Nasolabial folds, often referred to as "tiger lines" or "smile lines," are lines extending downward from both sides of the nose wings toward the corners of the mouth. They are not necessarily just fine lines on the surface of the skin; when mid-face fat pads shift downward, muscle support weakens, and facial contours begin to sag, the depression and shadow of nasolabial folds become more pronounced, making a person look more tired, serious, or even aged.
To improve nasolabial folds, one should not merely focus on "flattening a single wrinkle". You should first understand which type of nasolabial fold you have and its underlying causes, and then combine appropriate daily care with professional contour management strategies to more comprehensively address the visual issues of mid-face sagging and nasolabial groove depression.
What Are Nasolabial Folds? Is There Any Difference from "Tiger Lines"?
Nasolabial Folds / Smile Lines refer to the natural facial creases extending from the sides of the nose wings down to the corners of the mouth. They are colloquially called tiger lines or smile lines in everyday language; in fact, "nasolabial folds" and "tiger lines" refer to the exact same anatomical area and have no essential difference.
When you are young, nasolabial folds usually only appear or stand out when laughing, speaking, or making facial expressions. However, as age increases, skin elasticity drops, apple cheeks shift downward, or mid-to-lower face tissues lose structural support, making the lines clearly visible even in a static state without any expression.
The reason why nasolabial folds easily give an impression of aging is that they deepen the shadows from the nose wings to the area around the mouth, making the mid-face appear sunken and tired, and visually causing the corners of the mouth to look slightly drooped.
How Do Nasolabial Folds Differ from Regular Fine Lines?
Nasolabial folds are not entirely the same as superficial dry lines. Superficial dry lines typically exist only when the dermis or stratum corneum lacks hydration; whereas the formation of nasolabial folds is essentially caused by full-layer sliding and displacement of soft tissue. When facial tissue support weakens, apple cheeks move downward, or facial fat distribution changes, the depression of the nasolabial groove becomes more prominent. This belongs to "Adipose Ptosis" (superficial subcutaneous fat sagging). Therefore, when addressing nasolabial folds, in addition to focusing on the wrinkle itself, it is necessary to comprehensively observe the support state of the mid-face and lower half of the face.
Three Common Types of Nasolabial Folds
The causes of nasolabial folds vary among individuals, but they can generally be categorized into the following three types:
Nasolabial Fold Type | Common Characteristics | Possible Causes |
Depression Type | Noticeable even at a younger age, with a deep sunken feeling next to the nose wings | Innate skeletal structure factors such as pyriform aperture (nasal base) depression, cheekbone contour, maxilla, or perioral structure. |
Muscle Type | Particularly obvious when making facial expressions, laughing loudly, or speaking. | Facial expression muscles are overly active, deepening lines through frequent muscle movement over time |
Aging & Sagging Type | Lines are visible even at rest (static state), often accompanied by sagging apple cheeks and blurred facial contours. | Collagen loss, downward displacement of fat pads, decreased muscle tone, and weakened fascia support. |
Among these, the Aging & Sagging Type of nasolabial folds is quite common. As facial tissue gradually loses structural support, the weight of both cheeks concentrates downward, making the nasolabial groove easily "pressed" deeper.
Why Nasolabial Folds Become Deep: 5 Key Causes
The formation of nasolabial folds is usually not caused by a single factor, but rather by the joint impact of innate contours, skin aging, fat distribution, lifestyle habits, and changes in facial support structures.
1. Weakened Support of Facial Muscles and Fascia Layer
Over time, facial muscle tension gradually declines. When the muscle strength supporting the apple cheeks and soft tissues of the cheeks becomes insufficient, facial tissues are more easily pulled downward by gravity.
The fascia layer (SMAS) is also a vital structural support for facial contours. When deep tissues lose firmness and apple cheeks no longer stay in a higher position, the nasolabial groove becomes more pronounced due to the sagging of tissue above it. This also explains why relying solely on collagen supplementation may not be sufficient to treat deep nasolabial folds caused by sagging.
2. Loss of Collagen and Elastin Fibers
Collagen and elastic fibers are essential elements for maintaining skin plumpness, tightness, and resilience. When the support network in the dermis begins to weaken, the skin becomes more susceptible to sagging, fine lines, and depressions.
Ultraviolet exposure, irregular sleep/rest schedules, long-term stress, smoking, and lack of sun protection can accelerate photoaging and structural skin aging, causing nasolabial folds to deepen more easily. Therefore, sun protection and consistent anti-aging care are not just for reducing dark spots, but also for delaying wrinkles and contour sagging.
3. Bone Resorption and Downward Shift of Fat Pads
Facial aging does not occur solely on the surface of the skin. As age advances, structural bone support in the mid-face undergoes changes, and deep fat pads may shrink or redistribute. When the volume supporting the cheeks decreases, soft tissue shifts more easily toward the lower-diagonal direction.
In simple terms, after the "load-bearing capacity" of the upper face declines, cheek tissue concentrates closer to the nasolabial groove and mouth area, causing nasolabial folds, marionette lines, and blurred jawlines to appear together.
4. Innate Skeletal Structure and Fat Distribution
Some people may have noticeable nasolabial folds even when they are still very young. This is related to a depressed nasal base, cheekbone contour, maxilla structure, facial fat distribution, and mid-face three-dimensionality.
For example, people with inherently sunken areas beside the nose wings may visually have deeper nasolabial grooves due to light and shadows even if their skin remains tight. This situation is not necessarily an aging issue, but needs to be evaluated from the perspective of overall facial proportions and structure.
5. Daily Lifestyle Habits
Although certain habits may not be the sole cause of nasolabial folds, they can exacerbate facial asymmetry, deeper lines, or noticeable sagging:
- Chewing on one side for a long time
- Habitually sleeping on your side or stomach, squeezing facial tissues for prolonged periods
- Looking down at mobile phones frequently
- Insufficient sleep, excessive stress, and irregular routines
- Consistently neglecting sun protection
- Unbalanced diet or rapid weight fluctuations
While adjusting lifestyle habits cannot instantly fill in depressions, it serves as a fundamental part of long-term contour and skin management.
How to Eliminate Nasolabial Folds? Daily Care and Home Skincare Methods
1. Choose Suitable Anti-Aging Skincare Ingredients
Based on skin tolerance and individual needs, choose skincare ingredients with moisturizing, antioxidant, or anti-aging properties:
- Vitamin A derivatives (e.g., Retinol): Helps promote stratum corneum renewal and improves the appearance of fine lines.
- Peptides: Helps support skin firmness.
- Hyaluronic Acid: Elevates moisture content in the stratum corneum, lessening line visibility caused by dryness.
- Vitamin C & Antioxidants: Helps fight environmental stressors and photoaging impacts.
- Ceramides: Barrier repair ingredients that help reduce dryness, roughness, and irritation.
When using products containing Vitamin A derivatives, start with low frequency and low concentration, pairing them with adequate hydration and daytime sun protection. If you are undergoing dermatological treatments, have sensitive skin, or are pregnant/breastfeeding, consult a doctor or professional before use.
Skincare products only act on the stratum corneum and superficial dermis; their ability to improve deep nasolabial folds caused by decreased muscle tone or fascia laxity is limited.
2. Apply Daily Sun Protection
Sunscreen is a vital foundation for preventing nasolabial folds from deepening. UV rays accelerate the degradation of dermal collagen and elastic fibers, causing skin to lose elasticity and support faster.
Remember to use sunscreen during daytime hours; reapply when spending extended time outdoors, combined with physical protection like hats, sunglasses, or parasols. Rather than rushing for emergency remedies after lines deepen, consistent sun protection helps slow down the cumulative effects of photoaging on contours and skin texture.
3. Gentle Massage and Facial Relaxation
Moderate facial relaxation and gentle massages can serve as part of daily care, especially suited for individuals prone to clenching their jaw, frowning, or overusing facial expression muscles.
When massaging, follow these principles:
- Apply a sufficient amount of serum, cream, or massage oil beforehand to minimize skin friction.
- Use gentle, short-duration techniques; avoid aggressive or repetitive pulling.
- Move gently upward starting from the chin, jawline, and cheek area.
- Avoid massaging areas with redness, inflammation, active acne, or right after receiving energy-based aesthetic treatments.
- Treat massage as a method for relaxation and care, not as a replacement for professional procedures to "eliminate wrinkles".
Keep in mind that massage is daily maintenance and cannot replace professional evaluation or guarantee the elimination of deep lines. Improper force or excessive friction/pulling can tear the elastic fiber network in the dermis, causing adverse effects.
4. Understand the Limitations of At-Home Maintenance
Skincare products mainly target the stratum corneum and superficial dermal layers to improve hydration, visual fine lines, and skin texture. However, their improvement efficacy remains limited against nasolabial folds driven by fat pad displacement, decreased deep muscle tone, or fascia laxity.
If nasolabial folds are already obvious in a static state—accompanied by sagging apple cheeks, loose cheeks, or a blurred jawline—consider receiving a professional contour evaluation to clarify whether the issue stems primarily from structural depression, active expression muscles, or overall tissue laxity.
What Are the Medical Aesthetic Methods to Eliminate Nasolabial Folds?
Common Direction | Suitable Focus Areas | Advantages | Points to Note |
Dermal Injectables | Nasal base depression, localized volume loss. | Provides immediate correction for localized depressed areas. | Injections are medical procedures requiring qualified doctor assessment; excessive or wrong-layer injection may cause unnatural contours. |
Energy-Based Firming Treatments | Mild-to-moderate skin laxity, collagen loss. | Focuses on dermal tightening and skin texture management | Energy level, depth, and treatment sessions require personalization; improper operation or energy settings increase discomfort or tissue depression risks. |
Contour Lifting & Muscle Stimulation | Sagging apple cheeks, weakened mid-face support, sagging-type folds. | Targets mid-to-lower face support and overall contour. | Results vary per individual; device principles, indications, and treatment limitations should be understood beforehand. |
Surgical Facelift | Significant tissue drooping. | Addresses deeper and more severe laxity issues. | Invasive medical procedure involving recovery downtime and surgical risks; requires detailed evaluation by a specialist doctor. |
Dermal Injectables: Targeted at Depressions, but Not Suitable for Everyone in Large Amounts
Fillers like hyaluronic acid can touch up localized depressions, especially for people with a sunken nasal base. It offers immediate visual improvement of sunken areas. However, if nasolabial folds are primarily caused by sagging cheek tissue, filling only at the crease line may not address the root issue of upper tissue laxity.
If you already have mid-face drooping, heavy facial soft tissue, or puffy contours, over-filling can make the mid-to-lower face look bulky and unnatural. Therefore, procedures must be cautiously determined by qualified physicians based on facial proportions, skin condition, and vascular anatomy.
Facial Muscle Layer Retraining & Structural Reconstruction (Latest Trend)
The latest aesthetic medical trends emphasize that "training deep muscles is the foundation to maintaining natural 3D firmness and anti-sagging". By training facial levator muscles that atrophy over time and increasing resting muscle tone, it works like weight training for your face. This pushes apple cheeks back up to their original position from the foundation, naturally smoothing out grooves.
Why Can "Contour Lifting" Be a Preferred Direction to Improve Nasolabial Folds?
Sagging-type nasolabial folds are rarely an isolated issue; they occur concurrently with downward-shifted apple cheeks, lack of support in the mid-to-lower face, and blurred jawlines. Treating only the local line offers limited results. Only by addressing overall lifting across the mid-face, cheeks, and lower face can a smooth, firm contour be restored.
Who Should Consider a Professional Contour Assessment?
If you experience any of the following, consider scheduling a personalized facial contour evaluation:
- Nasolabial folds are clearly visible even without expression.
- Shadows from the nose wings to mouth corners look exceptionally deep when smiling, taking selfies, or under side lighting.
- Troubled simultaneously by sagging apple cheeks, loose cheek tissue, or jowls.
- Jawline is starting to blur, making the face look tired.
- Have tried skincare and massage, but want to explore advanced contour management directions.
- Do not wish to rely solely on localized filling, but want to improve natural overall lifting.
Anya Glow Contour Lifting: Jovena® Personalized Facial Firming Solution
Anya Glow introduces patented Jovena® technology developed by BRERA Medical in Italy, breaking through traditional limitations that focus solely on collagen. We uphold the core concept that "collagen only improves the surface, while deep muscles support the contour," delivering comprehensive facial lifting and structural reconstruction.
3 Core Advantages of Jovena® in Eliminating Nasolabial Folds
- 1.Deep Facial Muscle Retraining (FaceStim®)：Utilizes quadripolar probes to simultaneously release RF thermal energy and low-frequency waves. While performing dermal diathermic heating, it induces high-intensity passive workouts for atrophied facial levator muscles (essentially "gym for facial muscles"). A single session triggers tens of thousands of supramaximal contractions to strengthen muscle tone, lifting sagged apple cheeks back up and smoothing nasolabial folds at the root.
- 2.Direct Target to 4.5mm SMAS Fascia Layer：Combines patented RF heating with dynamic muscle contractions, penetrating energy down to the 4.5mm SMAS fascia foundation. It tightens aging and lax fiber networks, welding skin tightly to muscle structure for a natural inside-out firming effect that avoids the stiff, artificial look of traditional injections.
- 3.Fractional Plasma®：Uses micro-plasma rollers to sweep rapidly across the skin non-invasively, leaving no scabs and requiring zero recovery downtime. It simultaneously renews epidermal and dermal smoothness, immediately leveling static dry lines on the surface, refining pores, and restoring a glassy, smooth skin texture.
Combined Patented Technologies to Precisely Address Different Causes
- Linear Z Ultrasound Thread Carving (4.5mm SMAS Fascia Foundation Lifting): Targeted at nasolabial folds caused by severe foundation collapse. Employs Linear Z's exclusive dual mode "Dot Focused + Linear Temperature Control". Uniformly delivers volumetric heating to the 4.5mm SMAS fascia layer, triggering centripetal contraction of collagen network fibers, tightening lax foundations, and lifting collapsed apple cheeks back into place.
- XERF Next-Gen Radiofrequency 6.78MHz + 2MHz (Full-Dermis Network Thermal Welding): Targeted at sagging-type nasolabial folds caused by dermal collagen rupture and tissue detachment. Uses XERF 400W dual-frequency monopolar RF through a 6cm² spiderweb membrane tip, coaxially releasing dual-frequency energy. It penetrates into the subcutaneous fat layer for prolonged heating, tightly "thermally welding" the collapsed dermal fiber network to firm local skin folds without causing cheek hollows.
Painless, Non-Invasive, Zero Downtime
Whether Jovena®, XERF, or Linear Z, all are non-invasive procedures. Thanks to original patented ultra-fast conduction and temperature-controlled cooling technologies, the treatment process involves only warm sensations and muscle movement sensations. CE certified, completely painless, requiring no numbing cream, with no open wounds; makeup can be applied immediately after treatment, allowing an instant return to daily work and life.
Pre-Treatment Precautions:
- If you are currently undergoing dermatological treatments, have recent facial cosmetic procedures, or have skin inflammation/wounds, inform your consultant prior to booking.
- Pregnant or lactating women, individuals with specific medical conditions, or those taking special medications should seek professional evaluation first.
- The actual number of sessions, pace, and suitability should be based on in-person consultation and professional advice.
Frequently Asked Questions on Eliminating Nasolabial Folds
What is the difference between nasolabial folds and tiger lines?
Nasolabial folds and tiger lines are actually the exact same thing. Both refer to the lines extending from the sides of the nose wings down to the corners of the mouth, also known as smile lines.
How soon after a contour lifting treatment will I see improvement in nasolabial folds?
The actual timeframe depends on the treatment type, individual facial laxity, and skin condition. Some treatments offer an immediate sensation of tighter contours due to instant tissue contraction; changes related to collagen remodeling typically manifest gradually over time. Consult a professional evaluation to understand expected outcomes and treatment timelines.
Is the Jovena® treatment painful? Is downtime needed?
According to Anya Glow treatment data, Jovena® is a non-invasive procedure. Clients primarily feel warmth and muscle contraction movements. You can generally apply makeup and resume daily activities immediately after. However, as pain tolerance, skin sensitivity, and reactions vary per person, professional assessment before treatment is recommended.
At what age should I start treating nasolabial folds?
There is no absolute age. From a preventive perspective, you can establish sun protection, hydration, regular sleep, and anti-aging care routines early. When you notice static lines, drooping apple cheeks, or changing facial contours, consider a professional evaluation. The key is not merely chasing "the earlier the better," but choosing appropriate solutions suited to your skin state and needs.
Can massage eliminate deep nasolabial folds?
Gentle massage serves as daily relaxation and care, helping reduce temporary puffiness and enhancing comfort during skincare routines. However, it cannot replace professional treatment or guarantee the elimination of deep folds caused by fat displacement, structural depression, or deep laxity. Excessive pulling may irritate skin; avoid repeated aggressive rubbing around the nasolabial groove area.
Want to Restore a Firm and Charming Facial Contour?
Visit the official Anya Glow website to learn more treatment details, or book an online appointment for a personalized "Facial Contour Lifting Assessment" to let our professional team craft the ideal anti-aging and firming plan for you!