The 3 Areas You See Wrinkles Faster Than Anywhere Else (& What To Do)

Here are the areas of the body to focus on, and how to support your skin as you get older.

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Aug 6, 2023 - 21:01

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The 3 Areas You See Wrinkles Faster Than Anywhere Else (& What To Do)

mbg Beauty Director

By Alexandra Engler

mbg Beauty Director

Alexandra Engler is the beauty director at mindbodygreen and host of the beauty podcast Clean Beauty School. Previously, she's held beauty roles at Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, SELF, and Cosmopolitan; her byline has appeared in Esquire, Sports Illustrated, and Allure.com.

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August 6, 2023

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Wrinkles are unavoidable. And that’s a good thing. Not only are they a normal part of the aging process, but they’re just a natural part of how skin moves and functions. Without the skin’s ability to fold, crinkle, and be dynamic, the face would look lifeless and wax-like. Personally, I don’t care for that sort of look. I want my skin to look vibrant and full of energy!

However, where a lot of folks have a bit of (understandable) aging anxiety is around deep-set, static wrinkles. These are the lines that are more permanently etched into the skin. And they don’t really contribute to a complexion looking particularly energetic.

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Well those types of wrinkles tend to show up faster in certain areas than others—so you can work preemptively to ease their formation, blur their appearance, and even smooth out the folds.

Here are the areas of the body to focus on, and how to support your skin as you get older.

Eyes

Wrinkles develop quicker in areas of thin skin. Well, the area around the eyes is some of the thinnest on the entire body (fun fact: this is why the eye area is also some of the most sensitive—this info will come into play in a second). The eyes also are fairly expressive, which means the skin is in regular motion.

When you’re young, this isn’t an issue. However, with collagen and elastin breakdown, the skin isn’t as able to rebound or snap back. That’s when these crow’s feet and under eye wrinkles form.

What to do about it:

Treating wrinkles around the eyes is particularly tricky, since the area is very sensitive. (Remember when I said we’d revisit that information?). You can’t—well, rather you shouldn’t—reach for the highly potent, aggressive wrinkle reducing ingredients. That’s a recipe for puffy eyes, irritation, and patchy skin.

Only use products specifically designed for the area—yep, we’re talking about eye creams. To ensure you’re using eye-safe formulas, look for options that note they are ophthalmologist-tested, hypoallergenic, and fragrance-free.

To specifically target wrinkles, look for a variety of eye-safe ingredients:

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Hands

Hands are exposed to many environmental aggressors—from UV rays, irritating substances, frequent hand washing with dry soaps and hot water, pollution, and so on. That’s a lot of free radical damage.

Because of their increased exposure to damaging stressors, they develop signs of aging faster—from dark spots and crepey appearance to wrinkles.

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What to do about it:

The reality is that you can’t protect your hands from all the things that they get exposed to on a day-to-day basis. So your best course of action is to comfort and care for the skin with nurturing hand creams.

Look for these ingredients:

Postbiotics — these biotech derived ingredients support epidermal function, ease inflammation, balance the microbiome, and help address signs of aging, wrinkles included. CoQ10 — This superpowered antioxidant enhances cellular energy, fights free radicals, and slows down the formation of fine lines. Oat oil — A beloved botanical extract that soothes irritated skin, and even is shown to support ceramide production in the skin.

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Neck

Neck wrinkles form due to many of the same culprits as other areas of the face and body: UV exposure, movement, and environmental aggressors. The neck, however, has one very unique contributor to fine lines. And that, my friends, is posture.

Thanks to the joys of modern life, most of us are constantly staring down at some sort of tech device. As I write this, I’m hunched over my laptop typing away! It has its own fun (read: dreadful) name: Tech Neck.

"Neck wrinkles form over several years, but now, people who spend hours with their heads bent on devices will see fine lines in just a few months," says board-certified dermatologist Ife J. Rodney, M.D., founder of Eternal Dermatology. "It's not uncommon to see 20-year-olds or 30-year-olds with tech neck."

What to do about it:

The skin on the neck is thinner and somewhat easily irritated as well, so you shouldn’t use overly aggressive topicals. Neck creams are typically formulated gentle enough for the area. However, you can definitely opt for standard wrinkle treatments, as long as you use them responsibly.

Look for these ingredients:

Encapsulated or low dose retinol — retinol is the gold standard of aging ingredients as it boosts collagen production, increases cell turnover, and more. Use lower potency retinol (like 0.5% or less) or encapsulated retinol, which is easier to tolerate. Lactic acid — this alpha hydroxy acid is an excellent chemical exfoliator and hydrator all wrapped into one.Ceramides — ceramides are the polar lipids that makeup your skin barrier. If you use them topically they can help restore the barrier, keep skin hydrated, and smooth fine lines.

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The takeaway

Developing wrinkles is a natural part of life. But it’s totally understandable if you want to do your best to avoid developing those deep-set, permanent lines. So if you want to tend to lines on the neck, hands, or eye area, just look for the right ingredients, such as peptides, retinol, and hyaluronic acid, and antioxidants.

Oh, and one of the most important things you can do to keep wrinkles at bay is to wear sunscreen—so here’s our favorite SPFs on the market right now.