Health & Wellness

Why Chasing Every Wrinkle Could Be Aging You Faster

July 15, 2026

Dermatologist Explains Why Chasing Wrinkles Is the Wrong Goal — Image: Cora Pursley

The beauty industry has convinced us that every wrinkle deserves a battle plan. The first forehead line appears, and suddenly it’s time to freeze it or smooth it away before it gets any deeper. But according to dermatologist Dr. Doris Day, that’s where many people go wrong.

“I’ve always said I don’t chase wrinkles. I understand them,” she says on an episode of Well with Arielle. Instead of zeroing in on every line, Dr. Day looks at why it’s there in the first place—how your face moves, how your skin changes over time, and how every feature works together.

If you’ve ever wondered why some people look refreshed after aesthetic treatments while others end up looking overdone, Dr. Day says the answer has very little to do with wrinkles themselves. It starts with seeing your face as one complete picture instead of a collection of tiny flaws.

Dermatologist Explains Why Chasing Wrinkles Is the Wrong Goal

Stop treating one wrinkle like it’s the whole problem

When someone comes in worried about forehead lines, Dr. Day doesn’t immediately reach for Botox. Her first question is simple: why are they there?

“The easy thing is just Botox it,” she says, but that rarely solves the root cause. Heavy brows, drooping eyelids, repetitive movement, collagen loss, even jaw tension can all create wrinkles that seem like isolated issues but actually start somewhere else.

“If you chase a wrinkle, you may achieve your goal of not having a wrinkle, but you defeat the purpose, because now you don’t look better,” she says. Instead of treating one line at a time, she looks at how the entire face functions. That bigger-picture approach often creates softer, more natural results because the source of the wrinkle is being addressed instead of simply hiding it.

Looking younger starts with harmony, not perfection

Dr. Day says one of the biggest mistakes people make is evaluating their faces the same way they examine themselves in a magnifying mirror. “When you look at someone else, do you look at an area or do you look at their face?” she asks. Try practicing that on yourself.

Patients often arrive ready to point out everything they dislike. She takes the opposite approach: “I always like to start with what we love.”

Whether it’s beautiful eyes, strong cheekbones, or glowing skin, highlighting someone’s best features creates a completely different treatment plan than chasing every perceived flaw. That’s also why preserving natural movement matters. A face that still smiles, laughs, and expresses emotion almost always reads as younger than one that’s perfectly smooth but frozen.

Think about the face you’ll have in 20 years

Aging well is built through consistency, not quick fixes. Dr. Day talks about becoming “lifetime hot” instead of focusing on what’s trending right now. That means things like:

Protecting your collagen
Wearing sunscreen every day
Prioritizing sleep
Exercising consistently

“Nothing looks more beautiful in your 50s than sun protection in your 20s,” she says, so don’t forget to lather up with the sunblock before stepping outside. And the payoff isn’t always immediate, but those daily habits become increasingly obvious with time.

View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Arielle Lorre (@ariellelorre)

The goal is to still look like yourself

Dr. Day isn’t against Botox, filler, or cosmetic treatments. She uses all of them. The difference is how she combines them. Instead of relying on one product to solve everything, she layers treatments thoughtfully while protecting natural expression. The result is a face that looks refreshed without looking unfamiliar. “You look authentic,” she says.

That philosophy feels especially relevant right now, as beauty trends continue moving away from overfilled features and toward subtle, long-term maintenance. Looking younger doesn’t have to mean looking different, and that’s a much more sustainable goal to grow into.

To hear the full conversation on aging and beauty treatments from Dr. Day, listen to Well with Arielle wherever you get your podcasts.