Ageless if you Dare - Loulou's Facial Exercises
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free skin care · Mon Sep 07, 2009 5:45 am

lucyluc wrote:

I watched the DVD but I am afraid to pull my face,I am afraid it will stretch the skin and make my face sag Sad

Me too. Someone encourage us!

free skin care · Mon Sep 07, 2009 6:29 am

If you look at Loulou's face in her before and after pictures, it looks way better after she's been doing exercises and pulling and massaging her skin Smile

Also, if you are nervous about touching and massaging your skin, you can try to massage a small area of your face to test it out. Here is a link to another post which describes how do to that (scroll to the end):

http://www.essentialdayspa.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=5543&start=125

You can always start out really gently and work your way up to being more aggressive.

HTH Smile

free skin care · Mon Sep 07, 2009 10:43 am

Thanks cm5597 for offering some support. However, I was hoping that some EDS members would come forward & share their experiences as to date with the Ageless program-- and also provide some reassurance (in my case at least) that it's only an awkward stage that I'm going through with the more pronounced N/L folds and that things will get better. Lucyluc & Vor, I don't know if I'm the best one to offer reassurance about pulling at your skin, but speaking for myself, it seems that pulling (really hard!) at my skin seems to be encouraging the circulation to my face & my skin has had no problems bouncing back in the 3 weeks or so that I've been doing the program. Except for the N/L folds, that is, which seem to be getting deeper.

(*musing to self*-- Perhaps I'm on the wrong thread? I see that there's a thread on Facial Exercise: Share the Process and Results)

free skin care · Mon Sep 07, 2009 12:13 pm

Hey Jeanleemarquis!

Have you seen http://louiseannette.proboards.com/ yet? It's probably the best bet for finding other people who have gone through similar awkward stages using the Ageless program and can offer your support and guidance.

HTH Smile

free skin care · Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:10 pm

Thanks cm5597, I'm going to the link NOW!

free skin care · Sun Sep 13, 2009 1:38 pm

How much do you exercise and do you do all the exercises?

free skin care · Sun Sep 13, 2009 11:19 pm

lucyluc wrote:

I watched the DVD but I am afraid to pull my face,I am afraid it will stretch the skin and make my face sag Sad

Are there a DVD? I bought the book, but it so hard to fully understand all the exercises, and to be sure to do them right..
In the book there's a link to a page with a short silent home video of her exercise, that also aren't in the same order as in the book.

Mon Sep 14, 2009 6:07 am

Vor wrote:

How much do you exercise and do you do all the exercises?

Vor, I do all the exercises but the crush,and I do somewhere between 20-30 repetitions of each one.

In the interests of full disclosure, I must add that I also do Flex Effect 2 or three times a week. I started FE a year ago and found Loulou a little over a month ago. I like both programs and find them effective.

In a different post, you said that you saw results only immediately after you did the exercises. For me, the effects were cumulative, and when they kicked in, they were astounding, but that may have been the year of FE preparing my face for such a rapid transformation .

free skin care · Tue Sep 15, 2009 12:58 pm

How do you do "Crush"? Do you smile or something or just suck the cheeks in forming a fish face? Thanks!

free skin care · Tue Sep 22, 2009 2:52 am

I didnt see any difference after 5 months so got slack and stopped doing it. I still do some jaw one's though.

I have some slight droopiness in mouth corners and the program didnt fix it.

free skin care · Tue Sep 22, 2009 8:42 am

Does the orbilaris oculis exercise work?

free skin care · Tue Sep 22, 2009 10:03 am

carolb69 wrote:

I didnt see any difference after 5 months so got slack and stopped doing it. I still do some jaw one's though.

I have some slight droopiness in mouth corners and the program didnt fix it.

Hi there,

I was just curious to see if you think the exercises made the problem worse? Or did you feel that they just didn't help? Thanks!

free skin care · Thu Oct 01, 2009 11:17 am

I have to fill out my upper cheek area. Do you guys think the Ageless will accomplish this or FE will be better? I am 53 and have flattish bone structure up there? The problem with FE is I just won't keep it up. I hate to pick and choose certain ones because then I don't know if I have a good balanced program. If anyone has special ones for upper cheek that they add in with the Ageless let me know. I fear the only way I will really get the results I need is filler.

free skin care · Thu Oct 01, 2009 11:43 am

Do you mean the under-eye area?

free skin care · Thu Oct 01, 2009 11:57 am

Vor wrote:

Do you mean the under-eye area?

no, the upper cheek but it does merge with the under eye and would want it to fill in all the way up. It is below the tear trough and goes down to the mid cheek. I guess I could use some thickening of skin under my eye but I am not hollow there or puffy. I am pretty much like my upper cheek there. Flat! I am Eurasian so my bone structure does not have the projection as a full Caucasian face and my orbital bone goes way up to my eye so there is not even much space for a hollow. Just flat bone all the way up. There used to be huge mounds of fullness there when I was younger. I really needed that because the bones themselves don't create any contour. I also don't have the fat that a full Asian face does. My mother is full Asian but had more fullness to her upper face when she was in her 70's than I do now. I have great rounded high outer cheekbones but as it goes to the center of my face towards the nose it gets flatter. I think my large cheekbones might make it even more obvious.

free skin care · Thu Oct 01, 2009 12:12 pm

where is that homemade video on the Ageless site? I found it once but can't seem to find it again.

free skin care · Thu Oct 01, 2009 7:24 pm

I like FE better for cheeks, but Ageless is my second favorite. I just find that I get better contractions in my cheeks and can apply more resistance with the FE techniques. But several people like Ageless better...So it all depends on your preferences Smile

free skin care · Thu Oct 01, 2009 10:23 pm

cm5597 wrote:

I like FE better for cheeks, but Ageless is my second favorite. I just find that I get better contractions in my cheeks and can apply more resistance with the FE techniques. But several people like Ageless better...So it all depends on your preferences Smile

Do you like FE across the board better or do you like it better for some things and other approaches better for other parts of your face? And of course we are all different but I like hearing solutions others have come up with.

free skin care · Fri Oct 02, 2009 4:45 am

skincarefreak wrote:

carolb69 wrote:

I didnt see any difference after 5 months so got slack and stopped doing it. I still do some jaw one's though.

I have some slight droopiness in mouth corners and the program didnt fix it.

Hi there,

I was just curious to see if you think the exercises made the problem worse? Or did you feel that they just didn't help? Thanks!

Hi sorry about slow reply but i didnt find it made them worse, just didnt help. If anyone knows what helps the muscles around the corners of mouth please post! I find that slight downturn can make you look tired.

free skin care · Fri Oct 02, 2009 12:10 pm

mommydearest wrote:

Do you like FE across the board better or do you like it better for some things and other approaches better for other parts of your face? And of course we are all different but I like hearing solutions others have come up with.

Hi Mommydearest!

I get much better contractions with the FE cheek exercises in that I find I can apply more resistance per rep to the muscles and hence get more build with the FE versions of the exercises. The issue for me is that with the technique and angle of gripping the muscle in the Ageless program does not let me apply as much resistance to the muscle. To me, I feel like I can apply on average 1.5-2x as much resistance with the FE cheek technique, for 5 of the 6 cheek muscles. For the 6th cheek muscles, the buccinators, I have found Ageless's exercise for the buccinators to be ineffective for me; I've just never once had a good contraction from that exercise, though lol, it could just be me though and user error Smile

So on the narrow issue of technique, if you really need to restore volume in the cheeks, I would recommend FE first, and Ageless second, and I would not recommend any other programs for restoring volume in the cheeks at this point. These are the only two facial exercise programs that have worked for me cheek-wise.

In terms of training schedule, I tend, however, to agree with Loulou's approach of training every other day, but with double the intensity. Unlike Ageless, though, FE is not a monolithic organization, in that you will find that different trainers have slightly different approaches to the question of training schedules, so it is hard to make a perfect comparison here. Most often, I hear people on FE forum recommend training a muscle 5-6 times a week (the equivalent of once a day, plus 1-2 days of rest per week). To be honest, I remain unconvinced (but am still trying to be open-minded) that training every day is best for muscle build, as it is the opposite of what a bodybuilder would do. Currently, I am experimenting with training my cheeks 2x a week at a super-high intensity, such that I am always sore the next day and usually take two days to recover, and so far, I am LOVING that and feeling like I am making faster gains in my cheeks from that! (But I wouldn't recommend that right away for beginners.) So in sum, so far, I like Loulou's philosophy behind the training frequency for the cheeks a little better.

Also, on Ageless, I think that if anyone were to recommend a rigid one-size fits all training regimen for beginners, Ageless is closest to what that ideal regimen would be. What I think that Loulou got right is that the cheeks and eyes tend to make the most difference in a majority of people's appearance. Also, Loulou did a good job of designing her program to reduce the chance (but not eliminate it completely, as I think that is impossible) of going through awkward stages. What she has done is to not include regular exercises for any of the areas of the face that tend to build quickly on people. Also, her program is very efficient time-wise. That said, I definitely do not support or agree with the idea of a "one-size fits all" program, even though it is a good way to get beginners started. Soon after you get the hang of things, I strongly do not recommend following a particular program, as each person needs a program that addresses their individual needs, just like with body exercises. For example, some people build their butt muscles so easily that they have to be careful of over-bulking them, whereas others struggle to put on the muscle they need to full out their jeans. So I think a one-size fits all program is fundamentally flawed, and time and time again, people run into problems with doing a fixed program. To me, it feels like FE gets this concept (even though tailoring is not initially recommended for beginners even when occasionally perhaps it should be), but Ageless (like most programs) seems to miss the boat on this point, imo.

Other points between the two programs:

* FE is comprehensive, while Ageless is certainly not.

* Ageless costs practically nothing to buy

* I like the overall philosophy of FE better than that of Ageless, even though there are a few ideas that Ageless emphasizes better than FE.

Even though overall I like FE much better, I think either program is a good choice and you will get your money's worth. And I recognize that in some cases for some people--especially though with little time and patience in trouble-shooting--Ageless might be a better starting point, with the idea of graduating to FE later.

About a third popular program, Facercise, I liked that program for my eyes, forehead, jaw, neck, and nose. Overall, I think it is better than Ageless for most of those areas, but not as good as FE. The exception would be that Facercise has this amazing nose exercise, the Nose Shortener, that I use all the time, and I like Facercise's forehead exercise about equally as much as FE's forehead exercises. But I thought the cheek exercises in Facercise were the weakest point of the whole program; I wasn't able to build really any significant volume in my formerly gaunt cheeks with them.

So in sum, currently,

* I use mostly FE exercises

* I use Ageless's lip exercise

* I use Facercise's nose exercise and forehead exercise regularly, and occassionally use one of the lip exercises

* I follow a training schedule that hits all the muscles of my face at least twice a week, and vary my schedule depending on whether I want to tone or build a muscle.

* For the cheeks, I following a training schedule closest in spirit to that advocated by Ageless.

These are my very honest opinions, though different people will have different experiences with each of these programs, so I'm not sure my experiences would carry over even to most people. I hope this helps in your decision-making!

Smile

free skin care · Sun Oct 04, 2009 12:31 am

Im interested in the facercise program. Can anyone tell me the difference between the 2 books?

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9780399527838/Carole-Maggio-Facercise

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9780330490153/The-New-Facercise?b=-3&t=-20#Fulldescription-20

Thanks Very Happy

free skin care · Sun Oct 04, 2009 1:41 am

Hi cm -

Thank you so much for your detailed response. Actually I do go back and forth between all three you suggest. I got the Facercise book when it first came out years ago and have been doing that the longest. I even have a few I do from some other books I got before Facercise. I have been incorporating different exercises from each one as well because I have really been feeling like different programs were better for different parts of my face . So I am glad to hear you have come to the same conclusion about yourself. I just end up with so many I like I am overwhelming myself. I have not found the right mix yet and I have not been as regular as I need to me to see the results I want.

I find I get a very pretty lift to my mouth area with Facercise. I have strong jaw muscles and thought FE made my lower face muscles too tight or something so my smile was effected and did not seem as wide or something. It was weird. Carole M. has a gorgeous lifted mouth where her front teeth show when she talks and a high upper lip when she smiles. When I do her exercises I get that look too. I really hate seeing the lower teeth. It is so aging.

I desperately need more projection and filling out of the mid and upper face and I think you are right - FE is the best for that. I have a problem grabbing my tissue with Ageless. I have Arthritis in my thumb joint and also I have thick skin and it slips thorough my fingers so I have to really hold on tightly and it hurts. I do love the shortness of that program however. It is much easier to stick to. FE is just too much of a chore. If it were all on video it would better for me so I can just follow. If it requires too much rereading and thinking I won't do it. Do you know if that FE full program video will ever be a reality? Maybe it is already.

I am on the fence about forehead. Everything seems to make my frown muscles stronger. I have to lift and separate there! Have you found a good chin plumper? Just the front on the chin?

Thanks so much for your opinions.

free skin care · Sun Oct 04, 2009 7:45 am

mommydearest wrote:

I have been incorporating different exercises from each one as well because I have really been feeling like different programs were better for different parts of my face. So I am glad to hear you have come to the same conclusion about yourself.

Yes, different programs can be better for different areas of the face--e.g., Ageless for cheeks and eyes--and weaker for other areas of the face--e.g., I found Facercise not to be good for the cheeks. But to just to be precise, (1) I think it's at least in a small part an individual matter as to what techniques, including grips, works best for people, and (2) about 90% of the facial exercises I do are from FlexEffect, the remaining 10% from Ageless and Facercise, which I say just to be totally accurate/fair about where most of what I like and do use is coming from.

mommydearest wrote:

I just end up with so many I like I am overwhelming myself. I have not found the right mix yet and I have not been as regular as I need to me to see the results I want.

Hang in there, mommydearest! You can do it Smile

I think most of us go have to work through the difficulty of figuring out what works and what doesn't. I still feel like it is a work in progress. What I ended up doing is to evaluate my progress on a monthly basis, and each month, I tweak my routine based on the response of my muscles to the exercises, and I experiment with different exercises and traing routines. In the beginning, after learning about 15 exercises, each month I added a couple more exercises, so that I wouldn't be overwhelmed by doing too much too soon. I spend only 15 minutes a day on facial exercises (excluding the massage). Picking an amount of time that I am willing to spend on my face and adhering to that amount has made it feel manageable for me.

mommydearest wrote:

I find I get a very pretty lift to my mouth area with Facercise. I have strong jaw muscles and thought FE made my lower face muscles too tight or something so my smile was effected and did not seem as wide or something. It was weird.

Huh, that's strange. Did you ever figure out what happened? Maybe too much build in the masseter or some other muscle? Have you tried asking on the FE forum?

mommydearest wrote:

I desperately need more projection and filling out of the mid and upper face and I think you are right - FE is the best for that.

Are you saying that you found FE to be better than Ageless in this regard? Just curious, as I know that I've noticed a difference between the two approaches to training the cheeks, but I'd love to hear from others whether they experience the same thing, or whether they have different results. I'm always fascinated by that sort of thing Smile

mommydearest wrote:

I have a problem grabbing my tissue with Ageless. I have Arthritis in my thumb joint and also I have thick skin and it slips thorough my fingers so I have to really hold on tightly and it hurts.

Even with some of the FE exercises, as my muscles have gotten much stronger and my tissue much thicker, I've had to modify some of the grips to be able to apply more resistance. Very often, I'll use the side of my forefinger, rather than the finger tip on my forefinger, to get a better, stronger grip. As they say, "just do what you need to do!" Smile

mommydearest wrote:

I do love the shortness of that program however. It is much easier to stick to. FE is just too much of a chore.

You could alternate the programs. Or, what you could try is to do the Ageless training schedule, but substitute FE exercises that target the same muscles for the Ageless exercises. My training schedule/approach is sort-of intermediate between Ageless and FE: I do train all the muscles of my face (so am comprehensive, like in FE), but on average, I train each muscle every other day at higher intensity (like in Ageless). The result is that on average I do about 13-14 facial exercises a day (but double up on the cheeks), and train for about 15 minutes a day (longer than Ageless, but half as long as the full FE program if you were to choose to do all FE exercises every day). I'm very happy with this intermediate approach of comprehensiveness in targeting all muscles, while not having it take up too much time.

mommydearest wrote:

If it were all on video it would better for me so I can just follow. If it requires too much rereading and thinking I won't do it. Do you know if that FE full program video will ever be a reality? Maybe it is already.

The hints I've seen from Claudia seem to suggest that a DVD with all exercises will be coming out in the future, but I don't know whether than means in a couple months or a couple years.

mommydearest wrote:

I am on the fence about forehead. Everything seems to make my frown muscles stronger. I have to lift and separate there!

A couple things: One, you might want to make sure that your corrugators are not over-built relative to your frontalis muscle. Two, if you are like me and frequently catch yourself "frowning with your forehead", you might want to pay more attention to your forehead posture; this has helped me a lot. Third, given my tendency to frown, I spend a bit more time on the "lifting up" forehead and eyebrow exercises than on the "pulling down" exercises, so as to help lift this area (but I do not neglect the "pulling down" exercises).

mommydearest wrote:

Have you found a good chin plumper? Just the front on the chin?

I really, really like FE's "Chin Lift" exercise. It's very effective and my chin muscles are strong enough that I have to be careful not to do it too much.

Finally, one caveat, I'm not a trainer or a facial exercise expert, so I'm not sure that facial exercise trainers would agree with all my advice/thoughts/opinions. Just want to get that out there that I'm not an expert and these are just my opinions Smile

HTH

free skin care · Sun Oct 04, 2009 12:25 pm

Hi,
I also do both FE and Ageless and some Facercise and a few others. You find your favorites over the course of trial and error. Be sure to visit the free exercises on Eva Frasiers site and Lea Eigards and Carolyn's facial fitness site. Definitely worth it.

I've done FE for 16 months and Ageless for about 9 months. FE is more comprehensive. I take two nights a week and do an (almost) full FE regimine. It's what I call "maintenance" at this point. I avoid the TMJ ones. I LOVE FE eye exercises - really work. also there are Free great exercises from Eva Frasier for both neck and eye area that I do.

Facercise has a nose exercise (as mentioned by CM) that is outstanding. I do it everyday and usually in the car! Also the Lip exercise from Ageless is a no-brainer for when you are driving (stopped at a light whatever )... Yes, you look stupid!!! but oh well.
Facercise also has a great exercise for NL - It is detailed by Aprile on the Carole Maggio thread. I've just started doing it and believe it is superb. For me Facercise is a different sort of exercise. FE is for building, and Facercise kind of anchors things - call it toning. It seems to be a good way to train your face to behave!!! Admittedly I don't and never have done all of Facercise but what I do know and do of the program I really like.

Ageless is a great quickie - less time and good blood flow to the facial area! I do the cheek exercises sometimes before I get out of bed. Especially if I know I can't get to FE. Bottom line: There is something worthwhile to all of them. I also like a neck exercise where you lie on the floor and lift your head and turn it side-to-side for about 30 times each way. Kiss the ceiling is good too (another on-line freebie).

I know the idea of pulling your face is scary. I hesitated for a few years but then just decided to go for it. My decision was based upon results I saw and read on Flex effect forum and it convinced me: both from a anecdotal evidence base and even scientifically.

free skin care · Tue Oct 06, 2009 12:15 am

Someone asked if it these exercises stretched their skin and someone else asked about the mouth corners.

For me, I think its making my skin thicker because its getting harder and harder to grab on to it. I have to wear gloves or use an old cotton tee shirt to make a grip to grab my skin or it slips away.
If it were getting stretched out, I would think it would be easier to grab, but it is getting more and more difficult. Its like the skin is more attached to the muscle now, like there is volume.
If you have experienced it you know what I am talking about, its hard to describe though. Its not old deflated skin sitting on bones, its skin on muscles..just like your arms. You can have a flap of fat and skin hanging there which is easy to pull away, but if its muscle its harder to grab and pull away. That happens to your face.

And the mouth turning downwards is the first thing that I noticed on me, it went away. My mouth doesn't turn down anymore.

Next thing I noticed was the skin tightening and my eyes opened up more, which I didn't realize needed improving until it was improved.

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