It’s typically the understanding that when you want to tone a part of your body, you work it out — but did you know that applied to your face as well? People are constantly looking for ways to tighten and tone their skin so that they can keep themselves looking young, and one of the things that has sprouted from this search has been face yoga. Now, I’ll admit that when I heard of exercising your face with yoga, I thought it was just another skincare fad that someone had started on TikTok with no scientific backing at all. However, board-certified dermatologist Dr. Anna Chacon tells Betches that this isn’t just another baseless trend.
What Is Face Yoga?
“Face yoga is facial exercises that are intended to tone, lift, and stretch facial muscles,” Dr. Chacon says. “It can also reduce strain and tension in facial muscles, which can help with the overall appearance, leaving you with smooth and defined features without invasive treatments.” She explains that the same way you’d tone and sculpt other parts of your body in a workout routine, face yoga is a more natural method to help achieve firm, sculpted, youthful skin.
“It is designed to naturally sculpt the area above the neck for an improved appearance through not only muscle toning but lymphatic circulation, and improved blood flow,” Dr. Chacon says. We lose muscle mass and volume in our face as we age so these exercises can combat that.
Think of gua sha and how that helps with lymphatic drainage and circulation. Face yoga is pretty similar. But along with the results you can see with a gua sha, face yoga also helps with under eye bags, increases collagen production, and can even brighten skin’s dull appearance.
How Do You Do Face Yoga?
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You can easily find tutorials online, but if you’re looking for a place to start, you can try a bunch of things including “the cheek lifter,” “happy cheeks sculpting,” and “the eyebrow lifter.” All of these moves include placing your fingertips on your face and pressing down as you lift and rest parts of your face including your cheeks and your eyebrows. Remember to wash your hands before you touch your face though!
But other than doing facial yoga exercises, you need to take care of your skin in other ways. This means drinking water to keep your skin’s barrier hydrated, using retinol, exfoliating your skin, and using plenty of vitamin C. Keeping this in mind, it’s probably a good idea to do this face yoga in the morning and night as you do your skincare routines when you wake up and before you go to sleep.
“Make sure to have a good skincare routine both in the morning and at night and wash your face,” Dr. Chacon says. “Invest in quality skincare ingredients that will help your skin achieve plump, firm, hydrated results.” Oh, and never forget sunscreen.
