Eli5: Why do humans look older in their late twenties than mid twenties even though a lot haven’t developed wrinkles yet?
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Humans show age in many ways. The texture of the skin changes, the way fat is distributed and stored in the body, including on the face, changes too. Even bone structure changes as we age. Hair texture, hair thickness, hair distribution, etc. Our brains are uniquely designed to sub-consciously process all kinds of information about a person from their face, and you are just picking up on many other more subtle signs of aging than just the wrinkles. That’s why older people who get injections to remove wrinkles often end up looking really weird and unnatural- our brains just know its wrong based on many minute factors we aren’t even conscious of.
Because aging isnt just about wrinkles. More subtler changes, like losing some of the fat (and therefore fullness), in your face also makes people look older. Google “buccal fat removal”. Basically, people who [had their cheek fat pads removed](https://salamehplasticsurgery.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/buccal-fat-pad-kentucky.jpg). Its a procedure that many plastic surgeons absolutely refuse to do bc fat loss naturally happens in our face as we age and it does not look good as people age. Removing chubby cheeks at 25 can mean sunken cheeks at 40. Anyway, check out the before and afters like [this](https://www.drvitenas.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/patient-27803-buccal-fat-pad-removal-before-after.jpg). Virtually no time has elapsed between the photos – a couple of months at the most. And yet [they all](https://www.robbfacialplastics.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/bfr1-700×400.png) look like their own [older sibling.](https://www.eosrejuvenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Buccal-Fat-Rmv_1-1.jpg) Its kind of freaky.
You also probably wont see anyone over like 45 getting that mess done. Youthful cheeks are chubby.
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