While we know that biological, environmental and lifestyle factors affect the overall physical and mental processes of ageing, one other factor plays a vital role in the ageing process. This key factor is all in your skin!
In terms of skin, where ageing first shows up is all in the melanin, the chemical in your skin that determines how light or dark your complexion is.
The truth is, the more melanin you have in your skin, the better you will age. Melanin is what gives skin its colour. Therefore, people with darker skin tend to show signs of ageing much later in life than people with fairer complexions.
In order to understand how you will age, let us take a more in-depth look at the differences in skin as they age.
Danger Ahead & Other Signs Your Skin is Ageing
It’s often said that people are more alike than different. The point is beautifully illustrated when it comes to people of every age and ethnic background trying to avoid:
- Visible signs of facial ageing
- Fine lines and wrinkles
- Saggy, drooping skin
- Loss of skin elasticity
- Reduction in collagen production
Just as the ozone layer defends Earth against the damaging rays of the sun, melanin protects you from sunburn and skin cancer. Melanin is a sticky pigment produced naturally by your body to protect your skin from UV rays and the damage they cause. “Having more pigment can help delay, but not fully stop, the tell-tale signs of ageing skin,” reports the BBC in its story Does Darker Skin Wrinkle Less Than Lighter Skin? (Anything that helps delay visible signs of ageing is a-okay with Costhetics.)
What does all this have to do with ethnicity? Thanks for asking.
Meet Thomas B. Fitzpatrick: He Knows Your Type
In 1975, Thomas B. Fitzpatrick developed a numerical classification schema for human skin colour. The Fitzpatrick Scale measures the amount of pigment in the skin and its tolerance to UV light. Participants answering a series of questions and their responses were assigned numerical values. For example:
What is your eye colour?
- Light blue, grey, green – 0
- Blue, grey, green – 1
- Blue – 2
- Dark Brown – 3
- Brownish Black – 4
The points were then added up and types were designated:
- 0-7 = Type I
- 8-16 = Type II
- 17-25 = Type III
- 25-30 = Type IV
- Over 30 = Type V-VI
The Fitzpatrick Scale is the most widely accepted skin typing method in medicine. Beauty professionals rely on the scale to accurately develop products appropriate to all skin types. (Fun fact: The Fitzpatrick Scale of the basis of skin colours in emojis, says Wikipedia)
If a person understands which skin type they have according to the Fitzpatrick Scale, they can make an informed choice about how to protect their skin. Can you spot your skin type in the list below?
Fitzpatrick Skin Scale 1, 2 & 3 (out of 6)
Examples include but not limited to “white”, “caucasian” or “anglo Australian”
Skin Characteristics
Examples of Fitzpatrick skin type 1, 2 or 3 include people with ancestors from countries like Ireland, Russia, and some parts of Europe. You have a fair to medium complexion and a tendency to burn before you tan. When you do tan, most of the time you achieve a nice golden tan, but if you spend more than an hour in the sun without protection, you burn. You are more likely than other ethnicities to develop melanoma skin cancer.
You are the first of all ethnicities to show signs of premature ageing. You will first notice signs of ageing around your eyes. You are prone to developing sunspots and sun damage. Caucasians are also more likely to have grey hair earlier than most other ethnicities.
Possible non-invasive cosmetic treatments for you:
- Anti-wrinkle injection treatments to correct crow’s feet and marionette lines.
- Dermal fillers to add volume to the skin.
- PRP treatments or Platelet Rich Plasma treatments to give the skin a more youthful appearance.
- Fractional laser resurfacing to treat severely sun damaged skin and dark sunspots.
- Microdermabrasion treatments to fade slight sun damage and light to medium sunspots.
Fitzpatrick Skin Scale IV
Examples include but not limited to people of Asian, Hispanic or Latino descent
If you are of Asian descent, your ancestors originated from places like China, Japan, and Korea. Did you know that Asians get the colour of their skin from the same substance that is responsible for the yellowish colour of various fruits and veggies? This substance, known as carotene, is what gives Asians, the yellowish undertone to their skin.
Asians, unlike Anglos, see the signs of ageing later in life, and fine lines and wrinkles are less likely to take form. One of the upsides of being Asian is that skin cancer is rare, and you are less likely to have early grey hair.
On the downside, Asian skin is prone to changes in pigmentation and pigmentation scarring. Asians are also more likely to developing hypertrophy scarring, unsightly scars and keloids. Asian eyelids are slightly different from most other ethnicities. As Asians age they sometimes have vision problems, because the skin above the eyelids tends to lose elasticity, causing it to sag.
Possible non-invasive cosmetic treatments for you:
- Microdermabrasion treatments to fade slight pigmentation scarring and other types of scars.
- Laser therapy to help fade keloid scars.
If you are of Hispanic or Latino heritage, your ancestors were from Mexico, South America, Puerto Rico or Cuba. Hispanic and Latino skin tones run the gamut from light to extremely dark and everything in between. What these skin tones have in common is that they all share some shade of brown.
Because the skin of most Hispanics and Latinos has a fair amount of melanin, they are not as vulnerable to the sun as, say, people of Anglo extraction. That doesn’t mean they’re free to go out in the sun without protection, but it does mean they are less likely than their Anglo counterparts to show signs of premature ageing.
On the other hand, having darker skin means they are prone to develop an uneven skin tone because of skin discolouration. They’re also more likely to develop dark spots and acne scars from acne breakouts. Latinos and Hispanics, like their Asian and African American counterparts, are more likely to develop keloids.
Possible non-invasive cosmetic treatments for you:
- Microdermabrasion to get rid of less severe dark spots, acne scars, skin discolouration and hyperpigmentation.
- Non-Ablative Fractional Resurfacing or NFR for sun damage and brown spots.
- Laser Hair Removal to get rid of unwanted hair on the face and the body.
- Laser therapy to help get rid of keloids.
Fitzpatrick Skin Scale V
Examples include but not limited to people of Middle Eastern descent
If you are of Middle Eastern descent, your ancestors are from places like North Africa, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates among many others. Just like other dark-skinned ethnicities, Middle Eastern people tend to have more melanin in their skin, so they also have added protection from the sun. They should, however, still use sun protection.
People with a Middle Eastern heritage don’t have to worry so much about premature ageing. Not only does their skin have a lot of melanin, it also tends to be thicker than that of other ethnicities. What does this mean? It means they are less likely to develop premature fine lines and wrinkles.
However, Middle Eastern skin also has more concentrated hair follicles, meaning more hair growth, and also enlarged pores, which produce more oil and can lead to breakouts. Just like Latinos and African Americans, those of Middle Eastern descent have skin issues like melasma and hyperpigmentation.
Possible non-invasive cosmetic treatments for you:
- Laser hair removal treatments to get rid of unwanted hair on the face and other areas of the body.
- IPL or intense pulse light for dark circles underneath the eyes.
- Microdermabrasion treatments to reduce the appearance of hyperpigmentation and help deep cleanse the pores to remove dull lifeless skin and excess oils.
- Laser treatments to reduce the appearance of melasma.
Fitzpatrick Skin Scale VI
Examples include but not limited to people of African descent
If you are of black or African American descent, your ancestors are from Africa but they could also be from the Carribean Islands and some South American countries. Since you have the most melanin in your skin, it tends to be darker than most other ethnicities. People of African descent can have skin tones that vary from very dark ebony to a very light caramel.
Like other skin types with lots of melanin, this gives additional protection from the sun which means it is less prone to sun damage, risk of skin cancer and also shows the signs of ageing slower than other skin types. However, this skin type still requires care and sun protection. It is a myth that people with very dark skin do not need to use sunscreen or protective clothing. If you have this skin type you can be happy that photoageing is delayed and you may not have to worry about wrinkles until your 50s or 60s.
Black or African American skin tends to be hypersensitive because of the extra melanin in the skin. As we discussed earlier, melanin is responsible for the colour of the skin, and more melanin means darker skin. Because of their disposition towards hypersensitivity, African Americans have to be extra careful of the skin products they use. Their sensitive skin may react negatively the ingredients in many products.
Just like other ethnicities with darker skin tones, African Americans are more prone to develop both temporary and permanent skin discoloration. They are also more likely to suffer from hyperpigmentation, keloids, melasma and ashy skin.
Possible non-invasive cosmetic treatments for you:
- Microdermabrasion to treat ashy skin, hyperpigmentation and melasma. These treatments get rid of dead, lifeless skin, producing a more even complexion by giving the skin a radiant glow.
- Non-ablative laser treatments to help fade the appearance of keloid scars.
- Laser light treatments to make lighter skin caused by vitiligo darker so that it closely matches the person’s overall skin tone.
Regardless of your ethnicity and no matter what shape your skin is in, you’ll keep looking young longer if you take action as soon as you start to see visible signs of ageing. We invite you to use one of the variety of non-invasive cosmetic treatments we’ve outlined to keep looking your best, no matter what your age. Better yet, talk to your skin care professional for their recommendations. “Always ask an expert,” is what we say at Costhetics.
Stay beautiful!
We all clicked on the article because we wanted to read something that was potentially controversial – it says so in the title. But there’s nothing new or novel in the article- it’s written with the same limited racist ideology that has always existed. Packaging it in the “all skin is beautiful “ wrapping doesn’t make it less narrow and racially insensitive. While it is true that the approach to skin care varies by complexions it really is time for the science and beauty business to evolve their language and way of describing people. It’s lame and people are tired of it.
No signs of aging until 50s or 60s sounds pretty positive to me.
The hispanic/latino version is also very wrong.
White, Black and Mestizos would be a better reference – these are the main races. Most Argentinians for example are descendants of direct europeans. Would you say that 95% of their population have a shade of brown if they are literally White but born in Argentina. In fact, if you look at Peru which has the highest rate of indigenous citizens alongside with Bolivia you will still find pockets of purely white descendants – meaning that of Europe. Caucasian is not an ethnicity, neither is black, mestizo, among so many others.
Race: White
Ethnicity: European = Nationality
Lets summarise it:
A person born in Nigeria can be 100% White
A person born in Spain can be 100% Asian
A person born in Peru can be 100% Black
You need to change a few things.
Race doesn’t exist in the concept you’re using it. Instead it would be used as, Race: Human, we all come from the same race of humans.
That I 100% agree with, we are ALL HUMANS from different regions of the world with differing Folkways and Morays. Thank you for being the second person with another intelligent response which I can relate to.
I do know that the definition of intelligence is highly subjective. If I don’t know about the Puranas and swim freely throughout the Nile I’m as dumb as a box of rocks.
That is not what the past 10 years of genetic research has shown us. We are indvidual hybrid species hybridized by cromagnon. Cromagnon is identical to SOME modern day Europeans. Typically very tall, blonde or red, well build etc. These Cromagnon mated with multiple archaic hominids around the globe. First he mated with Neanderthal and created a subspecies in Europe. Then this species, at some juncture, mated with denisovans in asian. Which is why asians have both Neanderthal DNA at 6% and denisovan dna @ (i think) 8%. Then you have sub Saharan africans who have combinations of the aforementioned ratios, but they also contain up to 19%of their genome from a totally seperate super arc1haic hominid.
*this is the language academics use in anthropological discourse/lectures.. not my wording*
In short: we are hybridized and some races are closely related, some arent, as black africans have 19% of their genetics from a species found in no other ethnic group.
This necessarily means, Cromagnon went into Africa, and mated with the species if which they now have 19% of in ther dna.
Eventually,they will have to change the history books as even anthropologists who made their careers on out of africa hypothesis, are now giving lectures about how they were incorrect.
You are intelligent and that is rare in the States with all of the Hollywood values and incessant video gaming instead of reading and being physically active.
I’m almost 60 and I was raised that there were 3 major races Negroid, Caucasoid and Mongoloid and many combinations within each group due to marriage and childbearing etc…
Then the Ethnicity comes from a particular region of the world you were born to or assimilated to. Countries such as, Spain, Germany, Russia, Cuba etc..
What changed? Whenever I’m asked my race I’m asked if I’m White, Hispanic or Black. My skin is olive I’ve been told and I’m a second generation American from Spain and a Basque Spaniard as well.
So what and who the heck am I if I don’t fit into this these census questions; Im at a loss of which boxes to check off.
Can someone please explain this confusion of identity I’ve lived with in these United States for almost my entire life?
What do other countries census look like if they even have one. After checking off Hispanic I fill in the OTHER____ box with Taupe.
There is nothing here about Indigenous peoples. No mention of First Nations, Native Americans, or Indigenous Australians. No Maori, either. They all have skin, so they must not matter to the author or this website.
Excellent point this is an extremely narrow thread, but not necessarily due to the initiator of this topic. Although whoever did initiate it would need to provide a thesis in order to remind us how extremely diverse our world is.
How can a Human Being be defined by a color or height, it’s so nonsensically shallow.. I’ve never appreciated being called olive skinned like the oil or like the Martians ever since I was a little kid.
I have never seen myself as olive. When I look in the mirror I see brown hair, hazel eyes, dark circles under each eye, lots of freckles, taupe, beige, brown, pink uneven tonality with a few acne scars; I look 60. But is what I look like who I am? Absolutely not!
I was born and raised in NYC, I’ve been exposed to countless people from all over the world (and perhaps another planet or two) and love Jamaican pies, Pizza, Guava paste with Gouda on a cracker, Sushi and Indian Homestyle Cooking is my favorite cuisine of all. Now that’s just food I could go on and on about various music and dances and Japanese Street Style clothing and books and my friends etc…
I think this is the rub, the world is so diverse especially now with access to almost everywhere with the touch of few keystrokes, I could be chatting with an Inuit from Alaska. We are so overwhelmed we’re now lost; and that scares me.
How about this…. skin is skin. It’s all beautiful and God made it all! We all agree that we need to watch out for sunburn and melanoma. Separating people based on skin color is so archaic, worn out, and just old. Time to move on and busy ourselves with something else besides classifying our neighbors like some type of subspecies.
Addressing the comment about removing “Caucasion” from the categories:
I disagree. I think separating Middle Eastern and North African people is more accurate and fair. People from that area of the world are very diverse, ranging from fair skin, tan skin (more common), to even very dark skin. Whereas the average “Caucasion” or “white” person has naturally fair skin.
Luciana, you don’t have to agree with what was posted but you should understand that people from “that area” ( I’m assuming you meant the middle east) regardless of being white or tan, for the reasons very clearly explained above are still considered Caucasian. I am middle Eastern and when I report on the census just like every other middle eastern we selects Caucasian because again if you study history and learned about the middle east you would understand what Caucasian really means. I have siblings who are very fair and siblings who are tan but we are all Caucasian. The great thing about middle eastern people especially Iranians is that we have so much diversity but are all the same as one is not better than the other. We can agree to disagree but the fact remains that middle eastern people are Caucasian and it is respectful to use the correct terminology as I’m sure you can understand why that is important.
As Iranian, I disagree. Middle easterner are not white nor similar to Europeans in any way. We have different skin texture. So please speak for yourself, as an Iranian myself.
remove “Caucasian” from the top of your article where you describe fair skin. It’s not a skin color. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. Northern middle eastern are very fair with blue/eyes and southern are more tan but we are all Caucasian.
Caucasian does not mean white. It drives from the term caucasoid. Legally, indians are considered Caucasian but they are not white so maybe learn the actual term before commenting
But why is it that you said something good about every ethnicity EXCEPT Black people … you literally had no positives about our skin
I noticed that too. White skin is actually inferior to dark skin with much much less melanin. some have a genetic defect that causes a lack of melanin. This article unfortunately lacks the correct information. May I suggest Mayo Clinic? I find their articles to be science based and fact checked.
Well its because this is not written by a dark skinned person/african descent, you shouldn’t take offence.. how can a non black person understand black skin.. the same vice versa.
If you’re going to write an article, you should but in due diligence on your research. When presenting ideas, facts, write from different perspectives. Highlight the differences, similarities and positive aspects of each. Especially if you are a medical or research clinician. How can you treat someone’s skin condition if you don’t know about their makeup?
lol did u read it? Like other skin types with lots of melanin, this gives additional protection from the sun which means it is less prone to sun damage, risk of skin cancer and also shows the signs of ageing slower than other skin types.
Not everyone from the middle east is dark…its a large region
Same goes with Latin America. When she means Middle East, she’s speaking about those with olive skin, which are the average.
Here we go again, Jesus.
What about South Asian skin type?
So true