Skincare Hack: What is facial yoga and does it work?
You’ve probably seen those videos circulating on Instagram or TikTok about the facial massage and yoga techniques that are supposedly miracle workers for smoothing out wrinkles, lifting our faces and defining our one structure. Though they may seem too good to be true, turns out, they really do get results!
Nivea, a leading skincare brand, spoke about the benefits of what is being termed ‘facial yoga’ or ‘facial exercises’ in firming our skin and making it appear more youthful.
But just what is facial yoga and how can you do it?
Our face usually doesn’t even use half the muscles that it has. This means that our circulation in our faces isn’t the best that it could be, with many of our 50+ muscles there not getting toned in their every day use. Facial yoga is designed to combat sagging by increasing our blood flow in our faces, resulting in a healthier complexion and fitter face muscles. It claims to rejuvenate the skin as well as the facial muscles and stimulate cell regeneration, leaving your face with a healthy glow.
These exercises aim to work long term, keeping your face lifted and strengthened further on down the line when muscles and skin traditionally begin to sag with age. Nivea says that some benefits of facial exercises are that it:
Strengthens the muscles in your face.
Reduces the appearance of wrinkles.
Increases blood circulation.
Releases any tension in the face and neck.
Firms and tightens the facial skin.
They recommend performing facial yoga 3-5 times a week in 20 minute session to relax and firm the face. Like yoga, it works with the muscles to relieve stress and strain that we may carry in certain parts of the face to promote better facial muscle relaxation.
Their top tips for performing facial exercises well are to do them lying down for efficacy, clean your hands well beforehand to ensure you aren’t spreading bacteria to the skin and to never pull or tug at the skin on the face. It’s delicate and could be damaged by rough handling, particularly around the eyes. They also advise incorporating these exercises into your routine at the same time everyday so that they become a habit, like part of your skincare routine. They also recommend combining these exercises with your daily cardiovascular exercise to give your complexion the best possible boost and really promote blood circulation.
The Face Yoga Expert, Danielle Collins is the world leading Face Yoga Expert and she shares her wisdom on Instagram about how to effectively and safely practice face yoga. Her top tips for beginners are:
Use a mirror
Have a clean face
Have clean hands
Apply serum
Work to your own level
Breathe deeply
Touch your face with love
Enjoy the healing power of your hands
The podcaster is based in the UK and is often a breath of fresh air on her follower’s timelines, keeping it real about the struggles that we all experience in our day to day lives. She has appeared on lots of shows to discuss her expertise along with her podcast which discusses mental health, yoga practices and techniques for wellness. Check out some of her videos below which she shares to help people learn more about relaxation and lifting facial yoga techniques.
Face Yoga to lift mouth corners
‘Curl lips inwards and smile.
‘Use fingers to smooth any lines created and add resistance.
‘Hold for 15-30 seconds and repeat a couple of times.
‘A side note here to have clean hands and to always do these techniques from a place of positivity (to help your face look and healthy and your mind feel good). Let’s be honest here, we all dislike parts of ourselves but if we can do Face Yoga from a place of love we always get better results.’
3 ways to reduce lines between the brows
‘3 ways to reduce number 11 lines (aka glabellar lines) between the eyebrows naturally whilst feeling super calm too.’
3 moves to define your cheekbones in the morning
‘These moves aren’t changing the bone structure but they are lifting and firming the muscles and brightening the skin…..AND more than anything when combined with deep breathing this 3 minute routine can help us feel good in mind and body hence why they are wonderful to do before you even get out of bed. One of the most important aspects of The Danielle Collins Face Yoga Method is wellness and looking after ourselves holistically.’
