Facial Exercise: Share the Process and Results
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free skin care · Mon Dec 14, 2009 7:02 pm

Just want to chime in to explain my theory about how the buccinator can be expanded and filled.

As some of you know from the FE forums I have been at the side of the "gaunty" people, and I can easily return to that sucked in lower cheek look. Does not help being thin by nature as for me gaining few pound is an odissey.

Age is another factor, I am getting closer to my 40's not to my 20's, but, after experimenting for a while I have found what does the trick for me, at least.

I do not follow any specific program at all, but my "training" regime -if I can dare to call it that way- includes just few intense exercises addressed to the buccinators at the week. As my position about facial exercising is very relaxed at this point of my life, after following intense and stric training schedules, do not ask me for an specific regime. I know what I do, but I do not focus on reps or time. I just take my moment of the day, when I feel like, and start doing my exercises enjoying them, not as a sacrifice for the sake of my beauty or my youthful look. The more relaxed I am the best results I am achieving.

While I exercise I see a beautiful woman in the mirror. The more beautiful I see myself the more beautiful I look.

I have recently gone through a bad decease (5 months of liver decease caused by an hepathitis) related to my liver and besides the physical effects on my health and body I could not recognize myself. I didn't look only gaunt but sick. Imagine someone addicted to heroine. I was 45 kg wich for me was about 8 kg underweight. All what my body and face was previos my sickness was gone. I looked like a ghost of myself. I have been having my period every 4 to 5 days (BTW ladies, liver is directly related to menstruation) I couldn't take care of my little one to the point of not having the strenght to get the spoon to feed her, not to mention to give her a bath. One of my sisters had to come over to stay day and night taking care of us.

That has been my life for the past months. Going throuhg all of that I have been seriously thinking that I had a lypodistrophy ( a dicease that is characterized by the absence of fat at you face) and getting informed in fat transfer procedures, just in case....

The worse I felt the more obssesed I became to get back to be and feel like me again.

Nothing that had worked in the past did work now, so I took adventage of my sickness, and start watching myself, my body and my reactions taking mental notes of everything.

First of all, being so thin I could see almost every single muscle of my body, and naturally face. As my face was previously trained I could practically see and identify visually many of the muscles that I could only feel before. That was a good time for me to learn a lot.

Going back to the buccinator or what I prefer to call the lower face area.
For the gaunt look, I just want to add my reflexions here.
I am not a trainer and all my experience is personal. I know probably some profesional on this field will chime in with a more educated vision to correct or explain what they think, but again under MY personal experience this is what I know.

Each muscle has its own function and shape. Buccinators push your lower area towards the teeth. That means that it's natural tendendy is to go in, not out.
Think about abs on a fat person. Abs are suppose to be the girdle of your mid-low body, holding the visceras in place, stomach, intestines etc. On a fat person the lack of exercise and the expansion of the viscera makes them stretch out and sag. If they get back in shape they will push in all the tissue back in place. If they keep being exercised, then, and only then, they will build up to the point of being the wash table noticeable at the touch. And finally if the fat gets burned then they will be visually noticed, as the weight lifting professionals.

At our face, specially for people who does not have fat, training the buccinator, if its out of its natural shape, means recovering its location: It will go back to place. That's not the bad at all. It will help with jaw pouches if any are present. Then it will go back to its natural function wich is exactly to push against your teeth. And THAT is the real problem. Does mean a good thing: whatever you are doing is working. But you are not getting the look you want: sucked in cheeks. So at this point you have two options, stop training or keep training harder with the hope that one day, sooner or later you will build up enough muscle to actually fill in that area.

Well, there is another option. At least for me.

If you are familiar with the use of tissue expansion through the use of suction (it is medically used to expand tissue after a mastectomy to create room for the new implants, also it is used as an alternative for natural breat and penis enlargement and, to fill up hypotrophic scars) then you know what I am talking about. I have posted about it on the FE threads and at the vaculift thread here in the past when I discovered the adventages of performing a massage through the use of vacuuming systems as the vaculifter or cupping sets.

When I started to feel better I began to use the suction on my face trying to fill back my hollows as I did in the past. But this time I was under-weigh, so I started to insist a bit more than usual in my lower face conciously knowing (better said, hopping, and visualizing) I would create an space to be filled with my muscles and my fat if I would ever get able to get it back. It has been a very intuitive process. I just trusted my body as I did when none knew what decease I had and they insist to me on eating tons of calories as i kept loosing weight but my body only was cravign for fresh and non processed food.

I started training focusing on intensity of resistance but avoiding many reps or the temptation of overworking the area. Did the tissue expansion pre exercising and I did not exercise every day but I did the expansion thing daily on my lower cheeks and just a vaccum massage at the rest fo my face.
Putting some weight back has been difficult but I have been on an strict diet after my liver detox program to get my weight back. I know I have built a solid muscle there and, I can tell I have more fat than before getting ill, even though I am still under my normal weight. Could it be psicosomathyc? Honestly I don't know. But the feeling on my lower cheeks is fullness not only visually or because the inflamation. But a very very thick tissue staying there now.

I am "almost" totally recovered now and the one thing that it has surprised me the most is that my lower cheek area is more solid than ever. Including pre getting sick when I had a pretty good system of my own exercises that worked wonders for me.
I have almost returned to my normal weight (still struggling to get 2 more kilos) but my face looks full and homogeneus, not fat, not round as when I was a teenager but not sharp or hard on my features as it has been at some points of my experiencing while training.
As my priority has been getting recovered from my illness I have not been really focused on my beauty side... But! Somehow being so relaxed about it has made me achieve better results than ever before.
Filling up those hollows and getting rid of my super-dark circles has been my priority on my face, but I have been focused on them as a physical contidion not as a beauty target.

My body feels much better now. And I have started to do other wonderful things for my body that are working great.
I really don't know if this is somehow self-suggestion or self-conviction (as I can be very stubborn when I have a goal) but if I die tomorrow I will leave a beautiful and healthy body to bury behind me. LOL!

I have done many things to help my contidion as traditional medicine would not have a way to help me. But I am glad I have persisted as I feel and look better. I am now on a maintenance state. Just doing the tanaka massage with caution as I do not want to move my little fat or muscle out of place, which it can be done with persistance. I mean you can make your fat migrate or move from some parts of your body to some others.
I know 'cause now that I have some I am making a massage to fill up my upper chest. (there are lots of chinese, korean and japanese videos about how to perform this properly)

Sorry for my long speech! Gosh! my fingers just like to type!

Anyway, I do not want to encourage anyone to do what I do. But if this makes any sense to you and you have nothing to loose you might want to investigate and get your OWN conclussions wich, at the end, is what we all are doing here, right?

Best to all!

free skin care · Mon Dec 14, 2009 9:35 pm

Hi Zenity,
In reading your post you may enjoy the Tanaka massage - there is a thread on this. It will help with undereye circles as it helps lymph drainage and it creates a serene look to the face - very nice. A wonderful compliment to facial massage.

free skin care · Mon Dec 14, 2009 9:50 pm

Zenity,

I just wanted to congratulate you on getting your health back. This is the the major accomplishment.

I hope you will have a complete recovery and your liver will never bother you again. I am not sure, but it may be wise to keep a "liver loving" diet - no fried food, no red meats, etc. I am sorry if I am boring you with unsolicited advice, but I always feel for people with medical issues having experienced some myself.

I also agree with Sister, Tanaka's massage is lovely, pleasant and effective. If it will not overload your lymphatic system it might be a good addition to your beauty recovery.

Good luck and best of health!

free skin care · Mon Dec 14, 2009 11:03 pm

Thank you for your post Zenity. How wonderful that you have nearly recovered your health. Congratulations and well done!! Health really is everything!
I have been struggling a little with mine too, so know how it feels (but not nearly as bad as you, poor thing). The effect it had on my face was what lead me to EDS in the first place. And I've learnt many fantastic health tips here!

Zenity wrote:

Just doing the tanaka massage with caution as I do not want to move my little fat or muscle out of place, which it can be done with persistance. I mean you can make your fat migrate or move from some parts of your body to some others.
I know 'cause now that I have some I am making a massage to fill up my upper chest. (there are lots of chinese, korean and japanese videos about how to perform this properly)

I wanted to ask you if you could provide some more information about these videos that you mention. I've lost a little too much weight as well and would love to fill up my upper chest through massage.

Many thanks!

free skin care · Tue Dec 15, 2009 1:05 am

Zenity,

i'm a little confused about what you mean by 'tissue expansion'...i thought at first that you meant that tissue expansion was the same as using the vaculift for it's sucking motion..but then you said thatyou did the tissue expansion... pre-exercising... on your cheek hollows and the vaculift on the rest of your face...so do you mean you only used the visualization of the tissue expanding on your cheek hollow..and nothing else in that area..and that it was the visualization that created the fat and muscle development in your lower cheek area?

thanks so much for you extension detais..and heartfelt connection to the well-being of your physical body...it seems to me from what you have said and how you expressed it..that it was a purity of love for your body, rather than a focus on 'beauty' that created the healing, and fullness, of that area.

free skin care · Tue Dec 15, 2009 5:56 am

jasminerosey
I did the tissue expansion pre exercising. Right before I did exercise lower cheeks, and complete the vacuum massage for the rest of my face. I mean my routine would be something like a daily tissue expansion and vacuum massage and exercising only twice or maybe 3 days at the week.
You might be right when you point out about how I focused on healht rather than beauty. If you are really sick your priority is to get and feel better, physical appereance was a reflection of my body's illnes, and is a reflection now of my body recovering.

neondaze
I will try to pm you some links if I can find them. Try to do a search on youtube about breast massage and you will find some videos showing you what I describe here.

Basically what I have do is to warm up the area, as fat get solid with cold and liquid with heat. Take a good shower or a bath or apply local heat.
Then perform a massage with both hands on one side of your body at the time, reach as far back or your armpit as you can get and draw all the tissue over your chest finishing at the cleavage and do the same with the other hand following the bottom of your breast and fishish go up to the cleavage. Do this using a good moisturaizing, oil, or a firming cream. Do this putting pressure and not too fast.
When you notice your body getting really warm and red rool the skin from your clevage up and diagonally to the collar bone.
Spend 5 mins massaging every side.

I add some other moves, but basically this is it. I am now in touch with a woman who performs acupressure and other techniques for breast issues as polycistic breast etc. I hope she has some good advice to hear.
Here is her forum if you are interested and the page wher she explains the massage she does (you have to use google translator)

http://www.beauty899.com.tw/main/index.htm
http://breastup.724.tw/

Sorry for the OT
sigma

Thanks for your words. And yes, you are totally right. It is so easy to forget about your taking care of your diet when you feel good...

sister sweets
I am not sure about dark circles or under eye bags... I wish I could improve them as this has been and still is the bigest and most noticeable side effect of my illness. As you probably know dark circles can develope under many factors. Mine is one of the worst to treat, as if my liver does not work properly they will stay there.
I am not sure yet if my liver has permanent damage, or if eventually it will fully recover.
I like the gentle approach of the Tanaka massage and I have seen the beutiful pics of Critic (thanks sweetie) but I am being cautios just because I do not fill as confident and strong as before to jump in new experiments and getting some strange effects. I follow the massage but do not want to over do my lower face. I am conservative at this point of my life.

free skin care · Tue Dec 15, 2009 7:02 am

Zenity was does the tissue expansion consist of exactly, I have trouble picturing it in my mind.

Zenity wrote:

jasminerosey
I did the tissue expansion pre exercising. Right before I did exercise lower cheeks, and complete the vacuum massage for the rest of my face. I mean my routine would be something like a daily tissue expansion and vacuum massage and exercising only twice or maybe 3 days at the week.
You might be right when you point out about how I focused on healht rather than beauty. If you are really sick your priority is to get and feel better, physical appereance was a reflection of my body's illnes, and is a reflection now of my body recovering.

free skin care · Tue Dec 15, 2009 7:12 am

Hi TheresaMary,

I think that there might be some miscommunication going here-- you might already be aware of this, but just to be perfectly clear, the Tanaka/ Zogan massage is *not* the same as the bone massage.

Critic introduced both of these different massage types in the original thread, which may have caused a bit of confusion.

As I understand it, the bone massage may be able to alter the shape of your face via bone structure.

The Tanaka/ Zogan massage does not claim to do this; however, it *does* claim to restore aging facial features.

Critic has been doing the Tanaka/ Zogan massage since April (I believe); she has only dabbled a bit in the bone massage & is currently investigating it further.

Hope this helps!

free skin care · Tue Dec 15, 2009 7:18 am

TheresaMary

I am sure you have seen this teenagers having that big whole ring on her ears. That is a simple and visual example of what is tissue expansion.
Consists on inducing the expansion or the growth of tissue by tension. This tension can be achieved using different techniques and tools. In my case I used the suction cups from a cupping set to induce and stimulate the expansion and used the muscle and weight gain to fill it up.

Here is a link that speaks about brava and tisuue expansion applied to breast grow:
http://www.natural-breast-enhancement-resources.com/breast-enlargement-pump.html

Quote:

The Brava system works by a process known as tissue expansion. Physicians in many forms of reconstructive surgery have used the principle of tissue expansion for over 30 years. The Brava system works by creating suction on the breast causing the cells to expand and to stimulate their growth.

Another good link about tissue expansion:
http://www.ejbjs.org/cgi/reprint/69/8/1238.pdf
Google tissue expansion or tension-induced tissue growth

What i was intended to do was first create enough room for new tissue and then fill it with muscle and fat as i have been gaining weight. The result is a very solid and filled cheek. That's it.

Does it make any sense now?

free skin care · Tue Dec 15, 2009 7:52 am

Hi Zenity,

thanks for such infomative posts. It's interesting you are concerned about over doing you lower face, is this in case it becomes thinner or something ?

The reason I ask, is that I've been pretty gung ho with the massage especially around the jaw, and I'm getting mixed results. There is definitely positive change, it looks firmer and more toned but a bit puffy in the lower cheeks - I think I may been exerting too much pressure,

thanks

Jackie xx

free skin care · Tue Dec 15, 2009 8:06 am

Zenity

I remember you from the FE forums, and you used to do those funky exercises with the balls etc. I’m wondering if they helped or made you more gaunty?

I thought the buccinators were used when we blow up our cheeks with air (thought I read that on the Ageless book).

I’m worried that doing that technique of stretching the skin might cause it to overstretch. In Tanaka’s you don’t stretch the skin, but I’m wondering if you keep stretching the skin does there come a point when it stops bouncing back? I understand your point about making room for the tissue, but what if you can’t create the tissue to fill it. Just thinking aloud here - don’t know if anyone knows the answers.

I also want to congratulate you on your health recovery - its amazing and a testimony to you.

Theresa

free skin care · Tue Dec 15, 2009 8:25 am

I am concerned on not overdoing anything as this is not the way to go I like to get better results at this moment of my life. Things take time to build and show results. I have been doing all sort of experiments with myself since I can remember. I am not afraid to see what happens to me. But at this moment I am being conservative 'cause the tissue expansion is not a joke.

TheresaMary
You have made a very good point I have considered myself while trying to decide what to do. But I really had nothing to loose, everything was lost at my face! I could "see" some muscles with my eyes, imagine how thin I was! what scared me the most was the idea of developing lipodistrophy as I kept loosing weight and no doctor had a clue of what was going on with me.
I haven't been worried about stretching too much my skin, as being so skinny I was only giving the stretch to its natural size, maybe one step further but not two. I knew I would eventually gain weight or have a fat transfer if that would not happen and decide was the right moment to invest a little bit on that weight on building my face. So far, so god. Since June I have been sick. In agust decided start to do this. I can tell my lower face was firm and thick to the touch before getting sick, no gauntness, or deep hollows. Just my natural curvature on the face, But I felt the skin a tiny bit flabby for my taste. Now I am still 2 kilos under weight and feel the same area improved compare to my pre-sickness state.

The exercises with the balls were good for me to tone and give an extra work out to my bucc and lower cheek, but I remember being overexcited at some point and having an ugly side effect: triangularis overbuiding annd causing pouches.
That is why sometimes less is more. With the balls exercise that was the case.

Yes the bucc pushes your cheeks towards your teeth, that is why is used blowing baloons to forced the air out through your lips by pushing the sides of the cheeks inside.

And BTW I would not advice anyone to try this if you are not 100% knwoing what you do or you REALLY have nothing to loose.

free skin care · Sat Dec 19, 2009 9:20 pm

I know many of us facial exercisers are also doing massage. I am and I love it. For months and months I was doing something more or less non-specific. I was pinching my skin starting at forehead at least three times in each area. And then rubbing, tapping, etc while moving down my face and I could feel it, see the blood flow. The goal was collagen growth, increase of thickness in the epithelium and I could feel this happening. So, no complaints.

Now, like others I am enjoying the Tanaka massage courtesy of critic. It is wonderful mentally and physically from a standpoint of the movements are planned and specific. You know you are working with your body in terms of lymph movement and circulation in your face. It feels good and it makes sense and the results are seen in Tanaka herself. (I love anecdotal evidence when the evidence is obvious outcome-based!).
You won't see scientific studies telling you that it works if that is your thing. For those of us who are faithfully following a facial exercise program this is a wonderful adjunct. And for anyone really. It feels like baseline health.

For the last few weeks I have cut back somewhat on facial exercise. I still do daily facial exercise and maintain a rigorous approach with the exercises I do but the sessions are not as long as I had been doing. The difference is I rotate exercises around. Cheeks I do almost everyday still but eyes, lips, neck I rotate. When I go to the gym I do at least one neck exercise there. Plus I have some "fill-in" ones I do here and there (lip exercise from Ageless or FE - the pout one!). Or the nose shortener from CM. These I do in the car going to or fro.

Tanaka massage is the daily ticket. Once daily I focus on this massage. It is meditative - relaxing and rejuvenating at the same time. I'm going to see what comes of it.

I won't stop facial exercise. I've worked too hard to get my face in it's "upward" position. I don't use any other gadgets designed for this and no fillers so my lifting results are strictly massage and facial exercise. (though wish I had a few of the gadgets). Facial exercise is a lifelong thing for me as the results are clear. I truly believe in it and I can see massage being a part of that as well.

For any of you who are trying to figure out a massage to compliment your facial exercise I recommend the Tanaka massage. It's good for you Smile

and can be done in five minutes. That and 10 minutes or so of facial exercise and you've given yourself a wonderful boost. Your face will thank you.

free skin care · Sun Dec 20, 2009 9:49 am

I can finally feel that I have muscles in my face. A lot easier to grab and I also know what I'm doing. Ageless pwns.

free skin care · Sun Dec 20, 2009 11:33 am

Sister, your story sounds like mine, even down to the neck exercises at the gym.

I started with Ageless soon after I found EDS. Wow, quick results, but I wanted more (being a generally driven person, and Ageless seeming too easy, too laid back) sooooo I invested in FlexEffect, which felt like a real workout, doing the entire 40 ex program every day. I liked the idea of getting a complete facial muscle workout, but after seeing build in areas that really did not need to be emphasized, I am questioning the value of exercising everything.

Then I started doing the Tanaka a few weeks ago, and it really is miraculous. As others have mentioned, maybe we just need to vary our workouts every so often to keep from plateauing?

Now I have cut back the exercises to those that address the areas that concern me the most (mostly Ageless with a few other exercises, including that forehead strengthening exercise that someday will enable me to wiggle my ears), do the massage at least once a day, the BQ with green tea a couple of times a week, and a ton of vitamins.

And my face still looks way too gaunt but on good days, I feel as though I'm making progress.

free skin care · Sun Dec 20, 2009 12:19 pm

Hermosa - I love the scalp flex exercise. I love the feeling of the scalp being lifted up and back. And then there is that chance to wiggle your ears. Very Happy

The Tanaka massage is wonderful. I like that it has a de-stressing effect on me. I'm so high energy and go-go-go. I feel like it gives my face a calm, peaceful sort of look.

I believe that some areas of the face need more exercise than others. I think Claudia actually said something similar to this in the beginning of this thread. Not all areas respond the same and sometimes those that respond quicker may benefit from some backing off. I have gone through a few phases where I looked "different". The BF told me this a few times and he was right. It was always when I was overdoing (gung-ho) the exercises. When I didn't go at it quite so rigorously and cut back doing all areas, my face balanced out again. So that's my goal - to keep a balance without comromising the work I've put in. I'm looking for the Tanaka massage to add another dimension to it.

Wed Jan 27, 2010 11:42 am

Anyone here familiar with the "Face Fitness Center" program? I think the website is at perfectcheekbones-dot-com and it seems that it's been featured in some magazines.

The reason I ask is that I came across their "lose your chubby cheeks" facial exercise on youtube, i.e. face slimmer. It's at:

youtube-com/watch?v=O546OefzTMg

(Just substitute the dash with a dot in the web address. I still can't post direct links here, sorry.)

I'd just like to ask those very knowledgeable about facial exercises if it looks like this particular exercise (the one in the video) is really going to help give the cheeks a slimmer appearance. It looks pretty unique to me, as I don't think I've seen a similar exercise with the other facial exercise programs.

I have rather big cheeks that I'd like to "slim down" some more. I'm doing Ageless as well as Tanaka massage, and both are wonderful programs that's really giving my face a more toned appearance, but I'd like to add maybe a couple more "face slimming" exercise that I can try like maybe when I'm in the car, especially one where I don't have to touch my face, such as the exercise in the youtube video. (I'm a bit acne-prone so I'm weary about touching my face unless I've just washed my hands.)

I'd really appreciate your inputs, thanks! Smile

free skin care · Wed Jan 27, 2010 12:10 pm

I don't know much about this exercise however, I believe Facercise has face slimming exercises. I haven't tried them, because I need more of a fullness in my face. Ageless is really good for face fullness.

free skin care · Sun Jan 31, 2010 2:29 pm

milky wrote:

Anyone here familiar with the "Face Fitness Center" program? I think the website is at perfectcheekbones-dot-com and it seems that it's been featured in some magazines.

The reason I ask is that I came across their "lose your chubby cheeks" facial exercise on youtube, i.e. face slimmer. It's at:

youtube-com/watch?v=O546OefzTMg

(Just substitute the dash with a dot in the web address. I still can't post direct links here, sorry.)

I'd just like to ask those very knowledgeable about facial exercises if it looks like this particular exercise (the one in the video) is really going to help give the cheeks a slimmer appearance. It looks pretty unique to me, as I don't think I've seen a similar exercise with the other facial exercise programs.

I have rather big cheeks that I'd like to "slim down" some more. I'm doing Ageless as well as Tanaka massage, and both are wonderful programs that's really giving my face a more toned appearance, but I'd like to add maybe a couple more "face slimming" exercise that I can try like maybe when I'm in the car, especially one where I don't have to touch my face, such as the exercise in the youtube video. (I'm a bit acne-prone so I'm weary about touching my face unless I've just washed my hands.)

I'd really appreciate your inputs, thanks! Smile

Hi there!

I purchased this program a few years ago, when it was hosted at "Perfect Cheekbones". It may have been improved since then, as now there are all these fancy DVDs and such. But the original program was not very good. The exercises consisted of isometric cheek exercises where you contort your face in strange ways that the author had pulled together from various sources on the internet, and some dietary advice (skip the dairy, grain, etc.) But he did not seem to know any anatomy at the time, nor were any of his exercises of the kind that significant builds muscle. He may have expanded his original content into a great program, but I personally would not purchase this program based on the original program he made. He is a big marketer, and he does seem to have the knowledge that all the rest of the facial experts out there have. In sum, the original version of his program was the worst facial exercise program I've purchased over the years, not that it was horrible by any means, but that it was not particularly good relative to all the other ones out there. Maybe he and his program have changed since then, but I wanted to let you know my experience with the original version of this program.

HTH Smile

free skin care · Sun Feb 28, 2010 8:54 pm

Hi Ya'll,
Well I now have Carole Maggios newest and hopefully Flex Effects newest on the way. Am I a happy camper!!! Oh heck yeah.

I wanted to share thoughts I had with you about facial exercise. I am close to a two year veteran and the poster child of a faithful facial exerciser.

A few years ago I thought I was destined to do fillers - even tried some and they didn't last for me. Today I don't need them. With the arsenol of exercises I know - and this includes Ageless if We Dare - I can throw in any number of exercies in the off moment. I can do some lip exercises in two minutes or less and some in just a matter of 10-20 seconds. A favorite cheek raiser in another 20 seconds.

I do eye exercises before I even get out of bed. And a few cheek exercises in the shower (thanks to Claudia of FE - I do this!).

I also absolutely enjoy the feeling of doing a full regimine of Flex Effect and knowing I've done the face a world of good.

With my new goodies - I am anxious to try a full set of CM exercises. Hers have been my addendum exercises - additions to FE and certainly not the cornerstone. but, curiousity is part of my makeup and since I so beleive in facial exercise I can't help but want to explore more of this. I also await the new FE set up as well and am certain both are really the best they can be.

I am a believer in exercise anyway - a gymnast for years and then many years of running, gym work, aerobics, weights. I feel so strongly working facial muscles is a positive, beneficial exercise for the face. It makes no sense otherwise.

My body is not stretched out nor damaged because I exercise it. Quite the contrary.

Logically musculature and skin response does not stop at the neck. This would be an absurd, dark ages thought in my opinion. Just ask Jack LaLanne - noone thought exercising the body tissues would have the benefit it does and today it's practically considered the closest thing to the fountain of youth for most people.

I sincerely hope those that are venturing into facial exercise work at it enough to find the benefits, just as the pioneers before them. Have a look at Carole maggio, Deb from Flex Effect, and Eva Frasier (82 years of age by now), Carolyn facial magic. Not stretched out or bagged out - just younger than their years and willing to share what they know.

Many of us can (and will Smile

) go out and get the filler in the tear trough or the cheeks or the NL's and that's cool... But combine with facial exercise and you have the added something - something. Give yourself the big kahuna - work the face like the gluteus and you get the real lift. Everything else can be icing on the cake.

free skin care · Sun Feb 28, 2010 9:35 pm

Sis I just love the fact that you are such a positive poster about all the programs. Each program has a piece of the pie and you have just managed to figure out what is best for you...that is great. Wink

free skin care · Sun Feb 28, 2010 10:33 pm

sister sweets wrote:

For any of you who are trying to figure out a massage to compliment your facial exercise I recommend the Tanaka massage. It's good for you Smile

and can be done in five minutes. That and 10 minutes or so of facial exercise and you've given yourself a wonderful boost. Your face will thank you.

Ok, you've talked me into checking out the Tanaka massage!

free skin care · Mon Mar 01, 2010 6:57 am

bethany wrote:

sister sweets wrote:

For any of you who are trying to figure out a massage to compliment your facial exercise I recommend the Tanaka massage. It's good for you Smile

and can be done in five minutes. That and 10 minutes or so of facial exercise and you've given yourself a wonderful boost. Your face will thank you.

Ok, you've talked me into checking out the Tanaka massage!

That's awesome Beth. I believe it is a worthwhile 3 minutes! Give it a little time to figure out and you can easily do Tanaka in the evening with OCM (cleansing before bed). With this you kill two birds with one stone.

free skin care · Mon Mar 01, 2010 8:28 am

I hate that saying "kill two birds with one stone". I used to use it all the time, and then someone asked me why would I want to kill two birds and realised I had to change my language! Its a horrible saying when you think about it.

I second Bethany and Sis's comments though re massage and exercises (FlexEffect and then Ageless). I did exercises alone first (although I must admit I ignored the sayings of how important massage was initially) for a good while, and then when someone finally persuaded me to learn the massage, I couldn't believe the changes in my skin that took place. My skin got really healthy and tough, but also soft at the same time. I then understood what Deb said when she attributed half her results to massage too.

I use Ageless too and I found it interesting that Loulou was originally a trainer of FlexEffect and that they always recommended massage (and Lou then incoporated massage into her system). These two programs both recognise the value of massage and I think when I look back in my childhood, I can remember my grandmother massaging her cream into her face, and she looked great into her old age too - probably as a result of massaging (just wish she taught me that massage!).

Theresa

free skin care · Mon Mar 01, 2010 10:16 am

TheresaMary wrote:

I hate that saying "kill two birds with one stone". I used to use it all the time, and then someone asked me why would I want to kill two birds and realised I had to change my language! Its a horrible saying when you think about it.
Theresa

OMG - laughing. I totally agree. It IS pretty awful. Deb Crowley says this in her CD - about massaging the face and riding an exercise bike.

Anyway at least you are massaging now, Theresa. I find it amazing how valuable massage is to the tone, appearance and feel of the skin, don't you?

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