"Our skin typically becomes less oily," says Julie Karen, MD, a New York City-based dermatologist in private practice. Your sebaceous glands simply produce less oil as you get older, which can be very welcome news for those who've had acne since their teen years. As the oiliness declines, so does the acne. "Even the acne that does come as an adult tends to be less severe," Dr. Karen says.

And as for wrinkles: From a dermatologist's point of view, they can actually be a boon, she says. "If you need to have surgery, such as for skin cancer, it's easier to hide a scar under a wrinkle."

With age, lots of people worry that their brain power is on the decline. But the opposite may actually be true, according to research in the April 2015 issue of Psychological Science. It turns out that some of our cognitive skills, such as the ability to remember names, learn new words, and process information, peak at different times.

According to the study researchers, your word knowledge doesn't peak until your sixties and seventies. Their conclusions are based on the results of standard IQ and memory tests taken online by nearly 50,000 participants, which included kids through older adults.

Another finding: Older adults in their forties and fifties were also better than younger people at reading other people's emotional states. This can be a valuable skill that helps you decide how to react in sticky situations, such as when you know you've really annoyed a friend or your partner.

As people age, their knowledge of the world - and themselves - grows. "Their sense of self identity gets stronger, and they've acquired a lot of different experiences to support that," says Elizabeth Glisky, PhD, a professor of psychology at the University of Arizona in Tucson. "With all these things together, you know who you are and what you're about, and you have a lot more self-confidence than when you were younger.