributes to the aged appearance. There are things we can do to combat these and many more signs of aging. At Pure 111, our goal is to help you look refreshed and rested but never look “done.”
Here is a timeline to explain what happens as you age:
Your 20s
You have finally emerged from the chaos of your teenage hormonal period, your skin is less acne prone, and you have lost your facial baby fat – so your face is starting to look more adultlike, less childlike.
When we are young, collagen makes up 80 percent of our skin. Up until now your body has naturally produced collagen in abundance, but sadly production starts to decline at about age 25 and continues to decline by 1% each year after that (some studies even suggest the loss begins as early as age 18).
This is when we experience our first early signs of aging. Our “dynamic” wrinkles (lines which form from facial movement) begin to appear, most commonly around the eyes, between the brows, and on the forehead.
In your late 20s it is common to start to notice hollowing under the eyes, we refer to this area as your tear trough. The hollowing is due to reduction in fat and thinner skin. Genetics and anatomy play a role as well of course.
Your 30s
In your 30s your skin starts to look less radiant. Sun damage from UV exposure in your teens and 20s starts to show. Areas of pigmentation “brown spots” and broken capillaries “face veins” become more apparent.
Your facial expression lines deepen, and frown lines between your eyebrows become more noticeable. Laugh lines, also called nasolabial folds, around the nose and mouth are more pronounced, partly due to gravity. Your skin begins to lose volume and elasticity especially in your mid face and facial flatness starts to become more apparent. The upper lip also starts to decrease in thickness, flattens and eventually begins to turn under.
Your 40s
As you enter your 40s, vertical lines begin to appear around your upper lip and if you smoke, they’ll come faster and go deeper. These are just from everyday use, however, talking, kissing, drinking and eating. The laugh lines, or nasolabial folds, continue to deepen causing shadows to form in the triangular area between your nose and the corners of your mouth. This is due to loss of volume in your mid face and descension of the malar fat pad.
Skin along the jawline also starts to sag, commonly referred to as jowls, creating an undefined, saggy appearance. Upper eyelids can become droopy in appearance due to lax skin and gravity.
Your 50s
During the first 5 years of the menopause the level of your collagen is thought to decrease by as much as 30 per cent. Your skin starts to function less effectively, and the skin barrier becomes compromised, resulting in increased water loss. As a result, your skin becomes very dry and fragile exaggerated by loss of estrogen. You may also become more prone to redness and rosacea.
You can also start to develop temple hollowing, which may be accentuated by a very prominent brow bone caused by volume loss. Platysmal bands which are two strips of muscles that start at the base of your neck and run up the front left and right sides of your neck, all the way up to the jaw also become more prominent.
You may start to notice the downward turn of the corners of your mouth due to loss of volume and support in your lower face.
With the popularity of medical weight loss recently, some people are noticing changes in their face earlier than they normally would. When weight is lost, it is lost in the face as well which can cause shadow patterns to develop while youthful highlights fade. This can lead to a face that looks older than it is. The great news is that Pure 111 can help.
The prospect of witnessing changes to your face across the decades can be daunting but we are fortunate to live in an era when new technologies have made it easier to age gracefully. There are a number of noninvasive treatments which can tackle these signs of aging to keep yourself looking and feeling younger because let’s face it, when you look good, you feel good.
We would love to see you for a free one hour consultation in our office to see what treatments may be right for you. Call or text us at 618-208-1111 (Fairview Heights) or 618-209-1111 (Columbia) or book online at www.pure111.com.
We look forward to seeing you soon.
