10 Facial Exercises That Can Replace a Visit to a Plastic Surgeon

American cosmetologist, Carole Maggio, says that plastic surgery is not the only way to combat aging or facial imperfections. Carole has developed a set of exercises, on the basis of her multi-year experience, that she positions as a real alternative to a surgeon’s cardinal methods. With the help of these exercises, one can make the shape of the nose look more graceful, the lips look plumper, and the double chin almost invisible.

Bright Side offers you 10 verified exercises from the famous book by Carole Maggio, The New Facercise: Give Yourself a Natural Facelift, that is aimed at solving people’s major issues with their appearance.

Recommendations for how to perform the exercises

• Pose. It’s recommended to do all the exercises in the following pose: sit straight up, pull in the stomach as much as you can, as if you are trying to touch your navel to your spine. Also, tighten the muscles of the upper legs and buttocks. This pose will allow you to focus on the particular facial muscles that you’re going to work on.
• Burning sensation in the muscles. There should be the sensation of burning and pulsating in your muscles while performing the exercises. This indicates that your muscles are working at their maximum capacity. When performing exercises with facial muscles, it’s the fingertips that provide the necessary resistance in order to make the muscles work more effectively.
• Forget about the pain. In order to relax the muscles after the exercises, press your lips tightly and blow, making the lips vibrate. This will relieve excess muscle tension and any possible muscle pain that developed during the exercises.

1. Exercise for strengthening the upper eyelids

Place your middle fingers between your eyebrows over the bridge of your nose and your index fingers at the outer corners of your eyes and press down slightly on the skin. Look upward. Squint the lower eyelids, as if pulling them up to the top eyelids.

Your fingers should feel the pressing of the side, outer eye muscles. Squeeze your eyelids alternately and then relax your muscles. Do 10 reps in a row by focusing your attention on the pulsating muscle. After that, keep the eyes tightly squeezed shut and count to 40.

This exercise stimulates the circular muscles of the eye, toning the upper eyelid: as a result, the muscles tighten and the look of your eyes becomes more open.

2. Exercise for strengthening the lower eyelids

Place the index fingers of both hands on the outer corners of the eyes and the middle fingers on the inner corners. Press slightly. Look upward. Squint the lower eyelid to feel the pulsating of both inner and outer side eye muscles.

Squint and relax the lids 10 times. Keep the upper lids open. Squint again and look upward, keeping the lower lid tense, count to 40.

This exercise strengthens the circular muscle of the eyes and lower eyelids. It also reduces the under eye hollows and removes swelling.

3. Exercise for lifting the forehead

Place index fingers of both hands on the middle of the forehead parallel to the brows. Slightly press the forehead with the fingers. Keep them in this position and look upward, concentrating on pushing upward with the brows

Continue to raise your brows and relax them. Do 10 reps. After that, raise your brows, press them with your fingers, and continue to make uplifting movements until you feel a burning sensation in your muscles. Hold the brows in an uplifted position and press them slightly with your fingers pushing downward. Count to 30. Relax the brows and massage them with circular movements.

This exercise raises the eyebrows, prevents the formation of wrinkles when frowning, and helps smooth out existing ones.

4. Exercise for improving cheeks

Open your mouth by pulling the corners of your lips to different sides. The mouth should look like an elongated oval, the upper lip should be pressed down under the teeth. Place the index fingers of both hands on the “apples” of the cheeks. Smile with the corners of your lips and then push down the corners. Repeat this movement 35 times at a fast pace. It’s the upper lip pressed down under teeth that helps this exercise really work.

This exercise involves the work of the circular muscle of the mouth. If performed regularly, the “apples” of the cheeks will be uplifted and smooth the hollows under the eyes.

5. Exercise for ’shortening’ the nose

Uplift the tip of your nose with your index finger. Make the nose bend down by pulling the upper lip down. You’ll feel how the tip of your nose pushes your finger. Hold still for a second in this position. Relax the lip and repeat the exercise 35 times. Pay attention to breathing — it should be smooth, with no breaks.

The exercise narrows the tip of the nose, training the muscle that bends the nasal septum, thus, slightly uplifting the nose and making it look shorter.

6. Exercise for lip contouring

Purse your lips without tightening them. Your facial expression should be similar to the one that offended children usually make. Slightly press the middle of your lips with your index finger. Imagine that you are holding a pencil with your lips. Slowly move the finger away from the lips and imagine that the pencil is getting longer. Keep the lips tense until you start to feel a burning sensation in the muscles. Once that starts, do pulsating movements with your finger along the central part of your lips and stop when you count to 30.

If performed regularly, this exercise makes lips plumper and helps smooth wrinkles over the upper lip.

7. Exercise for smoothing the nasolabial folds

Imagine drawing 2 dots — one in the center of the upper lip and one in the center of the lower lip. Open your mouth, parting these dots from each other so that the mouth makes the shape of an elongated oval. The upper lip should be tightly pressed under the teeth covering them completely. Imagine drawing a line from the corners of the mouth to the sides of the nose. Move your index fingers over this imaginary line — up and then down. Repeat the movement until you feel a burning sensation in the nasolabial folds. After that, perform pulsating movements with your index fingers while moving your fingers up and down at a fast pace and count to 30.

This regular exercise contributes to the smoothing of wrinkles from the nose to the corners of the mouth.

8. Exercise for strengthening the neck

It’s recommended to perform this exercise while lying down. Wrap your hands around the front part of your neck. Raise your head slightly from the floor and stay in this position, then put it down. Do 30 reps. Afterward, place your arms along your body and raise both your head and shoulders 1 cm from the floor, keeping your buttocks tensed. Turn your head to the left and to the right 20 times and relax. Do 10 more reps.

This exercise helps to strengthen the muscles and helps us keep our heads straight. Moreover, it helps to smooth and tighten the neck skin.

9. Exercise for slimming the face

This exercise can also be performed in a lying down position. Open your mouth rolling both your upper and lower lips on your teeth. Place your hands on both sides of your jaw and slowly slide them upward along the sides of your face. Look upward and continue until you feel a burning sensation in the left and right part of your face. After that, raise your hands overhead and stay in this position for 30 seconds.

This exercise tones and tightens the muscles of the entire face.

10. Exercise for toning the neck and the chin

Sit straight and raise your chin. Close your lips and smile widely not showing the teeth. Wrap your hands around your neck at the base above the collarbone and pull the skin slightly down. Your look should be directed upward. Tilt the head and bend it back until you feel a strong tension in the muscles of the neck and chin. Count to 3 and return back to the initial position. Do 35 reps.

This exercise works to strengthen the neck and jawline and helps to significantly reduce a double chin.

In order to achieve a visible and stable result, the author of this method Carole Maggio recommends performing these exercises at least 2 times per day allowing 10 minutes for the whole set. Apart from these basic exercises, the book also has more complicated ones. The author says one can start to look several years or even decades younger with the help of these exercises, and they can even make the face look more perfect.

Do you perform any facial exercises? Please tell us about them in the comments!