Dr Rich and the enRich team are very excited to join Mouths of Mums and look forward to providing useful beauty tips, tricks, treatments, and advice for all our readers. Whether we like it or not, aging is a fact of life. In our first article we would like to share with you just how your face will change with time and in subsequent columns we will show you the best approach to minimise the effects of aging.

How will your face age?

Facial aging is a process that is natural, continuous and progressive throughout life. It is impossible to stop the aging process, but there are a number of ways you can preserve and enhance your natural features – it is never too late or too soon to prevent the premature signs of aging.

Most of us know the visible effects of aging:

• Wrinkles, lines and deep skin folds
• Loss of elasticity and sagging skin
• Changes in skin texture and clarity
• Gradual fat and bone re-absorption leading to volume loss and facial thinning

But what really happens to the skin as we age?

• Loss of collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid (the support network of the skin) reduce the moisture, suppleness, and elasticity of the skin, causing fine lines and wrinkles to appear.
• The face starts to thin in shape both due to fat loss in some areas and movement of fat to other areas. This too leads to the appearance of skin folds.
• Due to a combination of factors, skin texture and colour also change. The skin becomes rougher and drier, and blemishes, discolorations and pigmented spots begin to appear.
• The skin can start to show more redness and broken vessels.

So what are the causes of facial aging?

• UV Sun Damage
• Smoking
• Hormonal changes in women at menopause
• Genetics
• The effects of gravity
• The natural breakdown of the components of skin and bone with age
• And time! 

Changes in your 30s

This is the decade when you may start to notice your skin looks ‘tired’ and less radiant. Fine lines and wrinkles begin to appear around your eyes (crow’s feet), vertical lines in your frown, and horizontal lines in your forehead. Accumulated sun damage, freckles, brown spots and other forms of pigmentation become apparent.  You may also begin to see dilated blood vessels, particularly around the sides of your nose and cheeks.                           

Changes in your 40s

As you enter your 40s, lines begin to appear around the lips. Be prepared to see deeper wrinkles in your forehead, frown and around your eyes, plus a deepening of the smile lines. This is also the decade when volume loss may become evident in the cheeks/mid-face, and along the jaw line and chin. 

Changes in your 50s and beyond

In your 50s and 60s you may be facing the cumulative effects of sun damage and aging, which include not only a deepening of lines and wrinkles, but also a greatly increased breakdown of collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid. This results in a drooping of the face, with loose skin evident. Moreover, as we age, we lose some of the fat beneath our skin, which also contributes to the appearance of volume loss and structure. Skin also starts to appear thinner and more translucent. This can cause blood vessels just below the surface to look more prominent and your skin to look discoloured. Pigmentation and brown spots that went untreated in the past will now become more prominent, while new ones will continue to appear. Furthermore, a decrease in oestrogen levels that occurs during the 50s will cause skin to look and feel drier, making lines and wrinkles look deeper and more prominent.

BUT DON’T FRET!

Next time the enRich team will introduce some simple ideas to slow the aging process and keep you looking younger longer.