Jowls

The cheeks rest on deep fat pads that act like internal cushions. With age these pads lose volume and slide downward. The support that once held the midface high settles lower, near the jaw, where it gathers into small pockets of skin, the jowls.

Collagen and elastin are the skin's support fibres, made deep in the dermis by cells called fibroblasts. With age these cells slow down, so less new collagen forms while the collagen already there fragments and weakens. Elastin, which lets skin spring back, is barely renewed after youth, so the skin along the jawline firms up less and gradually loosens.

Skin and fat drape over bone, the frame that gives the face its shape. With age this bone slowly loses volume and reshapes, especially around the jaw and chin. With less structure beneath, the tissues above have less to rest on, and the lower face looks softer and less defined.

The skin just in front of the jaw, where jowls form, takes a daily dose of sunlight that quietly weakens it. UV breaks down the collagen and elastin holding this area up, so the tissue loses its grip and begins to slide downward. Sun protection here directly slows how fast jowls take shape.

Everyday strain speeds jowls along. Tobacco, alcohol, pollution and short nights flood the skin with free radicals that wear down its support fibres, while a sugar-rich diet stiffens those fibres through glycation. Together they weaken the lower face so it holds tissue in place less well and the jawline starts to droop.