Have you ever just sat back and wondered how and why skin wrinkles form?

There are many myths floating around about wrinkles so I figured it’s best to lay out just what causes wrinkles on the face and skin.  This way, after reading the various wrinkle cream reviews you can manage your own expectations accordingly and treat anti aging the way in other ways than just using wrinkle creams and facial serums.

Here are some of the documented, factual reasons that skin wrinkles occur:

1.  Chronological Aging.

This may not mean much to most people, so I’ll do my best to break down what this means and try to alleviate all of the science talk that would make this a boring read.

It’s important to know that as human skin ages, the epidermal cells thin out.  Over time, these thinning cells are visible by the human eye.  If you’ve ever noticed that people older than you have “thinner” skin you’ll know what I’m describing.

In short, the number of epidermal cells we start with decreases by 10% per decade and they start to divide even slower as we age, decreasing the skin’s ability to repair itself.  If you have read about telomere aging, this is exactly what I’m talking about.

The skin shows significant changes due to this.  Other than appearing thin, it’s also a fact that less collagen is produced as the skin ages.    Changes such as these affect the scaffolding of the skin cause the skin to sag, become discolored, and more important – wrinkle.

That’s the scientific proof about how the skin ages, now I’ll lay out some substantial causes of wrinkles that are more in line with the causes of wrinkles you were probably searching for.

2.  Repeated expressions

Each and every time we smile, wince, wink, laugh, frown, squint, or make another movement, the skin folds.  Just like when you fold a piece of paper, the skin remembers this movement.  A pattern is formed, and it’s much easier to make this movement as time progresses.  Repeated facial expressions cause wrinkles.  Have you ever looked around the jaw or frown line of a lifetime smoker?  It’s usually lined with expression wrinkles that were caused by smoking.  The same school of thought can be applied to someone who was always squinting. “Crows feet” – the wrinkles that appear on the corner of the eyes, are perhaps the most pesky, nasty wrinkles to get rid of.  Many people fight the uphill battle with crows feet and hope to lessen their appearance with an anti wrinkle cream or eye serum.  While they can significantly cover them up and visibly reduce their appearance, erasing them forever is a lost cause.  Even injections won’t get rid of them completely.

3.  Genetics

Just like some people have traits like “moles” or other skin conditions in their family, wrinkles can be more prevalent in certain families.

4.  The Sun

The sun is a HUGE contributor to skin wrinkles.  The movie “There is Something About Mary” features Mary’s Mother, who worships the sun in Sunny Florida.  If you remember her bronzed skin, it was full of wrinkles. The sun can significantly damage the skin, and if you aren’t protecting yourself with  sunblock, you WILL be more prone to developing facial wrinkles.

5.  Other Causes of Wrinkles

Smoking, (because of the toxins) medications, and being dehydrated and a plethora of other factors can be minimal factors in getting skin wrinkles.  If you are looking for an alternate way to get nicotine, check out electronic cigarettes.

Be sure to read my page on wrinkle prevention to ensure you are doing all you can to avoid skin wrinkles and keeping their visibility at a minimum.