Fine Lines & Wrinkles

Fine lines and wrinkles fall into three groups. Fine surface lines come from the skin itself thinning, drying and renewing more slowly. Expression lines form where muscles fold the same piece of skin many thousands of times. Deeper folds are usually the shadow of volume moving, not a crease in the skin at all. They look related in the mirror but respond to completely different things, so the first job is working out which you have.

The three kinds of line, and the mirror test

Sit in front of a mirror with your face relaxed and look at the lines that are still there. These are static lines, etched into the surface. They usually come from some combination of sun damage, dehydration, slower cell turnover and a gradual decline in collagen and elastin. Now smile, frown and raise your brows. Lines that appear only with movement are expression lines, most often across the forehead, between the brows and at the outer corners of the eyes.

The third group are folds, not lines. Folds running from the nose towards the mouth, or down from the corners of the mouth, usually come from volume shifting and skin losing support. That is a structural change, not a crease. Treating a structural fold as though it were a surface line rarely does harm. It does nothing, and you still pay for it.

What tends to make lines more noticeable

Ultraviolet exposure is the largest single factor most people can change. It acts on collagen and pigment together, so sun-damaged skin often looks lined and uneven at the same time. Smoking, broken sleep, dehydration, significant weight change and the hormonal shift around menopause all contribute, as does always sleeping on the same side of your face.

An over-enthusiastic skincare routine can also make lines more visible. A damaged barrier holds water poorly, and dehydrated skin shows every crease. It is not unusual for fine lines to look better after a few weeks on a simpler routine.

The realistic pathways, and what each is not for

For surface fine lines, the foundation is medical-grade skincare. It works slowly, but it is the only part of a plan that is on your skin every night. Resurfacing treatments such as skin peels and microneedling may support smoother texture and a fresher surface over a planned course. Hydrating treatments, including skin boosters and polynucleotides, may help skin that is crepey and dehydrated rather than lined. None of these has much effect on a line caused by muscle movement.

Expression lines are different. Softening them involves prescription-only medicines, which in the UK can only be prescribed after a face-to-face assessment. The route is an anti-wrinkle consultation with our prescriber, not a treatment you book from a list. Structural folds may lead to a conversation about volume. Where skin has lost its support, the problem is closer to skin laxity than to wrinkles, and beyond a certain point surgery can do what injectables cannot.

What a consultation looks at

Your practitioner looks at your face at rest and in expression, because the two views often show different lines. They then take a full history: medication, sun habits, what you have already tried and how your skin reacted, whether you tolerate a retinoid, and your skin type. Skin type affects how you are likely to respond to resurfacing. You will also discuss goals and timescales, because collagen change is measured in months.

Then comes sequencing. Doing three things at once usually means not knowing which one helped, so a plan has an order and a review point. Sometimes a line is not worth treating at all, and we will say so instead of starting a course that would not change it.

When it belongs with your GP

Lines are cosmetic, but not everything that appears in the same area is. See your GP, not a clinic, for a new or changing mole, a scaly or crusting patch that will not settle, a sore that does not heal, sudden facial asymmetry, or a drooping eyelid or brow that comes on by itself. Skin change that appears quickly alongside other symptoms is worth a medical opinion too. These need checking before any cosmetic treatment is planned.

Most people are best served by starting with a skin consultation, in Bedhampton near Havant, or in Winchester once the Jewry Street clinic opens on 8 December 2026. The assessment establishes what is causing the lines you see and what a proportionate response looks like.

Frequently asked questions