In the past few years a new way to exercise has popped up – training your face muscles. However, does it help you to look better, has been up for discussion.
Gary Goldenberg, M.D., medical director of the Dermatology Faculty Practice at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, told SELF you should take a pass on this trend. “This is a terrible idea and will only cause wrinkles,” he says.
Here’s why: Repetitive muscle contractions cause your skin to wrinkle. Regularly giving your facial muscles a “workout” will only speed up the process, increasing the chances you’ll get wrinkles sooner.
Goldenberg says you might see temporary results from facial workouts if your muscles hypertrophy (i.e. they get bigger, stretching out your skin), but he points out that the results won’t last. “This effect is temporary and will only produce more wrinkles and make wrinkles you already have worse,” he says.
There are a few exceptions
However, there are a few tips the doctors do give. The main aim is to strengthen the muscles that pull the face upwards, not the one that try to get it on the floor.
To strengthen those upward facial muscles — which can basically give you a facelift – you can do a facial movement when where you look like you’re going to laugh or smile, but don’t actually do it. That raises your eyebrows slightly and even impacts the muscles around your ears, strengthening them and pulling the skin over them back. Not bad, huh?
What about other areas?
But there’s also another area that especially men should take care of – the jawline. So, there are three really easy ones by Stuart Miles, the UK’s leading ageing expert.
1) Kiss The Ceiling
Stretch your neck up towards the ceiling, pucker up and place a big kiss on the ceiling.
Repeat 10 times.
2) Chin Up
Push your bottom jaw out and lift your lower lip over the top one. Hold for a few seconds and relax.
Repeat 10 times.
3) Neck Crunch
Lying on your back bring your chin to your chest and lift your head off the ground a few cm/couple of inches. Don’t lift your stomach or push your chin out.
Repeat 10 times.
But the best is..
As exercising your face is bit of a risky business, we recommend some other tips to take care of your face. First of all, you should always wear a proper sunscreen since sun is largely behind wrinkles. Not to even speak about skin cancer!
Secondly, moisturise, moisturise and moisturise. You should moisturise your skin at least twice a day to keep it firm and in good health (we got a few creams almost always in our Gay Packs, so maybe that’s your best way to find a great option!).
Thirdly, drink lots of water as that helps to keep it hydrated and thus looking nice. We can’t stress is enough. Especially when you’re travelling.
Finally, don’t forget to eat well (check our tips!) and sleep enough!
So, might you be better off getting some nice moisturisers (in a Gay Pack for example) than doing exercises for your face? Seems so and we have to say that’s a relief – our schedules are already quite full!
