As we age, facial skin sagging and loss of cheek volume become common concerns. Do you need to spend money on expensive skincare products to fight aging effectively? Research confirms that just 30 minutes of daily facial exercises can make you look 3 years younger in 5 months. How do you do these facial exercises?
Study: 30 Minutes of Daily Facial Exercises Makes You Look 3 Years Younger in 5 Months
Weight loss physician Dr. Xiao Jie-jian referenced a study published in JAMA Dermatology that invited women aged 40-65 to participate in a 20-week facial exercise program. The participants' upper and lower cheek fullness significantly improved. Dermatologists estimated that their average perceived age dropped from 50.8 years to 48.1 years. In other words, just 5 months of practice could visually subtract nearly 3 years from their age.
Xiao explains that beneath the facial skin lies a complex group of muscles. By training these muscles daily, the underlying tissues become thicker, pushing up the sagging skin above. This is like giving yourself a free natural filler, smoothing out sunken areas. The study used the "Happy Face Yoga" facial exercise method, a program of 32 movements, each taking about 1 minute. Participants practiced for 30 minutes daily for the first 8 weeks, then switched to 30 minutes every other day for weeks 9 to 20.
5 Facial Exercise Moves to Get Started
Want to start your age-reversal journey? Xiao suggests starting with these 5 basic movements:
1. Cheek Lifter
- Target: Muscles near the cheekbones, providing mid-face support.
- Steps: Open your mouth in an "O" shape. Wrap your upper lip over your upper teeth, then smile and lift your cheek muscles upward. You can place your fingers lightly on your cheeks to feel the muscles rise and lower.
- Recommended frequency: 10 reps per set, 2-3 sets.
2. Happy Cheeks Sculpting
- Target: Improves fullness of the upper and lower cheeks – the area that showed the most significant results in the study.
- Steps: Gently press your lips together in a closed-lip smile. Imagine pushing your cheek muscles upward. Place your fingers at the corners of your mouth and slide them up to the top of your cheeks. Hold for 20 seconds.
- Recommended frequency: Hold for 20 seconds, repeat 3 times.
3. Eyebrow Lifter
- Target: Lifts the area around the eyebrows and eyes.
- Steps: Place your fingers lightly under your eyebrows, applying slight resistance. Try to lift your eyebrows upward – do not wrinkle your forehead forcefully, or you'll deepen forehead lines before getting younger.
- Recommended frequency: 5 seconds per lift, do 10 times.
4. Jaw and Neck Tightening (Scooping)
- Target: Muscles around the jaw, chin, and neck.
- Steps: Open your mouth in an "ah" shape. Gently curl your lower lip and the corners of your mouth inward, then slowly close your jaw upward. Feel a slight engagement in your jawline and neck. If you have a habit of teeth grinding, tight masseter muscles, or temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain, do not overexert.
- Recommended frequency: Do 10 slow reps, then pause for 10-20 seconds.
5. Upper Eyelid Firmer
- Target: Upper eyelids.
- Steps: Place your fingers gently around your eyes without pulling the skin. Close your eyes gently, then try to look upward, feeling a slight tension in your upper eyelids. Since the skin around the eyes is very thin, the key is to be gentle – more force is not better and could cause pulling or deformation.
- Recommended frequency: Hold for 10-20 seconds, do 1-2 times.
Source: Weight loss physician Dr. Xiao Jie-jian, JAMA Dermatology
