Contents
According to the traces that the events of the past years and the experiences associated with them leave on our face, you can “read” the personal history of any person, says body language expert Jean-Pierre Veyra. We asked him to decipher the information carried by certain wrinkles. Four people agreed to participate in the experiment.
“Don’t hide any of my wrinkles,” the great Anna Magnani once told her photographers. “Each of them cost me too much …” Indeed, wrinkles can be called a living mirror of human life without exaggeration. The memory of our emotions and mental states, character traits and experiences, lifestyle and, of course, age – they reflect everything. “The face provides invaluable information about a person,” says Jean-Pierre Veyrat. “If the lines, shapes and dimensions of his body speak of who the person was originally, then his face, with all the traces that life has left on him, testifies to what and, most importantly, how he happened to endure.”
Age wrinkles: traces of passing time
The fact is not too joyful, but it is useless to argue with it: over the years, wrinkles still appear on our face. Each of us has this process in our own way. Although, as shown by a study conducted by Ceries (Research Center for the Study of the Epidermis and Sensitivity of Healthy Skin, founded in 1991 by CHANEL), there is a certain pattern in the sequence and timing of wrinkles. An experiment involving several hundred women scientifically proved what we know very well: it is enough to look even at a complete stranger to more or less accurately determine his age.
What emotions is such a face
Joy and sadness, resentment and anger – each of our emotions is reflected on the face. 22 muscles are responsible for his facial expressions. Those that work more often form certain mimic wrinkles that create a unique “map” of our emotional life.
- Constant concern: long transverse wrinkles on the forehead.
- Cheerfulness, empathy: nice wrinkles in the corners of the eyes (“crow’s feet”) and lips.
- Stress, anxiety, tension: deep vertical lines between the eyebrows.
- Dissatisfaction, bitterness, disappointment: “mournful” nasolabial folds.
Witnesses and… false witnesses of age
However, wrinkles should be taken only as a sketch, and not a clear diagram that allows you to judge the real age of a person. In the Ceries study, less than half of the women tested (44% to be exact) were age-matched with the pattern given by their wrinkles; about a quarter (24%) looked older than their years, and 28%, on the contrary, were much younger.
The fact is that the pattern created on the face by wrinkles contains very diverse information about a person and speaks not only about his biological age. Many things matter: the individual characteristics of the organism, the innate ability of the skin to regenerate or its predisposition to earlier or later aging.
But in general, to a large extent, the features of our appearance are formed under the influence of acquired habits, nutrition, and the environment. Everyone knows about the dangers of smoking: nicotine causes dehydration and oxygen starvation of the skin, prevents the normal production of collagen, and leads to premature aging. The appearance of early wrinkles also contributes to ultraviolet light. Remember the faces of your acquaintances, obsessed with a passion for tanning. They are very attractive… from a distance. Approaching, you will surely see a lot of small and large wrinkles on the forehead, cheeks and above the upper lip.
“Look at the world with interest, but without illusions”
Jean-Pierre Veyrat: “There are few wrinkles on the face of this woman, but his determined and slightly heavy features indicate a phlegmatic and not very sociable character. Judging by the expression on her face, she looks at the world with interest, but without much illusion. The nasolabial folds, which connect to the corners of the mouth, allow you to determine the age – she is about 35 years old.
Ekaterina, 32 years old, secretary: “I was surprised to learn that I am a phlegmatic. Perhaps I have yet to know myself – even at my age it is not too late. The world is still of some interest to me, and I have left some illusions for myself – I am a woman. And as for sociability, the expert was globally mistaken: I like to communicate, I love and know how to do it.
The art of retouching
Is it possible to slow down the onset of wrinkles, stay in the category of people who look “10 years younger than their age”? Of course, if you take care of your skin with the help of methods and tools specially developed for this.
Before you decide on radical procedures (injections to fill wrinkles, laser skin resurfacing, deep chemical peels, plastic surgery …), it is worth trying out the possibilities of daily care products. Cosmetology develops and constantly updates the arsenal of these products, including in them more and more effective and active active ingredients: AHA (alpha hydroxy acids), retinol (vitamin A), plant extracts and synthetic components that stimulate the production of collagen by skin cells, peptides (proteins that serve as building blocks). cell material). Today, scientists have made great progress in studying the nature of wrinkles, have learned to recognize and restore weakened skin cells.
“Expression, will and maturity”
Jean-Pierre Veyrat: “Determining the age of such a lively and mobile face is not easy. But his features testify to maturity. If you do not take into account the facial expressions of the mouth, which is a little confusing, but take into account the nasolabial folds and the clearly defined “crow’s feet” around the eyes, I would give this woman 32-33 years. She is an extrovert and comes across as a very expressive, strong-willed and active person, perhaps a bit harsh in communication. She is most likely married.
Evgenia, 36 years old, designer: “Basically, it’s very similar to me. But I don’t consider myself harsh… Although, I probably am like that if I am brought to the “boiling point”. I remember now that I heard from friends how surprised they were when they watched me at such moments. I do not consider myself strong-willed, rather, I would like to be so. Probably, the result of my efforts appeared on the face along with the nasolabial folds. As a child, I was timid and shy. And with age it passed: life made me change.
Mimic wrinkles: a reflection of our emotions
There is a set of basic human emotions (surprise, fear, anger, joy, disgust, sadness …), which correspond to facial expressions that are universal for all people. But there are also expressions peculiar to each individual person. Constant, habitual contractions of the same muscles lead to the appearance of folds on the skin, which gradually deepen, turning into mimic wrinkles. Naturally, the pattern of these wrinkles will be different for different people. Looking at it, we can guess about a person’s temperament, the strength of his optimism, the degree of self-confidence, responsiveness, and so on. Although it is, of course, impossible to make a full-fledged psychological portrait of a person in this way. As the French anthropologist and sociologist David Le Breton argued, “the face only whispers, and does not speak at the top of its voice, only hints at individual personality traits, but does not give a clear characterization of a person.”
How well do they reflect your age?
- The first wrinkles on the forehead. You are between 18 and 24 years old: your whole life is ahead, but something is already bothering you …
- Barely noticeable wrinkles between the eyebrows. 25 to 29 years old: You are actively building your life – personal and professional. Everyone says that this is a wonderful age … although you sometimes doubt it yourself.
- The first wrinkles under the eyes, emerging nasolabial folds. From 30 to 34 years old: you continue to search for yourself, revealing yourself as a person.
- “Crow’s feet” at the outer corners of the eyes. From 35 to 39 years old: the number of your duties increases, but in life you feel more confident than ever …
- Creases between the eyebrows, wrinkles on the forehead. From 40 to 44 years old: the beginning of maturity – you can be proud of what you have already implemented!
- Fan-shaped wrinkles above the upper lip. From 45 to 49 years old: you courageously go through this difficult stage of life, because you have a lot of important things to do.
- Wrinkles in the neck. From 55 to 59 years old: you still feel good and are capable of much!
True masks
They say that after 40 people become responsible for their face. Behind this boundary, the so-called “emotional mask”, reflecting the inner life, becomes more and more clearly visible in our features. Jean-Pierre Veyrat is convinced: “Experiences are clearly imprinted on the face. But this mask speaks not only about how we react to events. Both the upbringing of a person and his social environment are important.
The main emotional masks are easy to recognize: calmness (lack of tension; relaxed, as if stretched to the sides, facial features); bitterness (the corners of the lips mournfully lowered down); tragedy (a face distorted in the truest sense of the word); impassivity (frozen features in which emotions are not read). But even this, the last, mask can serve as a source of information: “after all, it usually belongs to people who have been accustomed from childhood to hide their weaknesses and pain and who by all means strive to “be strong” in any circumstances.”
“Deep feelings and love of life”
Jean-Pierre Veyrat: “This man looks very young, but emotions have already left visible prints on his face: crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes, wrinkles on his forehead. This is the face of a deeply feeling, life-loving person, who can be given about forty years. He reacts energetically and very emotionally to life situations that he has to face.
Oleg, 40 years old, photographer: “Usually they tell me that I don’t look my age. But it turns out that I already look … My profession is such that I have to visit hot spots, find myself in extreme situations. I have learned to hide my emotions. But sometimes they break through. Especially violently I react to injustice when someone’s rights are violated.
Face zen
Can mimic wrinkles be avoided? It is unlikely: we cannot live without emotions. But their marks can be softened. A state of inner peace, a light smoothing massage plus modern skin care products – all this will help smooth out mimic wrinkles without the risk of losing your own, individual facial expression.
“Activity, sociability … and not always an easy life”
Jean-Pierre Veyrat: “On the face of this woman, tension and some anxiety are clearly visible. We can say with confidence that she is very active and sociable, and communicates with people with pleasure. Her life has not always been easy. Tension in the eyes, compressed lips give out a rather restrained nature. I think she’s divorced. She is about 50-55 years old.
Laura, 50, kindergarten teacher: “Everything is absolutely correct. My life was not at all cloudless. During the shooting, I was a little worried, but my nature is this: I worry about everything, in particular because of how I look. As for restraint, I’m not sure. But maybe it’s about holding back emotions when it’s uncomfortable to overreact?
About expert
Jean-Pierre Veyrat — Consultant of the National Gendarmerie of France on profiling (verbal and visual psychodiagnostics), author of the original method Analyze morphogestuelle, used, in particular, by Lancôme to create an anti-aging product.