High Cheekbones Vs. Low Cheekbones
Cheekbones play a crucial role in defining your facial structure. Whether you have high or low cheekbones is primarily determined by your genetics and ethnicity. Defined cheekbones create a visual symmetry in your face, enhancing the overall perception of youth and vitality.
You can enhance your cheekbones with temporary non-invasive treatments and makeup or more permanent surgical methods like cheek implants and fat transfer.
What Are Cheekbones, And Where Are They Located?
Your cheekbones, also called the zygomatic bones, are located on either side of your face, extending from beneath the eyes to the middle of the ear. These bones provide structural integrity to your face and play a vital role in its aesthetics.
The zygomatic bones are also integral to the expressions and movement of your face. Several facial muscles responsible for chewing, smiling and other facial expressions are attached to these bones. The zygomatic arch formed by cheekbones and the skull's temporal bone facilitates the opening and closing of your mouth.
The strategic location of these bones defines your face shape, protects the eyes and contributes to the overall functionality of your facial skeleton.
High Cheekbones Vs. Low Cheekbones: What Are The Differences?
You can distinguish between high or low cheekbones by their facial position. If these bones are at the same level or higher than the bridge of your nose, you have high cheekbones. On the contrary, if they sit at the level of your nostrils, you have low cheekbones.
When you have high-set cheekbones, your face appears more defined and angular. In many cultures, it is perceived as a hallmark of attractiveness.
With low cheekbones, your facial contour appears softer and less angular as the shadowing effect is less pronounced, and the face appears flatter.
While your genetics and ethnicity are the most crucial determinants of your cheekbone types, other factors like age also have a role.
How Does Cheekbone Position Change As We Age?
The perceived position of your cheekbone high changes as you age, even though the bones themselves don’t move. Several factors associated with ageing can influence the apparent position of high cheekbones vs. low cheekbones, including:
- Loss of skin elasticity: Your skin loses essential proteins like elastin and collagen with age, affecting the facial structure. As your skin becomes less firm, it can no longer tightly hug the contours of the cheekbones, making your cheeks look sunken.
- Fat redistribution: As you age, the fat under your facial skin reduces and shifts downward. The volume loss around the cheekbones makes them look less prominent.
- Decreased muscle tone: Facial muscles lose tone over time, leading to a less defined facial appearance. A less toned face appears sunken, impacting how your cheekbones stand out.
- Bone density changes: Loss in facial bone density with age can make cheekbones appear less prominent. It can also result in asymmetric cheekbones.
All these changes alter the perceived position of bones on faces as you age, making them look lower and less prominent than before.
What Are The Best Surgical Treatments For Enhancing Cheekbones?
Several surgical treatments can help achieve high cheekbone for sunken cheeks, like cheek implants, fat transfer, buccal fat removal and a facelift.
These methods offer a permanent solution, bringing balance, symmetry and a youthful appearance to your face.
- Cheek implants: Cheek implants are made from biocompatible materials designed to enhance the bone structure. They create permanent results and make your cheekbones look more prominent. This option is best if you want a lasting change in your facial contour.
- Fat transfer: Fat transfer involves harvesting fat from other body parts, like the abdomen and thighs, and injecting it into the cheek area. This technique produces a natural result as it adds volume to your face, giving it a more youthful appearance. A popular long lasting alternative to facial fillers
- Buccal fat removal: This involves removing fat from the lower cheeks to achieve a more sculpted look. Although the method does not directly enhance the cheekbone high, it accentuates it by improving the contrast of your facial contour.
- Facelift: A facelift can refresh your face and counteract the effect of ageing. While it is not a common approach to enhancing your cheekbones, it can indirectly help them look more prominent. Different facelift procedures (micro, mini and traditional) can help accentuate your cheekbones. A micro facelift targets the lower face area and creates a more defined jawline, subtly lifting the mid-face. In turn, this procedure can make your cheekbones look more elevated. A mini facelift repositions the skin and soft tissues, providing a modest lift to the mid-face area, indirectly enhancing the cheekbones. A traditional facelift produces the most dramatic results, rejuvenating the lower face and mid-face area. Consequently, it can help your cheekbones stand out more.
The effectiveness of each treatment in achieving a defined cheekbone varies from person to person, depending on needs, preferences and aesthetic goals. Consulting with one of our plastic surgeons will help you make the right choice.
How Can Non-Invasive Treatments Improve Cheekbone Definition?
Non-invasive treatments like cheek fillers can add volume, contour and definition to your cheekbones without surgery. However, the results they produce are temporary, lasting between 6 and 18 months, after which you will need to redo the procedure.
Most fillers like Juvederm for cheekbones contain a naturally occurring substance called hyaluronic acid. The fillers are precisely injected around the cheekbone high to instantly add volume, lifting the cheeks and creating a more defined facial structure.
The most significant advantage of these non-invasive methods is they produce immediate results with minimal downtime. Beyond adding volume, fillers also help smoothen fine facial lines, giving your face a more youthful appearance.
What Other Cheekbone Contouring Techniques Are There?
Apart from non-invasive and surgical procedures, makeup is a powerful tool to enhance the cheekbone contour. This temporary technique allows you to define and accentuate these bones in face.
Here are some of the most effective makeup techniques:
- Highlighting: A highlighter above your cheekbones reflects light, making the cheekbones stand out.
- Contouring: Using contour powder or a cream, you can create a shadow effect below low-set cheekbones. It visually recedes the area, making the cheekbones appear higher.
- Blush: When applied directly on the cheekbones, a light blush can make them look more prominent and high set.
- Bronzer: When combined with contouring, a bronzer adds warmth and depth to your cheekbone high, giving you a more defined look.
These makeup techniques offer a versatile, reversible way to change cheekbone height and shape perception.
Are Surgical The Best Treatments To Get High-Set Cheekbones?
Surgical methods are the best option for achieving higher cheekbones due to their permanent and customisable results. Unlike non-surgical methods that provide subtle improvement, surgical methods like implants and fat transfer give a more definitive solution for low-set cheekbones.
Procedures, like cheek implants, are particularly effective if you want a more dramatic and permanent change in your cheekbone high. Furthermore, surgical methods can be custom-designed to fit an individual’s facial structure, giving you better control over your appearance after the procedure.
Despite their higher cost, surgical methods offer a permanent resolution to enhance bones in face that produces reliable results. You also only need to get the procedure done once.
Conclusion
You can improve the appearance of your low cheekbones by surgical and non-surgical methods.
Surgical methods like cheek implants, fat transfer, buccal fat removal and facelifts provide permanent results, giving you prominent cheekbones and a more youthful look. If you desire a dramatic result, then these methods can be a great choice.
On the other hand, non-invasive methods, like dermal fillers, are ideally suited for people looking for subtle high cheekbones and temporary results. As they involve no downtime, they are great for people who want to take a more conservative approach.
The best treatment for you depends on several specific factors, including your aesthetic goal and budget. We offer several cosmetic surgical procedures that will help you create that perfect facial contour by enhancing your cheekbone high.
Please speak with one of our specialist surgeons today to create a customised plan.
FAQs
Which face shape is considered the most attractive?
While the perception of the most attractive face shape varies greatly across individuals and cultures, an oval face shape is considered universally attractive. An oval face shape has balanced proportions that enhance facial symmetry, contributing to its widespread aesthetic appeal.
Which ethnicities are associated with high cheekbones?
Some ethnic groups often associated with high cheekbones include people of Native American, East Asian, and African descent. These features are celebrated as a sign of beauty in these populations.
Do cheekbones get more pronounced with age?
Contrary to becoming more pronounced, cheekbones appear less defined as you age. The change in the perception of cheekbones is predominantly due to loss of skin elasticity, facial volume and bone density. All these factors lead to a decrease in the sharpness of the cheekbone's appearance.
Words From Our Founder
Mr. Bryan Mayou
The differences in high and low cheekbones influence facial appearance. High cheekbones, often associated with youth and femininity, impart a sculpted appearance, creating a graceful, slender contour. Low cheekbones may result in a softer, rounder look. Through procedures such as Cheek Implants, Fat Transfer, Facelift or strategic filler placement, we can create a lifted appearance to the cheekbones. This redistributes the proportions of the face.
Mr. Bryan Mayou
Treatments mentioned in this article
