Skin ageing is more than just lines and wrinkles

Here are the 8 most common giveaways:

1.) Lines and wrinkles:
As we age, we develop ‘dynamic lines’ (i.e. lines caused by repeated movement of mimic muscles such as frown lines and crow’s feet) and ‘static lines’ (i.e. lines which develop independent of mimic movement such as the nose-to-mouth lines).

2.) Irregular pigmentation:
With age, our skin tone become less even and we may develop brown patches and ‘freckly’ sun spots. This is a clear sign of chronic sun damage (you never develop them in sun-protected skin areas such as the buttocks!).

3.) Loss of volume:
With age we loose volume in our face and one of the first areas our fat ‘padding’ goes, are our upper cheeks. So with age, our cheeks become flatter and our face looses its youthful heart shape.

4.) Reduced skin elasticity:
As we age, our skin’s collagen and elastin content declines, which leads to reduced skin elasticity, crepiness and fine criss-cross lines.

5.) Sagging:
The combination of a) loss of volume, b) reduced skin elasticity and c) gravity leads to skin sagging (for example visible on lower cheeks and jowls).

6.) Dryness and thinning skin:
Especially after the menopause with declining oestrogen levels, our skin will become noticeably drier and thinner. It also heals more slowly and bruises more easily.

7.) Changing skin surface and texture:
Babies and young children have a very fine and smooth skin surface with virtually invisible pores and extremely fine facial hair. However, with increasing age our skin surface appears less refined, develops enlarged pores, a duller skin surface and courser, darker hair on chin, jawline and above upper lip.

8.) Lip deflation:
We also loose volume in our lips with age, which leads to less youthful appearing lips with development of vertical lines on and around the lips (a bit like a plum loosing water and turning into a prune).

So that’s the low-down of common signs of skin ageing, many of which are commonly overlooked when planning skin rejuvenation measures. However, in order to achieve a harmonious look, one needs to address all potential problem areas and plan a variety of different treatments over time.