IluvNY

Thanks for all the helpful tips and advice fawnie always appreciated, the more I learn the better I think, and already on the case with the exercises!! thanks again

fawnie

NY,
are you trying the eye exercise? Seeing any results yet? I was amazed at how quickly the lids perked up there!

IluvNY

Nothing on lids but not sure if they are drooping or anything just round lids is meant to be improvment or everywhere, also while doing them do you keep your fingers on your nose bone and brows at all times or just on brows once finding positioning!

Only started excersises last night though, may be too soon!

Dont Know if anyone in UK will be interested in My Cosmo may ther are talking about touch therapy and facial excersies, you can either teach yourself from her Natural Lift and Sculpting Facial DVD which is £14.95 or alternatively go to the Dermalogica or Espa Facialist number is 01855 516027!! Sessions start from £85 have not tried this myself though

netty

Thats a great one pumi!!!....any more?

Angeline

Hello, I'm a newbie here - just discovered the site this evening. I bought a facial exercise video back in (I think) the early 1990s - Eva somebody or other - and I think she was seriously onto something.
I'm now 45, and regularly get taken as early 30s.
Biggest tip I can give to anyone thinking about facial workout is this - learn the moves (in the mirror), memorise them internally (without the mirror) then, if you have the courage, do them whenever you are driving somewhere.
It actually makes a lot of sense. Driving is stressful, enclosed, restricted space, etc, etc, and you automatically start to make facial expressions which reflect your circumstances.
You get a three way benefit from doing your "facercises" in the car - (1) you don't have to "find the time" anywhere else in your day, (2) you instantly address the "negative expressions" of driving, and (3) there's a real kick to be had from pulling the most outrageous faces whilst driving (or sitting in a traffic jam) alongside unsuspecting members of the public!!
Nice to know you're all here!

fawnie

Hi Angeline!

I'm really happy that it's working for you too! I think it is amazing myself.
LOL@ pulling faces in the car! I find myself doing that a lot!

Do you do facial massage too? I think it helps thicken the skin and add volume directly to the dermis. I can feel that my undereye area isn't paper-thin and crepey anymore.

Glad you found this board!

sly

fawnie, could you elaboarate on facial massage, specifically under the eye area?? thanks!

fawnie

Afraid I would get into trouble for copyright infringement with the FlexEffect ppl if I divulged any secrets here!

The few exercises I have mentioned are in the public domain and not specific to any program.

The website Facial Exercise: If it's not FlexEffect It's not Facialbuilding. may have some free info now though!
The book tells about facial massage, the rationale and techniques. It works!!!

Mari

Have you had any accidents while doing these exercises driving? Caused any? With my luck I'd be doing the exercises and some nutcake would think I'm making faces at him/her. The result would be I'd be a) pulled over by an off-duty cop; b) shot at. No, I think I'll leave my driving to doing all the other things that are banned up here. Facial exercises I know

mireckca

Okay - so I finally gave in and ordered this program on-line this morning, but it will take 3 weeks (probably) to reach me up here (in Canada). Based on what I have learned it seems to me that it is a necessary component of any anti-aging regime. Thanks Fawnie for all your help and insights!

My skin is decent but the I am waging the battle vs. gravity at this point. So here is one more thing to distract me. We'll see how it goes.

fawnie

YAY!!!!!!! Good on ya mireckca! I am so excited for ya!

I can say that this is the thing that has given me the best results. The FE forum is excellent at answering your questions along the way. Take baby steps and do the DVD faithfully. Eventually you will be able to do the exercises from memory. Once you start seeing the results you will be hooked and won't be able to go a day without them!!! Don't skrimp on the massage - it's a vital part of the program. It really does make a difference in toning up the skin that is on top of the toned muscles - otherwise you will droop for a while until the skin catches up.

The only problem is finding time and a place where nosy family members won't find you pulling faces! Cats don't mind though. Do a progress report here to plot your benefits!!!

Semayden

Hi, this is my first post!

I've got the Eva Fraser book (had it for years) and keep doing some of the exercises every now and then. It's so hard to keep motivated though...

The two I do fairly regularly, however, are the eye one and the jaw one that Fawnie already gave us. My eyes certainly look lifted immediately after doing those!

I'm upset ATM because I've noticed a fine network of vertical lines where the undereye skin meets the top of cheekbone (if that makes any sense). To me, that's such sign of aging...

Would the cheek exercises help do you think? Thinking here of the Eva Fraser ones, which involve sticking your fingers in the sides of your mouth and pressing on them (I expect Fawnie will know something similar).

I used a Cleo a few years ago, but stopped fairly soon because I got a strange metallic taste in my mouth when using it. As I have a lot of amallgam fillings, I had to assume that they were being affected in some way by the Cleo pulsing away!

I then gave FacialFlex a whirl for several months, but like a few other users, I felt that the sheer number of repetions required with this gadget were possibly toning but also causing my face to look a bit gaunt! So, stopped that one.

I think it's building and firming we need, isn't it ? - not reduction, generally speaking.

Hoping to pick up some more tips here.

fawnie

Hi Semayden and welcome!!

I noticed the vertical lines you're talking about too. When I step up the massage part of the FlexEffect program it helps to fill out the area more and tighten the skin under the eye. I can't write about it or I'd get into copyright infringement trouble. But vigorously massaging the entire facial skin is important to its circulation and strength. And doing the cheek exercises to fill them out could sure help too. The whole face is a network of muscles, so you don't just want to do a few exercises, you want to work the entire face!

What benefits have you seen with Eva Fraser? I don't know that one...just the eye exercise, which I think is the best of any program.

I'm really glad to hear of another confirmed exerciser here! Once I started seeing results I found a way to work it into my day and now I don't feel complete if I haven't done my "routine". You're right, it could be easy to forget it - but it takes commitment and remember: it's a whole lot easier and cheaper than surgery!

I'm more than happy to message you every day to remind you about it!!! haha!

Skinliness

Hello all newb here.

From what I have read about facial exercises on the net, there seems to be no clear consensus as to whether they work or not. And to whether you might be doing more harm than good. I've read your posts here Fawnie and you seem to be using great products such as retin-a, c serum, etc. How can you be sure the results you have seen in such a short time span with facial exercises are not the results of your skin care products your using? I just thought I'd throw another prospective out there.

Skinliness

Article I recently read:

I am completely bewildered by the enthusiasm facial exercises seems to generate. I get swarms of letters from women telling me that I have my non-exercised head screwed on wrong when I suggest that facial exercises don't work. But is there any research that explains the mania surrounding all this stretching of the face muscles?

For the most part, facial exercises are more a problem for skin than a help. Facial exercises provide little or no benefit because loss of muscle tone is not a major cause of wrinkles or sagging skin. In fact, muscle tone is barely involved in these at all. The skin's sagging and drooping are caused by four major factors:

1. Deteriorated collagen and elastin (due primarily to sun damage);
2. Depletion of the skin's fat layer (a factor of genetic aging and gravity);
3. Repetitive facial movement (particularly true for the forehead frown lines and for smile lines from the nose to the mouth);
4. Muscle sagging due to the loosening of facial ligaments that hold the muscles in place.

Facial exercise is not helpful for worn-out collagen, elastin, or the skin's fat layer, because none of that is about the muscles. It is especially not helpful for the lines caused by facial movement! Instead, facial exercises only make those areas appear more lined. The reason Botox injections into the muscles of the forehead and facial lines work to create a smoother face is because Botox prevents the muscles from moving!

Facial exercises won't reattach facial ligaments; that is only possible via surgery. One procedure in a surgical face-lift is to re-drape the muscle of the cheek and the jaw, drawing it back and then literally stitching it back in place where it used to be. Exercise doesn't reattach the ligaments, it just tones the sagging.

The ads for facial exercises often tout the fact that the facial muscles are the only muscles in the body that insert (or attach) into skin rather than into bone. They then use this fact to explain why, if you tone facial muscles, they directly affect the appearance of the skin. What this doesn't say is that skin movement is one of the things that causes the skin to sag. If you are doing facial exercises and can see your skin move or frown lines and laugh lines look more apparent, it only makes matters worse.

As I was researching this article I found the name of one dermatologist whose name showed up repeatedly on Web sites selling facial exercise programs. Dr. Wilma Bergfeld, Head of Clinical Research, Department of Dermatology at The Cleveland Clinic and the first woman president of the American Academy of Dermatology (1992) was quoted as someone who thought facial exercise was worthwhile. I had to hear this for myself. I spoke with Dr. Bergfeld and it turns out she isn't quite a supporter of facial exercises. "While there is no research or studies demonstrating facial exercises as being helpful, it is a reasonable assumption that it may be useful," she said. "Though I don't recommend them I do believe they could work in some controlled situations. However, you would never want to do anything that moves the facial skin, especially as it ages, or overmanipulate the skin," Bergfeld added, "because it would create more wrinkling, increasing the loss of elasticity in the skin."

If facial exercises that move the skin are problematic, what about electrical stimulation for the facial muscles? Wouldn't that form of involuntary stimulation tone the muscles without causing movement of the skin? The answer to that question is a resounding yes. It would exercise the muscle without moving skin. But there is no research demonstrating that this wouldn't make matters worse by creating surfaced capillaries, and it doesn't address the issue of the muscle being toned in the wrong area (since most women start this treatment only after the muscles are already sagged and stretched). And it won't affect the ligaments that have caused most of the sagging and drooping in the first place.

netty

I really like the sound of the facial workout!
Does anyone have a particularly good one for the ugly JOWL?

pumi

Hi NY,
where can I buy this DVD in the UK? Are they available in bookstores?? How is your facial exercise working for u?
Thanks.

netty

Are there any FREE online websites that offer some exercises.
Why are there always websites offered that you have to pay.
Its very difficult when you are from downunder Australia!
I may be a bit slow ....but the desciption of the eye exercise for droopy lids i found a bit hard to follow. Can some one tell me in more simple terms for a slow learner!

pumi

You're rite, Netty. I would also be glad if somebody can share some free online website offering facial exercises.
Thank u all in advance

Semayden

Hi Skinliness. Fellow newbie here. Interesting article - although I don't know that I entirely agree with it. Can you tell me where you found it/who wrote it please? Thanks.