: : I take my hood off to anyone who can help me on this.

: : Thorin

Well, this is my surmising, but it may be due to his immense age.

Not being quite as good with dates as some others, I am not sure just how much older Cirdan would be, but he is certainly the oldest elf we know about in Middle-Earth. He never really bathed in the light of the trees, which means that he would be pretty weary of Middle-Earth by the Third age. This could be why he looks so old, and has a beard.

The next oldest elf in my humble opinion would be Galadriel. However, she spend much of her time in Aman, so maybe she hasn't aged nearly as much. Elrond by comparison is a mere stripling.

That's my two cents.

Gandalf