Guest Contributor
We all want to hold onto our youthful appearance for as long as possible, but what about those of us who would prefer to stay away from needles and expensive surgeries and instead join a growing number of women who choose to age gracefully and naturally?
I count myself as one of those women who shies away from painful needles and unnatural skin treatments and chooses to love my skin, wrinkles and all. These few simple facial exercises have made a noticeable a difference in the way my wrinkles look. Best yet, it’s not hard to do and will leave you feeling happier and looking younger.
Resisting Wrinkles
Recently, I have been researching and testing out different facial exercises that will help to strengthen and tone your facial muscles which can become weak over time. We have 60 different muscles in our face and, we use only a select few of them each and every day. This means the muscles we’re using less frequently become weak and can wither away. Not the ideal situation.
Your facial muscles are just like the rest of your muscles. They need maintenance, and resistance exercises can be the easiest way to whip your weak facial muscles back into shape, making you look younger and keeping your skin healthier in the process.
Want to get rid of those smile lines? Try out this two-step of facial exercise:
- Place your two index fingers at the corners of your mouth where you see your smile lines. Feel around for where those muscles are. Once you locate your major facial muscles you can start strengthening them with exercises that work against the resistance from your fingers.
- Start by smiling. Easy enough, right? Now hold that smile until you start to feel those muscles working. It sounds simple but many people will feel they have done enough strengthening after only a few minutes. Power through that feeling and help to strengthen that muscle group.
Commit to doing this exercise every day for 5-10 minutes each day. This will help to build strength around your mouth area, pull your skin back, even out your wrinkles, and ultimately make you feel happier. Not bad for a 5 minute workout!
SmEYEz: Harnessing Your Inner Tyra Banks
The skin around your eyes is one of the most delicate areas on your face, and unfortunately one of the first spots to get wrinkles. Luckily, you can smeyez your way to younger looking, more alert, and open eyed by strengthening your Orbicularis oculi, the large muscles that circle each of your eyes.
To work these muscles, think of trying to move your ears back and forth. It can be a difficult exercise to master, but once you locate that muscle try to keep your ears back and your eyes more open for a minimum of 3-5 minutes.
This exercise not only helps to work your Orbicularis oculi but also helps to pull back the skin around your eyes, and ultimately give your eyes a look of being more open and alert.
While these exercises may seem easy enough, they are not a quick-fix solution. In order to see any lasting results you have to dedicate yourself to maintaining a regular routine of these exercises for at least 4 months. Once you stick to consistent routine of these facial exercises, doing them for 7-10 minutes a day, 3-4 days a week, you will start to notice your wrinkles fading away gradually and your skin muscles toning and firming up.
Make sure you cap off your facial work out with a healthy and organic skin cream, or better yet, an effective microdermabrasion treatment to help banish any remaining fine lines or age spots and help your skin to look years younger without ever having to go under the knife or use any harmful chemicals.
About the author: Jill is an independent skincare reviewer for the popular website, BES Skincare where she reviews products such as Microderm MD. The best part of her job? She has great skin!
{Image Credit: Woman smiling image via Shutterstock}
