If you look closely at the skin of men and women of the same age, you may have noticed that men seem to have fewer wrinkles than the women. Why is this? Well, there are a number of reasons. The structure of a man’s skin ages differently because its structure is different in a number of ways:
Men actually have thicker skin than women
That is, on average, the top layer of a man’s skin is 25% thicker. This is where most of the wrinkles are noticeable. Thicker skin means one is less prone to wrinkling.
On top of that, a man’s skin has a higher collagen content – that is more collagen means less wrinkling. Collagen is a fibrous protein found in skin, bone and other connective tissue.
– Men lose collagen content more gradually than women, breaking down at about 1% per year
– Women lose collagen dramatically at the onset of menopause, resulting in thinning of the skin.
– Consequently, because men have much more collagen than woman to start with, they do not develop the fine lines and wrinkles that often happen to woman at a later age.
Men secrete larger amounts of oil through their oil glands
Which in turn make a protective film on the surface of the skin. This means the oil shields against moisture loss and excessive dryness.
This does not mean that men can forgo the benefits of facial exercises, of course.
Facial exercises build muscle fiber giving a more defined and structured look to the face. They also stimulate connective tissue which in turn can “tighten” the skin. It just means men have a slight advantage when it comes to wrinkling of the skin. This does not take into account, sun damage, smoking and other life-style choices that can undo all the advantages of nature.