WEARING WELL

HOW men and women age differently. This week: Faces

FOR most of their lives both men and women’s faces age at the same rate — that is until women hit 50. Then the female trajectory turns sharply, reported the American Journal of Physical Anthropology in 2019.

That’s because the drop in oestrogen with the menopause also cuts the production of collagen — the protein in skin that gives it its elasticity.

As a result, between the ages of 50 and 60, women’s faces age at three times the speed of men’s (with a saggier jawline, folds around the nose, and thinner lips developing).

Men’s skin is on average 20 per cent thicker than women’s — however, their natural advantage can be lost. For example, they’re less likely to wear sunscreen — which protects against the ageing effects of the sun.