Facial gym: 10 minutes to reshape your face

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Facial gym

A few “stretches” each morning in front of the mirror and the expression wakes up, as if rejuvenated. Four exercises with the dermatologist Marie-Pierre Hill-Sylvestre.

The youngest of our worries and yet primarily responsible for our physiognomy and its aging, there are dozens of muscles stuck under the skin of the face which, at the slightest request, modify our expression.

Some, more often solicited by repetitive facial expressions (a frown requires twice as much muscular effort as a smile!), End up remaining contracted at rest, causing the famous “expression lines” which hollow out the forehead. or mark the outline of the mouth with bitterness. 

Others, such as the orbicularis muscle of the lower eyelid, are used less and less, to the point of no longer knowing how to contract, and lose their curve.

Sad observation, but not irremediable.

By gradually reactivating these muscles in the right direction, it is possible to rebalance their mobility and redraw the face, assures Marie-Pierre Hill-Sylvestre, dermatologist and author of La Peau. Dermatology in the service of beauty (Ellipses, 1997): “Facial gymnastics can re-muscle certain forgotten areas, such as the lower eyelids or the neck,” she explains. 

The stimulation of blood circulation in these places and the recovery of facial tone revive the radiance of the face . Quite naturally, we find the smile, the look of our youth. We reconnect with our image, we become ourselves again. “

Doctor, Marie-Pierre Hill-Sylvestre insists on the importance of the diagnosis by a dermatologist to suggest the exercises most suited to the prevention or correction of muscle failure (softening of the tissues, contraction of the eyebrows, double chin, etc. .). 

This is to modify or correct a specific problem: increase the volume of the lips, improve the contours of the face, lift the cheekbones .

At what age to start facial gymnastics? (Facial gym)

From the age of 20, to postpone the appearance of the first wrinkles by several years. Very elastic, young muscles are less prone to trauma and they will benefit the most from these daily exercises. Otherwise, in your early thirties when the muscles start to melt. And also at 40, 50, 60… because it’s never too late to get started.
For a deep remodeling, it takes a few months. 

But from the first days of practice, you feel real relaxation. In the medium term, the face becomes more toned, the expression awakens, as if rejuvenated. And for it to last? “It is throughout life that we will have to take care of our image,” recalls Dr. Hill-Sylvestre. Facial gymnastics is to the face what bodily gymnastics is to the body: progressive work on the silhouette of the face, its shape and tone, and therefore on its aesthetics. “

Some facial gym exercises

To effectively perform the exercises on the following pages, stand in front of a mirror so that you can clearly see the movements and not accentuate the wrinkles. Back straight, breathe calmly and work slowly. Stop if you are in pain. Repeat the exercises five times in a row. Observe the result after each of them. We are making progress every day …

Tone the neck: facing the ceiling, open and close your mouth

Shoulders back, raise your chin until the skin of the neck is stretched, without bending the neck and keeping the back straight. The face turns towards the ceiling.

In this position, slowly and normally open and close your mouth, feeling the tension in your neck. (You can put a hand on the collarbones at the base of the neck to feel the muscle working.)

Smooth the forehead: raise and lower the eyebrows

Pull your hair up with your hands and look straight ahead.

Slowly lower the eyebrows, but without bringing them together (blink the eyelids like someone nearsighted trying to see into the distance, to help them go down). (Facial gym)

Close your eyes while still holding the top of the forehead which remains smooth.

Remove your hand and let the eyebrows rise, without wrinkling your forehead.

Relax the gaze: raise the eyebrows.

With one hand on the head, place the fingers flat in a fan pattern on the top of the forehead.

Press hard to avoid frown lines (between the eyebrows) during exercise.

Slowly raise both eyebrows. Also slowly release.

Take your hand away and observe your eyebrows: their baseline has risen a few millimeters, which has the effect of softening and relaxing the eyes.

Tone the whole face: pronounce the vowels

A with a big laugh

Open your mouth wide and mentally pronounce A.

Then smile slowly to open your mouth even wider, while accompanying the movement with the hands to avoid creases in the cheeks.

Close very slowly. (Facial gym)

E with a kiss

With your head in your hands, pronounce the E by moving your lips forward and trying to reinforce the hem of the lip.

Stop before you dig the fine lines on your lip. The hands hold the cheeks and exert resistance.

I with a smile

With your head in your hands and your back still straight, watch your smile in slow motion (don’t open your mouth!).

Look at both sides and work slowly without hollowing out the triangles on either side of the nose.

O look astonished

With your head in your hands, open your mouth wide and pronounce O, forming an oval with the lips and bringing the corners of the lips as close as possible. (Facial gym)

Move the hem of the lips as far as possible.

U look dissatisfied

Place your head slightly back to stretch the neck.

Slowly raise your chin to have a pouting expression and pronounce U.

The lips draw a U upside down, the upper lip advances without wrinkling.

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