Changes in facial signs due to age and their respective weights on the perception of age, on a tired‐look or a healthy glow among differently aged Chinese men

Abstract

Objective To determine the respective weights of certain facial signs on the assessment of perceived age, tired‐look and healthy glow on Chinese men of different ages. Material and methods Photographs were taken of the faces of 420 Chinese men of different ages, under standardized conditions. These photographs allowed to focus and define 15 facial signs, which were then graded by 15 experts and dermatologists, using standardized scales provided by a reference Skin Aging Atlas. The facial signs were dispatched into 5 clusters, namely wrinkles/texture, ptosis/sagging, pigmentation disorders, vascular disorders and cheek skin pores. A naïve panel, composed of 80 Chinese women, of similar age range were asked, when viewing full‐face photographs, to: (i) attribute on a 0–10 scale their perception of both the tired‐look and healthy glow aspects and (ii) estimate the age of the subject. Results With the exception of vascular disorders, the severity of all 4 clusters increased with age, although at different rates. The ptosis/sagging or pigmentation disorders showed a rather regular progression. Although perceived ages and real ages were found to be closely correlated, the vast majority of subjects were judged older by 2–10 years. The changes in facial signs (and their related clusters) were significantly correlated with perceived age, with the exceptions of skin spot density and cheek skin pores. Although the aspects of tired‐look and healthy glow were logically found to be anti‐correlated, tired‐look was more statistically associated with perceived age for the five clusters. Signs of eye contour appear to be closely correlated with the perception of a tired‐look. Conclusion Within facial clinical clusters, wrinkles/texture and ptosis/sagging are major factors in the assessment of perceived age in Chinese men. Tired‐look appears to be strongly associated with perceived age.

The respective weights of facial signs on the perception of age and a tired‐look among differently aged Korean men

“…Upper-half face and especially eye contour area (glabellar, crow's feet, periorbital, inter-ocular wrinkles, eye bags, drooping of upper eyelid, localized spots in upper cheek area) presented the most important correlation coefficients with the perception of a tired-look in Korean men (Table 7), results being comparable to those obtained in Chinese men. 12 It reinforces the key role in eye contour especially in Asia in facial appearance perception. 28,29 Hence, decoding the perception of a facial tired-look and PA of Korean men appears crucial in a country particularly active in the emergence and growing of disruptive beauty trends that could be spread in Asian zone and Worldwide through popular media, iconic styles, and cultural exportations (TV dramas, K-Pop, etc).…”

“…When the same picture was presented twice at random, the average divergence in gradings never exceeds 0.1 unit. It is worth noting that previous studies that focused on male subjects, using the same 15 experts, 1-4, [10][11][12] showed that the average divergence between their assessments never exceeded 0.3 grading units.…”

“…K E Y W O R D S facial signs, Korean men, perceived age, skin aging atlas, tired-lookThe facial aging experienced by Asian men is scarcely documented, [1][2][3][4] especially in Korean subjects despite their vivid expectation for aesthetics, 5-9 in line with a boom of global grooming market in Asia. Hence, understanding the factors that drive the perception of appearance of men of different ethnicities [10][11][12] is essential to propose the most adapted cosmetic strategies to different desires or cultures. These factors primarily concern many facial signs or clusters (Wrinkles, Ptosis, Pigmentation signs, etc), the severity of which shows different rates of development along the aging process 3,11,12 at the individual level, conditioned by genetic, sun exposure, life style habits, etc.…”

“…Hence, understanding the factors that drive the perception of appearance of men of different ethnicities [10][11][12] is essential to propose the most adapted cosmetic strategies to different desires or cultures. These factors primarily concern many facial signs or clusters (Wrinkles, Ptosis, Pigmentation signs, etc), the severity of which shows different rates of development along the aging process 3,11,12 at the individual level, conditioned by genetic, sun exposure, life style habits, etc. Such slow and progressive changes in the aspect of the human face obviously influence the spontaneous perception of age by "the others."…”

“…With regard to the scarcity of a relevant literature, would such observations be valid on Korean men was the initial intent of this exploratory study. The latter, based on a comparable protocol used in previous studies, 3,11,12 added the evaluation of a tired-look, as a possible link with PA. Hence, 16 individual facial signs, organized in five clinical clusters, were graded on 101 differently aged Korean men, by experts from standardized photographs, using a referential Asian Skin Aging Atlas.…”