Changes with age
Features that come with time, such as lines and a receding hairline. 15 face guides on EveryFaceShape so far.
Some features come with time. Laugh lines and nasolabial folds deepen, wrinkles form, hairlines recede, cheeks and jaws soften, and brows and lashes thin. These changes happen to everyone and are part of a face that has been lived in. Many traditions honour them as signs of age and experience; the cosmetics industry sells products against them.
What changes
Skin makes less collagen and elastin with age, so it creases more where it folds: around the eyes, between the brows, across the forehead and from nose to mouth. Sun speeds this up. Fat pads in the cheeks shift lower, the jaw softens and a double chin may form. Hairlines often rise, especially in men, and eyelids may hood.
Style through the years
Face shape can change with age, so frames and beard styles that suited a face at twenty may be changed at sixty. Barbers often suggest a beard to add definition at a softening jaw. Opticians may suggest lighter frames or varifocals. Portrait painters, from Rembrandt onwards, have treated lined faces as among the most expressive subjects there are.
Famous changes with age face guides
Still to be written: Wrinkle, Jaw.
Further reading
🇳🇿 New ZealandTā moko
Traditional permanent facial and body markings of the Māori people of New Zealand.Marking
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreSindoor
A vermilion powder worn by married Hindu women to mark marital status.Makeup
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 2 moreYoruba tribal marks
Scarification patterns used by the Yoruba people for identity and beauty.Marking
WorldLimbal ring
A dark band encircling the outer edge of the irisEyes
WorldSclera
The tough outer coat that creates the pale background of the eyeball.Eyes · Most faces
WorldMicroblading
A semi-permanent technique for enhancing eyebrow shape and colour using fine hand-drawn strokes.Makeup · 2007
WorldBlushing
The involuntary reddening of the face caused by emotional stress.Skin
WorldFreckles
Small clusters of concentrated melanin on the skin.Skin · Most faces
🇪🇬 Egypt and 4 moreKohl
A traditional eye cosmetic made from crushed minerals or soot, used across Africa and Asia for thousands of years.Makeup
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreLipstick
A pigmented cosmetic applied to the lips for colour and texture.Makeup · 1884
WorldDimple
A small natural indentation in the flesh, most notably on the cheek.Skin · Most faces
WorldNasolabial fold
Skin folds running from the nose to the mouth corners.Face shape
WorldWhite roll
The white line bordering the top of the upper lip.Lips
WorldEyelid
A thin fold of skin that covers the eye and keeps it moist.Eyes · Most faces
WorldMarionette lines
Vertical creases that frame the chin and lower mouth areaSkin
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Tā moko: Gottfried Lindauer, Public domain, source
- Sindoor: Masum-al-hasan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Yoruba tribal marks: User:FA2010, Public domain, source
- Limbal ring: Chianti, FAL, source
- Sclera: Jo Naylor, CC BY 2.0, source
- Blushing: Valerie Hinojosa, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Freckles: Loyna, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Kohl: Camila Zanon., CC BY 2.0, source
- Lipstick: Sjr, Public domain, source
- Dimple: C. Szeto, CC BY 2.0, source
- Chin: User:Tizio cropped the original to show just the cleft chin, to be sho, Public domain, source
- Nasolabial fold: Mikael Häggström ,, Public domain, source
- White roll: Original: Genusfotografen (Tomas Gunnarsson) Modified: Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Eyelid: Micky Zlimen, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Marionette lines: NBC Photo. The stamp is faint-a better example can be seen here on an, Public domain, source