Facial Exercises

Eyes

Close your eyes. Hold them closed if necessary. Then raise your eyebrows as far as they can go. This will help the muscles to contract and get stronger.

 For under the eyes, this exercise is really good. It helps alleviate bags, and makes the blood flow better so as to get rid of that dark circle that most of us have sometimes. I have been using this for a long time, and it really works.

Face the mirror and pull up your under-eye muscles as far as they will go. This may be quite hard to do at first as you will want to squint. But do not squint. Keep your eyes as wide as they can go. We don’t want any squinting as that will cause wrinkles around the eyes!

 

Cheeks

Smile as hard as you can, and at the same time put your fingers on top of the cheekbones. Push down as hard as you can at the same time as holding the grin.

Face the mirro. Using only one side of your face, grin as wide as you can on that side. Pull up the cheek muscle as hard as you can and hold it for ten seconds. Do this ten times, then change over to the other side of your face and start again.

Jaw Line

This is where you start to notice saggy skin. So this one is really important.

First of all imagine that you have tasted something bitter, like a lemon. What do you do? You pull your lower cheeks and jaw line back away from your mouth.

Keep your mouth slightly open, and pull the lower half of your face into a grimace or grin. Now try and ignore the cheek bones, only use the jaw line. Do this ten times. This is great for pulling the muscle back and forward. You will feel it stretching like elastic. This will tighten skin that is beginning to sag.

Now try it one side at a time. This will take a bit of practise but is well worth doing. In fact the better you get at it, the more you will realise that it is working. The idea is to get the muscles on your face so tight, because of the facial workout, that you will be able to do them while sitting watching TV or even on your coffee break at work. By the time you have been practising for a few weeks you will find that you will be able to do the exercises really quickly and easily.

Lips  

 The muscles around your lips sag quite quickly as you get older, so you need to do this exercise regularly.

Open your mouth wide. Now, without closing it, make the letter O. Hold the position for three seconds and do it again. Do this ten times until you feel comfortable with it, and then as many times as you like.

Place thumbs underneath your top lip. Pull out gently and at the same time pull back with your jaw muscles. In other words, pull your chin down as though you are stretching your chin line. Do this ten times.

Open mouth as wide as you can. Now, pull the muscles sideways on your top lip. Just imagine you have an itchy nose and can’t scratch it! That’s the one!

Lines Around Your Nose

Open mouth slightly. Now lift your top lip up to the side of your nose. Try it first with both sides, and then one at a time. You will find that you will be able to do one side easily, but the other will take a bit of extra push to get it there. I call this one the Elvis! No explanation needed!

Neck and Double Chin

 I have put these two together as they are very similar and overlap the exercises.

 For a smooth neck, close your mouth and look up at the ceiling. When you have stretched back as far as you can go, put your lower lip over the top lip. As you practise more and more, you can stretch it even more by doing the above, but at the same time as putting your lips over the top lip, smile as wide as you can.

And finally for that all important double chin, close your mouth and look at the ceiling again. Only this time make your mouth into an O shape. As your practise gets easier, change from O to E then back again. Alternate for as long as you like on the condition that it is comfortable. Only start with ten to begin with.

After Care

 When you have finished your daily face workout, give your face an oxygen boost by really stretching your mouth as far as it will go, then relax. Take a deep breath and hold for a few seconds.

And to give yourself a lovely glow, put a light liquid moisturiser on your hands, and briskly rub into your face. When you have finished, pinch your cheeks for a natural red rosy look. This also stimulates blood circulation.