Facial exercise may be one of the oldest anti-aging strategies in the book. Yogis in India have been practicing it for thousands of years, and various facial gymnastics have been popping up in popular culture since the early 20th century. The idea seems logical: just as we work out at the gym to keep our bodies supple and strong, it follows that with regular exercise, the muscles of our faces may become tighter and tauter. And now, with the addition of technology like Emface, a home current muscle stimulation device that is becoming more effective and easy to use, there may be more ways than ever to work the facial muscles more strategically, thus potentially resulting in a more youthful appearance. Here’s everything you need to know.
What is facial exercise?
In essence, it’s exactly what it sounds like: performing repetitive movements and exaggerated expressions to activate and exercise muscles. Consider facial resistance training – by strengthening the matrix that holds everything together, the likelihood of sagging around the chin and eyes decreases over time. Facial aging is caused by a loss of elasticity and the gradual displacement of the fat pad between muscle and skin, which slides downward over time. The idea behind the exercise is that by strengthening the muscles, the fat pads are more likely to stay in place, giving the face a fuller, more youthful appearance.
Does it work?
Maybe! A 2018 study conducted at Northwestern University showed that 20 weeks of daily facial exercise did significantly improve skin firmness and give fuller upper and lower cheeks. The program was performed for 30 minutes a day for the first 8 weeks of the study, and every other day thereafter. Participants – 16 women between the ages of 40 and 65 – thought they looked three years younger by the time the study was completed, and the impartial dermatologist measured a slight but significant increase in cheek fullness. Since this is the first and so far only reliable academic study to measure the effects of facial exercise, take it as a cautiously optimistic sign that facial exercise may be beneficial – provided you devote a lot of time to it and stick to a regimen.
“I recommend daily facial exercise,” says New York dermatologist Doris Day, M.D. “Every time we make a facial expression, we exercise the face, and most people overuse certain muscles and end up weakening opposing muscles. When you frown a lot to create wrinkles, you overuse those muscles and weaken the muscles that lift and smile because you use them less. Another rule is that muscles can only be pulled in one direction. So, for every muscle that pulls down, there is an opposite/paired muscle that pulls up. I try to teach my patients (I have a section in my book Beyond Beautiful dedicated to this) how to perform facial exercises to lift and rejuvenate. It helps prolong in-office treatments and in many cases, it can even help delay the need for treatment.”
What are the best anti-aging facial exercises to do at home?
The Northwestern University study involved exercises developed by Gary Sikorski of Happy Face Yoga. Two that have proven most effective are The Cheek Lifter and the Eyebrow Lifter. for the Cheek Lifter, open your mouth to form an O, pull your upper lip up over your upper teeth and smile to lift your cheek muscles. Then gently place your fingers on the tops of your cheeks and relax the muscles to lower them, then lift them back up and repeat several times. For the brow lift, smile and then press the three fingertips of each hand underneath your eyebrows, forcing your eyes open. Try to crease your eyebrows on your fingers, then close your upper eyelids tightly and roll your eyes upward. Hold for 20 seconds, then relax.
Day recommends what she calls the invisible smile: “It’s all the movements of a brilliant smile, so big that your ears move back, but without showing any teeth,” she says. “It lifts the jawline, makes you feel happy, and helps you engage and present. It’s also the opposite of a frown, so you don’t frown and the corners of your mouth go up.”
Is there cheating?
Not exactly. But there’s a different approach: stimulating facial muscles through massage. That’s the theory behind the hugely successful FaceGym, created by Inge Theron, a former Spa Junkie columnist for the Financial Times. “I really wanted the workouts to mimic what you do in the gym,” she says. So each facial includes a warm-up, followed by “cardio to detox and detoxify,” and then “sculpting to tone and tighten the muscles. She considers it “a personal training studio for facial scaffolding. Our trainers learn and perfect deep tissue massage and muscle manipulation techniques through an intensive 3-week boot camp that is used in conjunction with other tools such as FaceGym Pro, Face Ball, Guasha Stone and Gold Roller. it’s a unique combination of muscle toning, tools and highly effective skincare products that deliver dramatic results.”
Celebrity facialist Thuyen Nguyen, who frequently works with Michelle Williams, Cindy Crawford and Amal Clooney, uses a similar concept in his FaceXercise, but believes all the work can be done with his hands-no microcurrent or rollers needed [which he says can lead to better, faster results than facial workouts alone , faster results]. “It’s hard for people to stick with facial exercises because they have to work out 20 to 30 minutes a day. Most of us barely have time to shower,” he says. “When you’re about 20 years old, you don’t even need to work out and your muscle tone stays the same because your metabolism is very fast. But after five to 10 years, your body won’t be able to maintain muscle tone, so you have to exercise more. It’s the same philosophy for the skin. I just do the work while the client is lying down.”
The difference between active facial exercises that build muscle and passive facial exercises through massage, he says, is that the former “can’t help increase elasticity or pores,” while the latter can. “You’ll see the tone come back,” he says, “and just like working out, you’ll boost endorphins, boost your immune system, and your skin will glow from all the blood flow.” Nguyen usually meets with clients once or once a month, depending on schedules and budgets. “But when I start with most people, I’ll have them come back a week after the first session because, like a trainer, I’m capturing muscle memory. The more blood I push, the more my cheeks swell, and the more they work with me, the more resilient their skin and muscles become.
Facialist Joanna Czech believes the best approach is to combine a regular facial involving microcurrent with an at-home muscle stimulation massage regimen – if you have time for a facial workout, go for it. “I recommend facial massage to all my clients,” she says. “It’s different from facial exercise, which I think is a lazy way to stimulate your muscles and skin. It can actually change the shape of your face, lifting your eyebrows and jawline and shaping your cheekbones. It stimulates blood flow and brings more oxygen and nutrients to the tissues, resulting in a brighter, healthier complexion. All of my treatments include facial massage, but I can’t do facial exercises for my clients-they have to do it themselves.”