--- title: Beauty: Having Oily Skin Might Help Prevent Wrinkles description: And why wrinkles tend to be more noticeable around your eyes than on your forehead canonical: https://time.com/3965842/oily-skin-wrinkles/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-22T11:50:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:06:20.505Z article:section: Health og:title: How Having Oily Skin Might Help Prevent Wrinkles og:description: Why wrinkles tend to be more noticeable around your eyes than on your forehead og:url: https://time.com/3965842/oily-skin-wrinkles/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43796f5de50e90bb/69885bb90a4a2254149c53a7/woman-face-close-up.jpg?branch=production&width=507&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 507 og:image:height: 285 og:image:alt: woman-face-close-up og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Having Oily Skin Might Help Prevent Wrinkles twitter:description: Why wrinkles tend to be more noticeable around your eyes than on your forehead twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43796f5de50e90bb/69885bb90a4a2254149c53a7/woman-face-close-up.jpg?branch=production&width=507&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Having Oily Skin Might Help Prevent Wrinkles > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Know Right Now: Melanoma Rates Have Doubled in 30 Years [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: Melanoma Rates Have Doubled in 30 Years](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Jrs2Lzbh.m3u8) (1:01)  _Published 2015-06-03. Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, has been on the rise in the past 30 years. Watch Know Right Now to find out more._ by [Kelly Saiz / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Kelly Saiz / Health.com Contributor Jul 22, 2015 11:50 AM UTC  Beauty portrait neck Beauty portrait neck Getty Images by [Kelly Saiz / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Kelly Saiz / Health.com Contributor Jul 22, 2015 11:50 AM UTC Have you ever heard the old wives’ tale that people with oilier skin get fewer wrinkles? There may be some small grain of truth in that after all, according to a new study published in the journal _Clinical_ _Anatomy_. For the study, Japanese researchers analyzed the skin on the foreheads and around the eyes in cadavers aged 20 to 90 years old, looking at the wrinkles, the number of sebaceous glands (which are what secrete the skin’s oil), as well as the skin’s elasticity and density. In the end they found that the [depth and length of wrinkles](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ca.22571/full) correlated to the amount of sebaceous glands in these areas, with areas with more glands tending to have wrinkles that weren’t as deep or long. This may explain why wrinkles tend to be more noticeable around your eyes (hello, crow’s feet) than on your forehead, since there are more oil-secreting glands in the forehead than around your eyes. While the authors say it’s possible that oilier skin (thanks to having more glands) prevents dry and deeper wrinkles from forming, the presence of the oil isn’t the _only_ thing that seems to help keep skin smooth. It could also be that the skin on the areas with more glands tended to be thicker and have more elasticity. As the researchers put it: “Such properties will suppress the [deformation of the skin](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ca.22571/full).” Another interesting finding: the density of oil glands was lower in women, than it was for the men, though they didn’t see a big difference in wrinkle depth between the sexes. Ultimately, what matters more for your skin is the total picture: protecting yourself from the [sun’s rays](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20788790%5F8,00.html), exercise, eating a healthy diet with lots of [foods that are good for your skin](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20622036,00.html), and getting enough sleep. But hey, if this makes you feel a little bit better about your oily skin, we won’t blame you. [_This article originally appeared on Health.com_](http://news.health.com/2015/07/15/how-having-oily-skin-might-help-prevent-wrinkles/) _More from Health.com:_ * [18 Skin Care Products That Erase Years](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20900055,00.html?xid=time) * [13 Everyday Habits That Are Aging You](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20788790,00.html?xid=time) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3965842/oily-skin-wrinkles/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3965842/oily-skin-wrinkles/"},"headline":"How Having Oily Skin Might Help Prevent Wrinkles","datePublished":"2015-07-22T11:50:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:06:20.505Z","description":"And why wrinkles tend to be more noticeable around your eyes than on your forehead","url":"https://time.com/3965842/oily-skin-wrinkles/","keywords":["Research","Aging","beauty","Healthcare","health","skin care","anti-aging","skincare"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43796f5de50e90bb/69885bb90a4a2254149c53a7/woman-face-close-up.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kelly Saiz / Health.com"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43796f5de50e90bb/69885bb90a4a2254149c53a7/woman-face-close-up.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"woman-face-close-up","caption":"woman-face-close-up","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3965842/oily-skin-wrinkles/","name":"How Having Oily Skin Might Help Prevent Wrinkles"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: Melanoma Rates Have Doubled in 30 Years","description":"Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, has been on the rise in the past 30 years. 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