Your face contains over 50 different muscles and like any other muscle they are designed to move for optimal wellness. By carrying out regular facial exercises, you promote the circulation of blood to the different areas of the face, thus replenishing the oxygen supply in the muscles and skin, according to NIVEA. Doing facial exercises will help you gain a brighter complexion, healthy glow, and prevent wrinkles.
“It’s the yogic way to tone the skin,” says Candace Marino, a medical aesthetician at The LA Facialist, who believes practicing facial exercises can slow down the aging process, relieve tension, and help to tone your face’s underlying muscles. Facial exercise is a natural way to keep your facial skin firm. Here are six facial exercises you can try out to help sculpt and strengthen your facial muscles and skin.
The Cheekbone Lift
This exercise will help you define your cheekbones. Doing the cheekbone lift can help reduce the fat in your cheeks and define the cheekbones, according to author Katie Steadman.
How to do it: Place your fingers over each cheekbone. Gently lift the skin until taut. Open your mouth to form an elongated “O”, and you should feel resistance in your cheek muscles. Hold for 5 seconds and complete 10 to 15 sets.
The Puffer Fish Face
This facial exercise can prevent or reduce the laugh wrinkles on the side of your face and either side of your nose. The pufferfish face is a popular exercise to tone the area of your face that will be affected by laugh lines, according to author Aishwarya Rao.
How to do it: Fill your mouth with air, imitating a pufferfish. Then move the air from side to side within your mouth. Hold the air on each side of your mouth for 5 seconds before changing the side. You can do this for up to three minutes.
The Forehead Pull
The forehead pull will create a stretch in the forehead muscles going opposite directions which works the muscles and helps reduce wrinkles. It will make the muscles firm and reduce the wrinkles from forming, according to Rao.
How to do it: Use your index finger to pull your forehead down and raise your eyebrows at the same time. Maintain the pose for 10 seconds. This will create tension in the forehead muscles and tone them. Repeat five times.
The Narrow Nose Exercise
This exercise will help to tone down your nose and make it appear narrower. According to Rao, the narrow nose exercise can help keep your muscles tense which will help you make your nose appear like you would want it to.
How to do it: Keep your middle finger on the corner of each eye, and with your ring fingers hold either side of your nose. Pull your middle finger down your nose, without wrinkling your nose muscles. Keep the muscles tense when you do this exercise and keep sliding the middle finger down your nose 10 times.
The Jaw Flex
This exercise is helpful if you want to get a toned jawline, which means that it can help with your double chin. According to Steadman, the jaw flex exercise will trim face fat and help you get a more defined look.
How to do it: Tilt your head back until you are looking at the ceiling. Move your lower lip over your upper lip as far as you can, you should feel this in the jaw muscles near your ears. Hold for 10 seconds and complete 10 to 15 sets.
Crow’s Feet Exercise
Cynthia Rowland, the facial fitness expert and creator of Facial Magic, recommends this move to target the skin on the outer edges of your eyes. It will help you reduce those wrinkles and help you look younger.
How to do it: Place the pads of your thumbs on the bones located at the outer corners of your eyes. Without moving your head, look up and gently press your thumbs in towards your eyes. Flutter your eyelids for 5 seconds, and then release. Repeat three more times.
