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Fine Lines & Wrinkles
From expression lines to deeper folds
Fine lines and wrinkles are among the most common signs of skin aging, often developing as collagen and elastin levels naturally decline. Repeated facial expressions, sun exposure, and environmental factors can further contribute to their appearance. These lines may appear around the eyes, mouth, and forehead, and can become more pronounced over time.
From fleeting lines to permanent ones
At first, an expression line is fleeting: it appears with movement and smooths out when your face relaxes. The turning point comes when it lingers at rest. This happens because the skin's support, the framework of collagen and elastin woven through its deeper layer, gradually thins and recovers less well from each fold.
Why fine lines and wrinkles form?
Most fine lines come down to two forces working together: the repeated movement of facial expressions, and a gradual decline in the skin's support, the framework of collagen and elastin that keeps it firm and springy. The balance between the two depends on where the line sits, which is why the right care can differ from one area to the next.
Repeated facial expression
Smiling, frowning and squinting fold the skin in the same places every day. When skin is young it springs back, but each repeat leaves a slightly deeper mark over time.
Collagen and elastin decline
Collagen and elastin are the fibres that keep skin firm and springy. Skin collagen begins to decline by roughly 1% a year from your mid-twenties, and elastin is barely renewed in adulthood, so the skin recovers less well from folding.
Sun exposure
Ultraviolet rays break down collagen faster than the body can rebuild it, a process called photoaging that is responsible for most visible skin aging, by some estimates up to 80 to 90%. It is the single biggest accelerator of lines and folds.
Volume loss and weight changes
In the lower face, lines like nasolabial and marionette folds are driven less by muscle and more by a gradual loss of deep volume and support. A large or rapid weight loss can speed this up, because facial fat shrinks faster than the skin can tighten.
Oxidative stress and lifestyle
Daily habits speed everything up. Smoking, alcohol, pollution and too little sleep generate oxidative stress, an excess of unstable molecules called free radicals that break down collagen and elastin. On top of the skin's natural loss of these fibres, this makes lines form and deepen faster across the face.
How to Prevent
The different types of fine lines and wrinkles
Forehead Lines
The horizontal lines that run across the forehead, formed as the frontalis muscle lifts the brows again and again. Over time, as skin support declines, these dynamic lines start to stay visible at rest.
Frown Lines
The vertical lines between the eyebrows, often the first to set in. They form as the muscles that draw the brows together fold the skin in the same place, day after day.
Bunny Lines
Small diagonal lines that appear on the sides of the nose when you scrunch it. Mostly tied to expression, they can become faintly visible at rest as the skin's natural support declines.
Crow's Feet
Fine lines that fan out from the outer corners of the eyes. Driven by frequent smiling and squinting in skin that is naturally thin, they are often among the first lines to appear.
Under Eye Wrinkles
Fine lines in the very thin skin beneath the eyes, where there is little oil and support. Dehydration and constant movement make them appear early, and they can seem to come and go.
Lip Lines
Fine vertical lines around the mouth, shaped by the constant movement of speaking and expression. With less oil and support than the rest of the face, this area lines early, with or without smoking.
Neck Wrinkles
Horizontal lines across the neck, linked to thin skin, frequent movement and the modern habit of looking down at screens. Often left out of sun care, the neck tends to show its age early.
Marionette Lines
Creases running down from the corners of the mouth toward the chin. They are driven mainly by lost volume and weakening support in the lower face, deepened by gravity over time.
Nasolabial Folds
Folds running from the sides of the nose to the corners of the mouth. They deepen as the cheeks lose volume and slide downward, leaving less support above this natural crease.
