Timeline of Your Face: How You Age

If you've ever seen one of those wrinkle time-lapse videos -- on TV or online -- then you know how scary it can be to watch a face age.

Even more disconcerting is waking up one morning, taking a glance in the mirror, and seeing what looks like "instant aging" -- lines and wrinkles that seem to appear over night.

The truth is, no matter how you view it -- quick time or real time -- eventually everyone's face wrinkles and ages.

"How well you cared for your skin from a young age, and more importantly how much you limited sun exposure before age 20, can make a difference in wrinkle formation. But there are still certain inevitable changes that are going to take place as the years go by," says dermatologist David Goldberg, MD, director of Skin, Laser and Surgery Specialists of New York and New Jersey.

Now as scary as that sounds, it needn't be. Goldberg and others say by knowing what to expect you can take steps to reduce or delay the impact of facial aging -- including wrinkles -- and take control of how the years unfold.

While many of these treatments you can do on your own -- even on a limited budget -- some do require somewhat costly professional care. When this is the case, remember that the earlier you start, the larger your budget is going to be as the years go by.

Equally important is that you don't try to cut corners by getting treatments in nonmedical facilities. Instead, always seek out the care and advice of a board-certified dermatologist or plastic surgeon before embarking on any professional antiaging treatments.

To help you safely get started on your journey to the fountain of youth, WebMD asked several experts to help us prepare the following timeline of how the face ages -- and what you can do, both on your own and with the help of your doctor, every step of the way.

(How has your face changed as you've aged? Take our poll on WebMD's Skin Care: Share Your Tips board.)

Your Face in Your 20s

As you head from the teens into young adulthood, experts say your face shows it -- with a more "womanly" look.

"You begin to lose the 'baby fat', and while the change is subtle, overall you begin to look less like a girl and more like a woman," says Ellen Marmur, MD, chief of dermatologic surgery at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.

But with that new womanly appeal comes, believe it or not, the start of facial aging.

"This is decade when the very early signs of what we call 'motor wrinkles' first begin to appear -- lines and creases related to movement. And the first place they appear is the brow," says Marmur.