What Makes You Look Old?

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This study determined which attribute of your face affected your perceived age the most.

When I ask women what signs of aging they have noticed on their face, they will usually talk about the wrinkles near their eyes, droopy eyelids, sagging skin, sunspots or a rough texture. However, according to a recent study, the lines that run from the nose to the corner of the mouth were the one feature that most influenced a person’s perceived age. These lines are called nasolabial folds, also known as your “parenthesis,” and they hold the most influence in how young or old your face looks. They cause your face to age more than any sagging eyelids or wrinkles.

woman portrait on black background

This study was published in Clinical, Costmetic and Investigational Dermatology in April of 2014. The test consisted of a panel of 6 dermatologist that made an educated guess as to the age of 120 female participants between the ages of 41 and 49. Of course, women with medical or skin disorders, those that had spent time in tanning beds, and smokers were not included in the experiment. In the end, the “parenthesis” had the highest score as an indicator for a woman’s age. The second highest score as an age indicator was redness of skin, followed by the droopiness of the eyebrows and spots or discoloration of the skin. Most people find the outcome of this experiment to be surprising. Not just the fact that these lines we rarely think about scored so high, but you’ll never guess which attribute came out on the very bottom; crows feet and wrinkles around the eyes. Crows feet are one of the things I hear women complain about most often, but the truth is that even young women can develop crows feet… especially with the amount of time people are now spending squinting at computer and cel-phone screens.

The researchers that ran this test came up with a fancy algorithm to correctly identify someone’s age, and it works with 92% accuracy! The first thing they look at are the lines that connect your nose and mouth. That means that if you could only change one thing to make you look younger, filling in your nasolabial folds would make the biggest difference. Most wrinkles and fine lines are formed through repeat or constant expressions, such as crows feet, but these parenthesis are not. They have more to do with your genes and the breakdown of collagen throughout your face as you age. Because these folds don’t occur on the most superficial layer of your skin, I use injectables that penetrated the deeper layers to fill them in. I want my patients to be able to look as young and great as they feel, so I am constantly looking for the best services to offer them. That’s why we have added Artefill to our list of solutions at BioBalance Health. It’s the best of the best! This injectable is not a temporary filler, it is long lasting and requires much fewer treatments. It also looks and feels much more natural because it’s not made with synthetic materials that your body absorbs.

Take a look at this testimonial video and visit our website to learn more!

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