The natural face lift - Facial exercises for a surgery free facelift!
WOW, do I have some juice for you ladies!!
I’ve decided to share my 3 BEST anti-aging secrets (besides my products of course) over the course of the next 3 months. I promise they will give you REAL lasting results and involves absolutely no cutting, injecting or chemicals of any sorts. They are 100% natural, free and super effective! They only take some time and commitment every day!
So this week, I’m super excited to share my number 1 anti-aging secret, the ’natural face lift’, drumroll……
Facial exercises – yup you read that right. I started experimenting a little with this already years back, but I was never consistent, plus I used only a few exercises and saw only little results. My skin was already very smooth, and with very little wrinkling, thanks to my skincare line! But I could feel my skin wasn't as firm and toned as it used to be. Fast forward to today - I think I’ve tried all facial exercise programs out there and I’ve found out what works and what doesn’t. I’ve moderated some classics and I’ve also made my own that I’ve found works better.
Now I stick to a plan with 25 specific exercises, that I rotate with 5 exercises one month and then another set of 5 new exercises next month. They work all the major muscle groups in the face and then I add 1-2 extra exercises to target problem areas, which I find, gives the very best results, as all the muscles works together synergistically. I do them every day with one rest day a week. Today I’ll share 5 of those very exercises with you. SCROLL DOWN FOR PICTORIAL
Benefits
The benefits are many, there's a long list out there, but what I've seen people achieve- and my own results include; Lifting droopy eyelids (dramatically), regaining visible cheekbones/cheek lift, diminishing nasiolabial lines (lines from your nose to your lips, that makes you look tired), smoothing under eye hollows or puffiness, plumping up lips (seriously!!), lift sagging jawline, diminish double chin, minimize wrinkles on forehead, around eyes and lips.. etc etc...
When you think about it, it’s actually kind of awesome, seriously, you can lift your face, all by yourself, wow right!? I think the reason why people don’t do this more, or give up quickly and don’t get to see the results, is that we as a species simply want quick fixes for everything. The thought of doing exercises every day and not seeing results straight away, well, that’s just something that doesn’t appeal to most people and I think that’s why most women turn to Botox and/or surgery, which is reeeeeally the WORST you can do, yes it works immediately, but in the long run, it damages your skins connective tissue (elastin and collagen), plus it can also do muscle damage and make your facial skin even more loose and deformed over time, oh and Botox does not lift your face, so what to do with the sagging?!!
How it works
You have 43 muscles in your face and the skin is directly attached to the muscle tissue (unlike on your body), that’s why it makes sense that, if you work and build muscle, your skin will firm up too!! YAY right!? The coolest thing about it, is that it actually gives you a lift and ALSO minimizes wrinkles, and thus, you will look younger. I find there’s a lot of wrinkle treatments out there, but the only thing, except facial exercises, that works for sagging skin, is a real surgical facelift (involving knives, oh and the not-so pretty risk of face deformity, yikes!!) Facial exercises give you a very natural lift, so that your skin slowly comes back to previous firmness. The results will progress over time, so your face will keep looking younger, as you stick to the program. Just think about is as a part of your daily routine.
Criticism
Maybe now you're thinking, that you already exercise your facial muscles every day; when you smile, eat, talk even- Yes, that’s absolutely true, so you can already skip all exercise programs that merely suggest you smile big or scrunch your face different ways, that doesn’t work! At all! – What you need, is resistance training, and you have to feel the muscles burning, just like when you build muscle on your body. Ha ha, no, I’m not saying you should use a dumbbell on your face. What I do suggest, is that you use your hands to isolate the muscle and then use expressions for resistance - I’ll give you 5 exercises here, that you can try for yourself.
How to start
You should start by washing your face and hands, and don’t put on moisturizer before you’re done.
Don’t worry, in the beginning you might actually see some new fine lines appearing, BUT fret not, these are only superficial and will disappear again as you keep on with the routine and remember to massage your face very thoroughly after every session, using cream or serum in generous amounts. Also, very important, take a before-picture now, before you begin! Even though you WILL see noticeable results, the results are slowly progressing over time, so there will be things you won’t notice as much, if you don’t have the before picture to compare. And remember, it will not work to do only one exercise, you have to do all 5, because the muscles all work together. It's very individually when you'll see results, I saw results after 3 weeks in the whole face, the results around your eyes, will come pretty quick! And don't give up, you WILL see results.
Forehead exercise: this exercise will smooth and tone forehead wrinkles + lift your brows.
Place your fingers above your eyebrows, as shown in picture. Press firmly, then lift your eyebrows, while counterresist with your fingers, so that you feel your whole forehead lifting, hold 1 second, repeat 10 times. Release. Repeat whole sequence 5 times (5x10). The last time, hold for 10 seconds, untill you feel a burn. Release.
Eye exercise: This exercise will lift and tone your eyelids (no more droopy tired looking eyes)
Place your three middle fingers as shown, middle finger directly on the brow bone. Press and lift slightly. Now close your eyes firmly, hold for 1 second. Repeat 10 times. Relax. Repeat whole sequence 5 times (5x10), for a total of 50 repetitions. The last time, close your eyes firmly and hold for 10 seconds. Release.
Cheek lift: this exercise, will tone all the muscles in the lower face and will tone and lift and define your cheekbones.
Place your as shown in picture, directly on your cheekbone, press firmly, now shape your mouth into an exaggerated o-shape, you should feel a stretch. While keeping the o-shape, try to smile, lifting the corners of your mouth. You should feel your cheekbones lifting. Hold the smile for 1 second. Relax. Repeat 10 times (smiling, then back to o-shape). Relax for a few seconds. Repeat sequence 5 times (5x10). Hold last smile for 10 seconds, feeel the burn. Release.
Nasio Labial line smoother: This exercise will lift, build and plump the area around your mouth and your lips, to eventually eliminate the nasio labial lines (the lines from your nose to your mouth), and will tone the area around your mouth.
Place your pointing finger along the line from your nose to your mouth, resting your hand on your chin area. Press firmly and lift upwards. Create resistance by making an o-shape with your lips, you should feel a stretch. Hold for 1 second, repeat 10 times, then a small break and repeat sequence 5x10 times in total. Hold the last repetition for 10 seconds untill you feel a burn, then release.
The neck and jaw toner: This exercise will firm and tone your neck + give definition to your jawline, while deminishing any double chin.
Place your hands as shown, resting on your collar bone, ha ha ha, I know, it looks like I'm choking myself, don't worry, I survived! place your tongue on the soft bottom behind your front teeth. tilt your head up, while holding firmly with your hands for resistance. blow a kiss to the ceiling. hold for 1 second, then back to neutral. repeat 5x10 kisses ;-) last kiss, hold for 10 seconds, feel the burn. Release.
Do let me know how it works out for you, and if you have any questions, please feel free to comment below or e-mail me, I'll be happy to help, I know that it can be tricky in the beginning, don't give up. If you want a nudge when new content is up on blog + more tips and recipes that I only share in e-mail, be sure tt and sign up for the newsletter below!
