Skincare limits: aging is more than skin-deep

Skincare is, of course, about skin. Yet, skincare products often promise us a younger-looking face. Here's the thing: our face appearance is determined by more than just skin; it's also facial bones, muscles, and fat. Scientists have confirmed that all of these components change as we age. This is why we should have a reality check when expecting anti-aging results from skincare products. So, while a quality skincare routine can help slow down skin aging, don't forget that it can't do much against the changes in other parts of our faces.

Here is a brief overview of the changes that our faces undergo with age, aside from the skin changes.

Bones

As we grow older, our facial bones change in their shape - with some dimensions getting bigger and others shrinking. Our faces become wider, shorter, and deeper, leading to more prominent eye sockets and darker circles under the eyes. The upper jaw shrinks, and together with the other changes, it emphasizes our smile lines and contributes to wrinkles around the mouth. Plus, jawbone areas linked to chewing muscles become rougher while others soften.

Fat

As faces age, they tend to lose plumpness in some areas, such as the forehead, cheeks, and around the mouth, while holding onto fat in others, like under the chin, around the nose, lips, and jowls. This process has less to do with losing fat beneath the face skin overall but rather with shifts in where that fat is located.

The fat underneath our facial skin is organized in separate compartments that are held in place by muscles and other tissue. Initially, these compartments give faces volume in the right places and make them look youthful. With age, however, these fat pockets shift and become more distinct. This shifting and rearranging of facial fat causes a different and less even look on an older face.

Muscles

With age, our facial muscles experience changes such as lengthening, increased tone, and reduced movement range. This leads to a tightened appearance, more limited facial expressions, and a shift in fat that can exaggerate skin creases. Over time, dynamic facial lines turn into permanent, static wrinkles.

In summary, a significant part of the age-related changes in how our faces look is not dependent on the skin. Deep, so-called "mimic wrinkles" appear primarily because of changes in bones, muscles, and fat; the skin only reflects them.

Of course, the skin does play an important role: the more elastic and firm it is, the more it can mitigate the aging changes in fat and muscle. Plus, reducing its own wrinkles and pigmentation changes does make us look more youthful. But the truth is: even with the best skincare products imaginable and religious daily sunscreen application, topical skincare alone can never help you preserve your 20-year-old face untouched for multiple decades.

Okay, I realize that this might have been a slightly depressing read so far. Our faces are bound to change no matter what skincare we use. There is little we can do about it apart from living an overall healthy lifestyle and eating good nutrition throughout our lives - unless we, of course, are open to the idea of risky surgeries.

But why don't we look at it from a different angle? If we are lucky enough to live long enough, our faces will change over time; it is as natural as a baby's face changing into its adult form. For some reason, beauty companies do not recognize this, instead selling us on the idea that we need to erase wrinkles, keep our cheeks baby-plump forever and strive for some mythical youthful glow. Why are we listening?