How to Minimize Frown Lines
Remember when your mom said, “If you keep making that face, it’ll get stuck that way”? Well, she wasn’t entirely wrong. Those frowny faces we made as kids—and still do today—along with years of winking, squinting, and inquisitively raising an eyebrow—are all here to stay, in the form of two pesky vertical lines between the eyebrows, often referred to as frown lines or the “11’s.”
Frown lines can show up as early as your 20s and further deepen with age, especially if you’re the expressive type. They’re mostly caused by repeated muscle movements (frowning, squinting, and scowling), which gradually break down collagen and elastin (the building blocks of the skin). Other factors like UV rays and pollution can also contribute to the deterioration of collagen and elastin and lead to more visible lines and wrinkles. “If you took a piece of paper and folded it in the same place over and over again, eventually you break down the fibers that make up the paper and you get a permanent crease,” explains Dr. David Orentreich, a New York City-based board certified dermatologist and Clinique guiding dermatologist. It’s the same with the frown lines.