People are asking ‘How old do I look?’ on TikTok. A plastic surgeon walked us through what makes you look older than you are

Here’s how the trend rolled out: Gen Zs began posting videos of their faces on TikTok and asking their followers, “How old do I look?” It’s an interactive strategy designed to provoke responses, and they were flooded with them, followed by a lot of “No way!” Some are pleased with the consensus, others horrified.

Then the filters arrived to the party, allowing people to test the crowd source against AI, manipulating their perceived age up, down and sideways, with or without makeup, or both, one after the other. One TikTok user, Kryz, “a mother, wife and girl boss” tried out three age-guessing filters, resulting in estimates of 25, 16 and 14. She admitted she was just using them to flatter herself, then flipped the script to shill L’Oréal face serum as the reason AI thinks she is so young.

Social media-savvy plastic surgeons and dermatologists have gotten involved, too, posting their own videos and sprinkling in some perspective on how to look younger.

“From what I can see, this trend originated from a theory that people in generation Z who are currently in their 20s may look older than they actually are,” said Dr. Jacqueline Makerewich, a Toronto-based board-certified plastic surgeon who I find brings a thoughtful, feminist bent to her work. “I think this relates to a trend of heavy-handed use of fillers and Botox. If you have received more Botox than is ideal, facial movements become noticeably unnatural.” When large amounts of filler are injected into your face, your skin can look tighter than is natural.

When we can tell that someone has had substantial Botox and filler, Makerewich said we make the assumption that they are compensating for signs of aging, which leads us to conclude that the person is older than they are. Therein lies the irony: too many interventions too young can actually make you look older. Kylie Jenner is often cited as an example of this phenomenon. 

You might be interested in

• Dec 31, 1969
• Comments

• Dec 31, 1969
• Comments

It’s not just twentysomethings offering their faces up to the age guessing technology, though. Older people have followed suit, met with a scrambled array of answers. One named Malena asked “40 year old faces, where are you” and got responses that showed AI estimating 40-year-olds in their mid-50s, and in one case at 65.

But what elements are we actually looking at when assessing a face for its age? “There are some key features that our eyes gravitate to,” Makerewich said. “Skin is a big consideration. As we age, our skin loses elasticity, becomes thinner and shows signs of chronic sun exposure.” 

People with darker skin have more protective melanin and people with lighter skin are more prone to solar-related aging, Makerewich added. “Daily and repetitive SPF use is the most important action for preserving a youthful skin appearance.” You can also prevent further damage by not getting sunburned, not smoking and staying well hydrated. Use a topical vitamin A product (aka a retinoid) to increase the rate of skin turnover and boost the amount of collagen in the skin.

As your real-life number rises, exfoliation methods such as chemical peels and microdermabrasion can help with dullness. Procedures that increase collagen by creating controlled micro-injuries such as microneedling, PRP, deeper chemical peels and lasers can also make significant improvements in skin quality.

“Loss of facial support is another telltale sign of aging,” Makerewich said. “In plastic surgery, we talk about the triangle of youth, which relates to most facial volume being situated in the upper half of the face.” This translates to full and high cheekbones, the lower tip of the triangle ending in a well-defined chin point. “As we age, this triangle slowly becomes inverted as we lose facial fat and bone support and our skin becomes more lax.” The bottom half of the face becomes fuller, with loose skin gathering under the jaw and in the jowls. 

Injectors often try to correct the triangle aggressively with fillers, when in fact, says the surgeon, if significant skin laxity and drooping is present, the best procedure to reduce lower facial heaviness is a facelift. Makerewich said the range of a facelift is $12 to $25,000, with her own fee averaging $16,000.

The neck is another important factor in “showing your age” she said. “A face and neck lift allows for tightening of the platysma muscles in the neck, which can make a really big difference in jaw line definition.”

Eyelids, too, are a key player. “Removing loose eyelid skin can open the eyes and add a youthful energy to the face in a way where observers can’t quite put their finger on what has changed or why someone looks younger,” said Makerewich, referring to a celebrity-favoured procedure called blepharoplasty. Celebs can get away with it, even on camera close-ups. “The scars from a blepharoplasty are essentially invisible.” Upper eyelid blepharoplasty rings in around $5,000; lower eyelid slightly more.

So those are some ways to wind back your perceived age — if you do in fact see looking older as a problem. Of course, many of us do. But the real question is, why we care so much?

“Our collective obsession with youth as a society is interesting to reflect on as both a plastic surgeon and as an aging woman getting ready to leave my 30s behind,” said Makerewich. It’s natural to want to feel youthful, she said. “Youth is linked to fertility and in an effort to expand our genetics we are biologically programmed to seek out fertility and physical traits associated with it.”

As social creatures, we seek approval and acceptance from others. “I think from a psychological perspective we want to have traits that are desired by our peer group,” she said. That’s why human beings are always going to notice beauty and vitality, and also why doctors should perform appearance-altering procedures responsibly. “The key is in finding a healthy balance. We want to appreciate and honour our bodies, find beauty in our own unique faces, and when we do consider interventions to enhance our beauty to do this safely and with realistic expectations.”

Asking TikTok how old you look takes seconds; the trend is a whizzing snapshot of a moment in time. But the way we see aging as a culture has long-term implications — whether we can find a healthier relationship with it remains to be seen.