Sinker, Sagger or Wrinkler? Which Are You?

It’s not something I’d ever stopped to think about until the topic popped up at a tweakments event, where a new product was being introduced as something good for ‘sinkers and saggers’. My ears pricked up. It turns out that if you’re an aesthetic practitioner, among the many factors you’ll be considering when assessing a patient’s face is: are they a sinker, a sagger or a wrinkler? What on earth? Read on and find out! 

What do these three types look like?

“When we look at how people’s faces age, there are three main categories,” says Dr David Jack. “Is your face losing volume like a slowly deflating balloon? Then you’re probably a ‘Sinker’. Does your skin look like it’s sliding away from the bone structure underneath? Then you’re a ‘Sagger’.” And if you’re a Wrinkler, then that doesn’t take much explaining. We all know what wrinkles look like.

One more thing to worry about, eh?

None of these sounds particularly appealing, but it’s just the result of how our genes – plus the effects of our lifestyle choices – play out over time in our faces. It’s not something to stress about. We are as we are. And if you’re on the younger side and are wondering which way your face might go, think of your mum’s face (or your dad’s). That will give you a clue.

What are the best tweaks for Sinkers? 

Injectables

“I have to say, this isn’t the way I look at patients,” muses Dr Tatiana Mandavia of the Doctors Tatiana and Rishi Clinic. “I’m not mentally dividing them into sinkers or saggers!” For people who are showing volume loss, she will look at products that improve the water content of the skin, such as the injectable skin booster Vivacy HydroMax which “sits nicely in that layer just underneath the skin and gives a very soft volume to the face”. Depending on the face in front of her, she might reach for an injectable product like Sculptra to help generate more collagen, or hydrating Profhilo, or its new amped-up stable-mate Structura, all of which will help a hollow face more than energy-based devices.

Dr David Jack also picks out Structura, along with dermal fillers and polynucleotides, as a top option for Sinkers. This is the new product from Profhilo, at the launch of which I heard about sinkers and saggers. What exactly is Structura? It’s a more concentrated form of Profhilo. It doesn’t add volume as such, but aims to reboot and grow the fat in the superficial fat pads in the temples, which tends to get a bit tatty with age.

How can a Sagger be treated?

Energy-based devices and dermal filler

“Energy-based devices like Secret RF are great for saggers,” says Dr Mandavia. When she sees people whose faces are sliding southwards and losing definition, she tends to reach for the firmer dermal fillers too. “Saggers tend to have volume in their faces, but in the wrong places. So rather than using soft products to blend into that, I use more fillers to add more structure in the face and continue that volume.”

And what about jowls or double chins, where that sagging volume tends to accumulate? Dr Mandavia would choose energy-based devices, using them deep enough to address the fat layer and tighten that and the overlying skin. She has also got her hands on a new product called ‘Fat Face’, and injectable fat-melter blend of five difference peptides, “It helps to change the way the tissues store fat,” she explains, “but unlike other fat-dissolving injections, it’s not based on deoxycholic acid. So far we’ve been trying it on our staff and have found it works very well.”

Where Should Wrinklers Start?

Skincare and toxin

Here at The Tweakments Guide, we’re aways talking about the importance of using effective, results-led skincare. And while skincare can’t help re-structure a face that’s sinking or sagging, it can do a lot for wrinkly, crepey skin. In particular, with hydrating products to plump up dry skin, antioxidants to strengthen skin’s defences, peptides to reboost collagen production and retinoids for all-round improvement. Oh, and sunscreen every day, to minimise future wrinkling.

Both Dr Jack and Dr Mandavia have their own ranges of skincare at their clinics, and in addition to that, would suggest wrinkle-relaxing toxins as appropriate for their Wrinklers, plus energy treatments (Morpheus8 for Dr Jack; CO2 laser for Dr Mandavia. Both point out that they take a combination approach for most people who come to them for treatment, because there’s no one single tweak that will fix all the changes that are going on in someone’s face.

Are There More Wrinklers in Scotland?

Dr David Jack now has a clinic in Edinburgh as well as three in London, so I asked if he saw more of one face type in one location than another. To my amazement, he does. “I’d say I see an even distribution of these three types in London but in Edinburgh there are definitely more saggers and wrinklers,” he says. And why might that be? “Scottish pale skin in the sun,” he replies. What was I saying about sunscreen?…

For more advice about skincare, including that all-important sunscreen, head to the TTG Skincare Shop or book in for a consultation with our skincare consultant Shenaz.