Women shift focus to jaw and eyes as they age

When it comes to facial features, younger women are concerned about their nose and skin while older women worry about their eye area and jawline, according to new research.

 

A study by scientists at Gazi University in Ankara, Turkey, explored women’s motivations for changing their facial appearance and found that women in their 20s are most concerned about the nose and the skin, while women in their 30s and 40s are focused on the skin and the periorbital region around the eyes. For women in their 50s, the periorbital region and jawline were the primary facial focal points. 

 

Women attending a cosmetic surgery outpatient clinic for consultation were asked which part of their face they focused on most when they looked in the mirror, which part they noticed most in the faces of other women, what they liked or disliked most about their own face, and whether they wished to change any facial feature. 

 

The study found that women focused on the facial areas that they disliked the most, which led to a desire to change those features. It also found that as women aged, the feature they focused on the most changed. 

 

The study also found that, regardless of their own age, women tended to compare their own faces to those of women in their 20s and 30s, perceiving flaws in the areas that did not match up. However, they didn't see those same flaws when looking at the faces of older women.

 

The full findings are published in Mirror on the Wall: A Study of Women’s Perception of Facial Features as They Age, in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal.