According to a Belgian study by the University of Louvain, test persons smiling people with small wrinkles around the eyes and mouth (the so-called laughter lines) were found to be significantly more attractive, cheerful and intelligent than people with wrinkle-free smiles. These were often perceived as artificial and inauthentic. Researchers saw the reason for this result in the fact that laughter lines are caused by the tensing of muscles that only become active when a real and unauthentic smile is present.
If these wrinkles are absent and the muscles are tensed during laughter, the smile often appears tucked up and fake. People without laughter lines are often perceived as masked and unpleasant. Unfortunately, however, the trend of the present day is against the small wrinkles around the eyes and mouth. Increasingly, the ideal of a wrinkle-free, flawless face is emerging. For this reason, cosmetic treatments such as “Botox injections” or plastic facial surgery are becoming increasingly popular.
Definition
Laugh lines, or “crow’s feet“, are small wrinkles on the outer edge of the eyelids or lips. These wrinkles appear at a young age and are caused by a lot of laughing or smiling. But laugh lines are also caused by other movements in which the appropriate facial muscles are used, such as squeezing the eyes together when looking against the sun.
With increasing age, the laugh lines deepen and remain permanently visible, which many women find disturbing and unattractive. In young women, where the tissue is still firm and malleable, laugh lines disappear immediately. In older women, on the other hand, in whom the connective tissue increasingly loses its elasticity, the wrinkles remain at some point and then deepen with each additional laugh.
Causes
As described above, laughter lines are caused by particularly frequent laughter and smiling. The main cause of laughter lines, however, as with all other wrinkles, is the dwindling content of hyaluronic acid in our connective tissue. From a biochemical point of view, hyaluronic acid is a long chain of sugar molecules which has the property of binding vast amounts of water.
Thus it represents a huge moisture reservoir for our skin. However, like everything else in our body, it is subject to a progressive aging process. In addition to its water-storing effect, hyaluronic acid also stabilizes collagen and elastic fibers, which above all ensure the stability and elasticity of our tissue.
Hyaluronic acid also protects our skin cells from the influence of free radicals. These are created, among other things, by excessive exposure to UV light and can cause our skin to age prematurely in large quantities. From the age of 30 onwards, however, both the hyaluronic acid content and the number of collagen and elastic fibers decrease.
The consequence is that wrinkles, which form, for example, when laughing, can no longer be retracted due to the lack of elasticity of the tissue and thus become permanent. They have too often become annoying, permanent wrinkles. In addition to the lack of hyaluronic acid, other factors are also involved in the formation of wrinkles.
For example, genetic factors, smoking, excessive exposure to UV light, an unhealthy diet and stress also play an important role in the formation of wrinkles. Various wrinkles can develop around the mouth. Frequent wrinkles are found in the form of small wrinkles above and below the lips.
Just like the classic crow’s feet at the corners of the eyes, they can also appear at a younger age and often bother those affected because they make you look older. Furthermore, the so-called corner of the mouth wrinkles or nasolabial folds can also appear as laughter lines. These wrinkles are naturally present in everyone – less so in some people, more so in others – and can deepen in the course of life.
The formation of laughter lines around the mouth is considered natural and is due to the high mechanical stress on this region of the face. The individual development of the connective tissue is a decisive factor for the fact that some people have more wrinkles and others less. Slight laugh lines around the mouth can usually be easily concealed by makeup and hyaloronane-containing products such as creams and primers (see above).
Deeper wrinkles, however, can ultimately only be effectively removed or effectively concealed by means of filling or firming measures, such as injections, laser treatment or lifting.An effective and nowadays very popular measure is the injection of hyaloron into the laughter lines around the mouth. This method has few side effects and cushions the laughter lines very well and naturally. The procedure takes less than 5 minutes and is not particularly painful.
Also, the frequent fear of having a “mask-like” appearance afterwards, as may be the case with over-dosed Botox treatments, does not exist with hyaloron injections. Only in the case of very pronounced nasolabial folds, injections sometimes fail to achieve a sufficient effect, so that tightening, surgical lifting may be necessary for a satisfactory effect. Small laughter lines or crow’s feet around the eyes are also called periorbital wrinkles.
They are caused by the squinting of the eyes and are present in most people. They are often perceived as very sympathetic, as they are associated with warm and affectionate characteristics. However, some people find their laughter lines around the eyes disturbing, especially when they appear at a younger age.
The easiest way to conceal small laughter lines around the eyes is to use a filling hyaluron cream or a smoothing primer. In knocking movements, this product should be applied before applying makeup or a concealer. A light concealer additionally conceals the wrinkles.
Cheek wrinkles are not actually laugh lines. They are caused much more by high solar radiation, harmful influences such as alcohol and nicotine consumption or rapid weight loss. Pronounced cheek wrinkles can often only be concealed by creams or make-up to a limited extent. In most cases, only filling injections help to effectively conceal the wrinkles.
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