What are fine lines? How to reduce fine lines on the face, around the eyes, and on the forehead?

What are fine lines?

Fine lines and wrinkles are not something to worry about and are a common factor in aging, but they are here to stay. Fine lines & wrinkles usually start to appear when you enter your late 20's or early 30's depending upon your skincare routine, products that you use, the food you eat, and your lifestyle choices. Fine lines are the mild forms that mostly remain on the skin's surface and later turn into wrinkles.

Some proteins are essential to give our skin a proper structure and ability to extend and bounce back. Due to the lack of proteins such as elastin and collagen, our skin starts to lose its elasticity, and fine lines & wrinkles begin to appear. Then you start experimenting with different skincare products or remedies to get rid of fine lines.

Although fine lines and wrinkles can not be avoided entirely as it is a natural aging procedure, it can be slowed down with few things. Fine lines and wrinkles will appear whether you use any specific targeted products, treatments, or anything else. But you can indeed delay their occurrence by making smart choices, or you can also choose to opt for a surgical treatment to get rid of them temporarily.

Don't you worry! We are here in every possible way to help you understand all of it. In this article, fine lines are under the spotlight! Read more to understand what fine lines are, the reasons for their appearance, and what you can do to reduce fine lines on your face, eyes, and forehead. 

What are the fine lines?

You can say it is a slightly decent version of wrinkles as the fine lines mostly occur on the upper layers and do not affect the skin's deeper layers like wrinkles. Fine lines can be challenging to locate at first, but it can progress and turn into wrinkles if left unattended. By unattended, we mean improper care.

Fine lines indicate that your skin has started aging because there is not enough elastin & collagen to keep the skin firm & tight. It can happen due to environmental factors, a lot of movement in the facial muscles, and always making certain kinds of expressions that force the skin to fold or stretch.

Fine lines target those areas of the skin that are easy to mess up with and are most vulnerable to damage. Such sites include the skin around the eyes, the area around the mouth, and forehead.

Younger people have plenty of proteins in their skin to keep them away from fine lines and wrinkles, but the older you get, the skin starts to become thinner, drier, and connective tissues will begin to lose. This happens because your skin faces a shortage of necessary protein, which helps in holding everything together.  

What Causes Fine lines?

Several reasons can contribute to the development of fine lines around the face, both related to aging and other factors:

1. Aging: 

As we mentioned earlier, fine lines are one of the factors that come with aging. As we age, all the procedures in our body start to slow down, our body functions do not run as smoothly as it used to at a younger age. Similarly, the amount of collagen production also reduces, resulting in the disruption of our skin's repairing system that makes it thinner, less elastic, and fragile. Such factors play the leading role in giving fine lines a permanent home to live in.

2. Sun Exposure: 

Sun can cause many skin problems and contribute to most of the damage that happens to your skin. Fine lines and wrinkles are a few of those problems. Harmful rays of the sun penetrate deeper into the skin and can help speed up the process of aging that can result in premature aging. It can damage the connective tissues, collagen, and elastin present in the skin. 

3. Shortage of sleep: 

Lack of sleep doesn't only make you cranky and irritated, but it can also harm your skin, causing dark circles, swollen eyes, fine lines, and wrinkles. When we go into the snoozing zone, it is the time when our body starts its repairing system by managing a proper blood flow that reaches the skin and to help your skin maintain that healthy glow when you wake up in the morning.

4. Facial Expressions: 

We often make facial expressions that cause our skin to fold, stretch, and squint, leading to fine lines & wrinkles. It is not a problem at a young age because we have enough flexibility in the skin to stretch and fold, but as we grow older, our facial muscles start contracting and lose their elasticity. 

5. Dry skin: 

Dry or dehydrated skin is not just irritating but can also result in premature aging. Lack of moisture can cause our skin cells to shrink, which can create fine lines and wrinkles. 

Ways to reduce fine lines on the face, eyes, and forehead 

Although many factors contribute to fine lines, there's always a way to reduce the chances of getting fine lines and wrinkles. No matter how old you are, it is never too late to start preventing aging signs.

Here are some ways for what can you do to delay the aging process: 

1. Sun protection: 

Too much sun exposure is not suitable for your skin anyway. All the areas exposed to the sun are more vulnerable to suffer from the signs of aging. You should spend less time in the sun, especially when it's high up in the sky, wear protective clothing (that covers your face, neck, arms, and other areas adequately), and use sun protection containing SPF 30 or above. Sunscreen should be applied after every few hours to ensure total protection from the sun's harmful rays. 

2. Moisturize more often: 

Applying moisturizer will ensure that your skin is hydrated all the time by sealing the moisture inside the skin. It provides your skin with the necessary hydration that it needs and improves blood circulation to boost/enhance the skin's collagen levels. You can apply any creams or serums that contain antioxidants and collagen-boosting properties. Use the specifically targeted products to reduce fine lines and wrinkles or any other signs of aging. Along with reducing aging signs, moisturizer also improves the overall appearance of the skin.

3. Proper sleep routine: 

A proper sleep routine will ensure that your entire body goes into a state of rest, and it can start the process of repairing and healing. Experts recommend that you should have at least 8 hours of sleep every night to give your face muscles enough rest and wake up with that healthy glow on your skin.

4. Don't stress too much:

Wherever we stress too much, our facial muscles tend to crease on the areas, including the forehead, cheeks, and eyes that can give rise to fine lines and wrinkles. Stress can also cause a loss in the main protein that defines the elasticity in the skin. Less elasticity means more formation of fine lines and wrinkles. To reduce stress, you can invest your time exercising, meditating, eating healthy food, and making smart lifestyle choices. 

5. Watch out for your habits: 

Your habits can have a vast impact on how your skin looks and feels inside out. Bad habits like smoking, unhealthy food, sleeping with your makeup, skipping sleep can ruin your skin to the point that it would be hard to come back from. If not wholly banishing your bad habits, you should always try to improve by choosing and doing what your skin or body requires. Practice healthy habits like consuming good food, removing your makeup correctly, having enough sleep, and giving up smoking. 

Conclusion 

The occurrence of fine lines & wrinkles is a natural aging process. It can be quite frequent when you start entering into the era of old age as wrinkles can be hard to overcome, fine lines can be reduced if caught at an early stage, and can ultimately reduce the chances of developing wrinkles. There can be plenty of causes of fine lines, and some of that has nothing to do with the aging factor. Fine lines and wrinkles are not something you can get rid of permanently, but you can indeed reduce their effect with some preventive measures.

While some people find it easy to go under a surgical treatment to get rid of fine lines temporarily, others are more inclined towards using over the counter methods that can help reduce the effect of fine lines due to the presence of some specific ingredients like proteins, antioxidants, retinoids, and others.

Fine lines or not, you should always steer clear of the reasons that contribute to developing such issues. Not just fine lines, but you can avoid so many skin problems by choosing the right skincare products, making correct food choices, improving your daily habits, and taking special care of the areas with thinner skin.

If you have just started getting the hints of fine lines around your face, you should research the issue and get it examined by a professional to seek the right treatment and help manage the effect of fine lines at an early stage.