Your workout regime might be in good shape, but it’s easy to forget one of the most important parts of your body – your face. That would be a mistake. A few easy facial exercises won’t just make you feel fresher and look younger, they can even keep wrinkles at bay.
Here are five face-loving exercises to tighten up your facial muscles. Begin by performing these exercises every other day in front of a mirror. Once you’ve perfected them, repeat once or twice a week.
Perfect Your Pronunciation – This exercise involves articulating a series of vowels while laughing and helps lift the neck and firms the corners of your mouth. It may also improve your pronunciation. Breathe in deeply and say “A, E, I, O, U” in a very deliberate, over-emphatic voice while smiling and laughing. Repeat three times in two minutes.
Pucker up – You might look like a fish, but this face exercise tones your cheeks and lips, as well as plumping up the lower half of your face.
Suck in your cheeks until your lips form a figure-of-eight shape. Hold this face yoga position for 10 seconds then release. Repeat this exercise 20 times in about three minutes.
Say nothing – By tensing your lips you can effectively prevent sagging of the skin surrounding the lips and give your smile a boost.
With your mouth closed, pinch your lips shut tight. Stretch your mouth as widely as you can as if you’re trying to smile while your lips are glued shut. Hold this face yoga position for 20 seconds more before relaxing all the muscles. Repeat 10 or 12 times in three minutes.
Kiss me slow – This facial exercise firms the lips and smooths out fine lines and wrinkles around the mouth. You can maximise the impact by holding your face in position with an extra squeeze between your fingers.Push the lips forward into an extreme pout, as if puckering up for a kiss. Hold for about 30 seconds. Repeat four times in two minutes.
The V – Good for toning up drooping eyelids, banishing crow’s feet and eliminating puffiness.
Press both middle fingers together at the inner corner of the eyebrows, then apply pressure to the outer corners of the eyebrows with the index fingers. Look to the ceiling, and raise the lower eyelids upwards to make a strong squint, and then relax. Repeat six more times and finish by squeezing eyes shut tightly for 10 seconds.
And remember, simply smiling for just three minutes a day can help lift your neck, tone your lips and firm your cheeks, so keep doing it!