Most people consciously look at a person’s eyes, nose, and mouth when reading the details of a person’s face. However, our brain’s unconsciously recognize that the cheeks convey message of youthfulness or age, health or sickness, beauty or plainness. Indeed, the way the cheeks look says a lot about our overall appearance.
THE IMPORTANCE OF CHEEKBONES
Think of a leading man. Now think of an actor who normally plays the comic relief. Regardless of the actors you imagine, your leading man almost certainly has strong, prominent cheekbones and the comic actor does not. Strong cheekbones are a strong signal of facial attractiveness, whether we consciously realize it or not.
The same is true for women, though to a lesser extent. Women with higher, more prominent cheekbones are generally more attractive than those weaker cheekbones (to a point; overly prominent cheekbones can make a woman’s face appear masculine). In people with weak cheekbones, even minor cheek augmentation can make a profound difference in the aesthetic appearance of the face.
THE CHEEK BETRAYS YOUR AGE
Much of the again of the face can be seen in the cheeks. In fact, people who look older than their actually age often appear that way because of premature aging in the cheeks. The most noticeable sign of age in the cheeks is cheek sagging. The cheek appears puffy, and the entire soft tissue begins to drop over the lower jaw. Subtle sagging usually begins in a person’s 30s or 40s, with substantial cheek sagging coming by the age of 55. People intuitively guess at your age based on this sagging, which is why cosmetic procedures that target the cheeks can make the face appear so youthful.
Gaunt cheeks can be attractive in younger people. However, once skin sagging appears, hollowed cheeks are another obvious sign of aging. Fortunately skin sagging and cheek hollowness can be treated with a combination of cheek implants (cheek augmentation), injectable dermal fillers, and fat transfer.
