What are Facial Aging Categories: Are you a Sinker or Sagger?

 

Knowing your facial aging category can help you understand how you will age, and what injectables are better suited for you.. This is an exciting topic, because I’m gonna explain what the different categories are by looking at celebrities and how they’ve aged over the years.

There are 3 Facial Aging Categories

  • Sinkers (deflators)

  • Saggers (descenders)

  • Wrinklers

The two main facial aging categories that people fall into are sinkers and saggers. Combo’s ( short for combination) are people who fall in between both categories, sinkers and saggers. Wrinklers are self explanatory, they wrinkle. They are the rarest category, so we will mainly focus on sinkers and saggers because that’s what most people will fall into.

What’s the difference between a Sinker vs. Sagger?

What distinguishes a Sinker from a Sagger basically comes down to the difference in the density of the skin and soft tissue.

Sinker Sagger Illustration.JPG

Saggers (Descenders)

In the picture below you can observe that Drew Barrymore (on the left) has overall thicker, denser skin. You can’t see the underlying skeletal framework as much as you can with Isabelle Lucas. When someone is a "Sagger", their skin remains thick, but because we all lose collagen, elastin and fat pads, with time, the skin descends. The volume ends up getting heavy to the lower face which can often contribute to looking jowly. The skin and soft tissue loses support, becoming more and more lax, and less taught. It’s sometimes described as the skin slipping away from the underlying bony framework.

Facial aging categories.  Sagger vs. Sinker.  Drew Barrymore (left) and Isabel Lucas (right)

Sinkers (Deflators)

In contrast, Isabella Lucas (on the right) has skin and tissue density that is overall thinner. You can see her underlying bone structure more around her temples and right under her cheek bone area. With time, it will become more hollow which can make the face take on a hardened appearance. "Sinkers" tend to have more angular and chiseled features because they deflate and you can see their underlying bone structure more than you can with a "Sagger".

Combination (Sinker & Sagger)

So what are you when you are a combination of the two- Sinker and Sagger?" Also known as a "Combo"

Let’s look at Ashley Judd (below). If you look at the central part of her face, which includes her cheeks and jowl area, you can see that she has pretty thick tissue density to this area.

Facial aging categories.  Combination of a Sinker and Sagger.  Ashley Judd

In contrast, the lateral areas of her face, notably her temples and the area right in front of her ears, (called the pre-auricular area) circled in black, this area is a lot less dense. She is a good example of a "Combo"- Combination of a "Sinker" and "Sagger."

Facial aging categories.  Ashley Judd is shown with her mother Naomi Judd.  Ashley is a combination of a Sinker and Sagger.

Let's look at the beautiful actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio below.

Facial aging categories.  Actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio at 25 years old

Below in this picture in 1991 at 33 years old, you can see that she has lost some volume. Her face is more bony, but no descent really.

Facial aging categories.  Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio at 33 years old.

At 57 years old in this picture below, you can see a lot more volume loss to her temples, the bones that frame her eyes (orbital bones), and her lower cheeks (sub-malar cheeks). She fits the aging category of "Sinker".

Facial aging categories.  Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio at 57 years old.
Facial aging categories.  Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio facial aging timeline.  Aging category-Sinker

If we follow the lovely Cameron Diaz we can see that she has very thick skin density overall, so it’s not hard to guess which aging category she would have fallen into.

Facial aging categories.  Actress Cameron Diaz at 22 years old

Below in 2014 at 42 years old, you can see some decent. Her skin density has remained overall thick, so she would fall into the category of "Sagger".

Facial aging categories.  Cameron Diaz at 42 years old.
Facial aging categories.  Cameron Diaz facial aging timeline.  Aging category-Sagger

We all know this famous face below, Angelina Jolie. Let’s take a look at how she has evolved through the years. Our fat pads, collagen and elastin are so abundant when we’re in our 20’s, and she was 26 in this picture below.

Facial aging category.  Actress Angelina Jolie at 26 years old.

Here below in 2008 she was 33. You can see a lot more definition in her face, because she has some lost volume compared to her 20’s. If your guess was that she was going to be a "Sinker", you guessed correct!

Facial aging categories.  Angelina Jolie at 33 years old.

Here in the picture below, from 28 years old (picture on the left) to 37 years old (picture on the right), you can see even more volume loss to her temples, lower cheeks and to her lower lateral face (pre-auricular area).

Facial aging categories.  Angelina Jolie facial aging timeline.  Aging category-Sinker

Lastly, let’s take a look at beautiful Geena Davis. Below in 1992 she was 36 years old. You can observe that she has always had fairly thick, dense skin.

Facial aging categories.  Actress Geena Davis at 36 years old.

Over time she has descended, but maintained her thick skin density.

Facial aging categories.  Geena Davis at 40 years old.

You can observe in the picture below that she evolved into the aging category of "Sagger".

Facial aging categories.  Geena Davis facial aging timeline.  Aging category-Sagger

For more facial aging categories with celebrities AND to find out which injectable procedures best suit your facial aging category, watch the video below.