Turkey gobble, bat wings, crow’s feet. Are we talking about a body or a zoo? Any industry comes with its own terminology, and non-surgical cosmetic procedures are no different. We’ve put together this handy guide to help you navigate the terms for problem areas you may hear your aesthetician talk about during your consultations and treatments.
1) Bat Wings
Bat wings are the extra skin and/or fat that hangs down when you hold your arms out straight. As you can imagine, this problem area gets its name from the fact it often starts looking like a wing. It is a common problem, especially amongst women. As our skin get older, it loses elasticity. As we gain and lose weight, this area stretches out and sometimes needs some help regaining its shape.
2) Crow’s Feet
Around the eyes, fine lines start to appear as we get older. These lines are often referred to as “crow’s feet.” They get their name because these lines look like a bird stepped next to your face and left their footprint behind. This area of the face is moving thousands of times a day when we blink, smile, squint, and talk. These facial movements cause creases and wrinkles in this problem area.
3) Decolletage
This old-fashioned word refers to the part of the body revealed by a low cut shirt or dress. It includes the upper chest and cleavage as well as the shoulders and upper back. This problem area has thinner skin, so it produces less of the compounds that keep your skin looking young. It is also an area on the body that is exposed to a lot of sun but isn’t often treated with moisturizers and sunscreen like the face.
4) Double Chin
Double chin refers to the fat and extra skin that sits below the lower jaw. While it is commonly tied to weight gain, that is not necessarily true. Genetics and aging can cause people with lower body fat to have a pocket of fat form in this problem area.
5) Jowl
The double chin’s next door neighbor is the jowl. This is loose skin that forms around the cheeks, lower jaw, or throat. Jowl is also just another word for cheeks, but in this context, it is used to refer to sagging skin in this problem area.
6) Laugh Lines
This happy sounding term refers to the wrinkles and fine lines on your face that are formed by repetitive facial movements, like laughing. Usually, they appear around the eyes (hello crow’s feet!) and around the mouth.
7) Love Handles
Love Handles refer to the fat deposits around the waistline. This fat is often stubborn and hard to get rid of once it is there and is a common issue for many adults.
8) Neck Bands
Have you ever been making weird faces in the mirror and seen what looks like thin pillars sticking out from your neck? These are called neck bands (or scientifically, platysmal bands). They are the muscles that connect your head and your torso, and as we age, they tighten and become more prominent.
9) Spare Tire
Spare tire is another popular word for the same area of the body as love handles. It is the fat that deposits around your waistline.
10) Turkey Gobble
Turkey gobble refers to the area below the lower jaw (much like the double chin) when there is excess skin that hangs down.
Those are the top ten problem areas people ask us to define. Are there any others you have encountered that you would like to know about? Are there other terms your aesthetician uses that you have been wondering about? Let us know!
