Born or made
Whether a feature is inherited, grown, worn, applied or marked.
Inherited features
Inherited features are the shapes and traits people are born with: face shape, eye colour, the eyelid crease or epicanthic fold, dimples, freckles, a widow's peak, a cleft chin, the Cupid's bow. They come from many genes acting together, along with growth and chance, and most do not follow the simple dominant and recessive rules once taught in schools
Grown and groomed
Grown and groomed features are those people cultivate: beards, moustaches, sideburns and eyebrows. How hair grows is inherited, but what is done with it is choice, faith, rule or fashion
Worn
Worn features are things put on the face and taken off again: glasses and sunglasses, the monocle and pince-nez, the bindi, the nath and other face jewellery. They are chosen for sight, sun, faith, marriage or style, and many carry strong meanings
Applied
Applied features are painted or powdered on and washed off: kohl and kajal, thanaka paste, sindoor and kumkum, contour and highlight, the white oshiroi of geisha and Kabuki actors, and the painted faces of Kathakali and Peking opera. Some last an evening, some a day; many are renewed every morning as part of faith, beauty or work.
Marked
Marked features are lasting: tattoos, piercings and scars that stay on the face for life. They include tā moko, kakiniit and other face tattoos, nose and lip piercings, and scarification such as the Yoruba facial marks
Changes with age
Some features come with time. Laugh lines and nasolabial folds deepen, wrinkles form, hairlines recede, cheeks and jaws soften, and brows and lashes thin