Facial Exercise: Share the Process and Results
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free skin care · Mon May 23, 2011 1:58 am

Thank you for your reply TheresaMary. I appreciate it.

Mon May 23, 2011 3:02 am

OK well I am the one that was speaking to the other Theresa and I want to just say at the start, I thought I was being really clever in starting facial exercises to ward off any problems coming on, but wow was I wrong. I sent Carolyn my photos prior to purchasing her kit, as I wanted an honest opinion as to if facial exercises would be right for someone of my age. I had just turned 30 years old at the time I wrote to Carolyn back in August 2010. I had lost some weight and it kind of made me look a little older than my years, my face which was always chubby kind of began going a little south and I wanted to kind of tighten up everything generally healthwise and so had started the gym and wanted to do something with my face. I looked at a couple of programs around, but most seemed to have scary side effects and I wanted something kind of idiot proof in that I wouldn’t need to guess anything or experience problems with (as the others I searched all seemed to have problems) except Carolyns. Carolyn suggested I was at the perfect age for starting them, and even mentioned a client who started even younger than I, and said she would encourage me to start. I ordered my kit on 1st September and it arrived very promptly.

In November I started having a few issues. My cheeks seemed to get even larger than previously but what really concerned me is that my eye area had kind of developed hollows. I always had little dips that weren’t there previously. I’ve always had little dips there, but they seemed to be getting deeper which was quite frankly plain old scary. There were also little lines appearing. I had only been exercising 3 times a week (as per Carolyn’s email instructions to me) so it was a mystery to me why I started having problems, but I emailed her straight away. She told me that my cheeks would not grow any bigger and to just continue with the exercises but trying 2 times a week instead of 3. I did that for a long time (until March) and then emailed her again and it was terrible as my eyes had gotten worse not better. I went to see a surgeon for his opinion as to what was going on (whether it was a health issue perhaps) and he said he felt that I damaged the area (nightmare shock). I emailed Carolyn about this right away in a bit of a panic and she did try to calm me down, but her advice was really shocking to me. She told me that she would expect my tear troughs to fill in over time, but everyone is individual. I was told consistently that if I stopped facial exercises my face will go back to the way it was, and so I followed this advice. I stopped exercising mid April and haven’t exercised since and my face has been ruined. Yes the cheeks did die down a bit, but the hollows and the tear troughs are still there. I emailed Carolyn again in the beginning of May and she kindly said to send her photos and that she would speak with her team of doctors to see if they could work out what was going on. I was told she never saw that happen to anybody in 15 years so she was determined to get to the bottom of it. It sounded very hopeful and I was willing to wait to hear from her and her team in the desperate hope to get something that i could do for my eye area back. When the response did come back it was simply that her consultants don’t understand what had happened, and were all perplexed. A lot of use that was. Then she told me that she had never seen or heard of it before and that it would improve over time.

So I started doing some research into it. I found many cases where people my age and younger had begun facial exercising and their tear troughs did become worse as a result and some even shared that they had done the system I was doing. Some were doing others, but I felt so cross and angry at myself. I didn’t find any mention of this when I first started researching and was really careful to email Carolyn before I began to learn if this would not be suitable for me and this was never mentioned to me. I feel like facial exercises has ruined my face. Its been almost two months and then some and my hollows are slowly starting to return since stopping everything but they’re no where near what they were before facial exercising and i feel it has ruined my face big time. I then started looking at other systems and it looks to me like facial exercises don’t do anything for tear troughs at all, in fact on some it seems to emphasis them (Loulou for example has big tear troughs, Eva Fraser, Carolyn’s recent photos are taken at an angle so I suspect she has tear troughs too that are not filled in).

I suspect that facial exercises might be great if you have started to have lots of sagging or are trying to stop damage from going further, but if you have no damage its my experience that facial exercises make things 100 times worse. I started talking about my experiences and upset on a UK forum, and someone there mentioned that I might find solutions here or similar experiences and so that’s the point of my posting. If someone is on the fence about doing them I’d say hand on heart don’t do them if your young and your goal is prevention as your face could end up damaged as a result!

free skin care · Mon May 23, 2011 2:36 pm

Hi TheresaCats - It sounds like your poor results came on rather quickly. I'm sure you've considered everything but was there something else you did that could've increased the results in the tear trough area? Could your weight loss be a part of this?
I'm very sorry this has happened to you. I'm going to bet it will improve and then resolve over time. I've had overbuild but not anything that couldn't be taken back. Please keep us posted as to your situation.

Tue May 24, 2011 1:58 am

I had the weight loss prior to beginning facial exercises, and so I would have thought if there were going to be issues from the weightloss they would have shown up before I began exercising.

THere are no other issues I can think of. I followed the routine to the letter and sought advice from the get go. What I've found in my research is that many people my age, who aren't dealing with issues like sundamage tc, end up worse off as a rseult of facial exercises. Its almost like the weaken the tissue not strengthen it.

I haven't heard of FlexEffect, but I don't want to do any more facial exercises ever - as I think they're plain old dangerous if your young. I regret ever having done them. Its been over 2 months, and whilst I'm young and have collagen and elasticity, my face hasn't gone back ton ormal yet and I'm praying daily it will!

Fri May 27, 2011 2:54 am

I had a severe illness three years ago that caused me to lose 30 lbs. I don't need to tell you that it was very apparent in my face~I looked older sick and haggard. I bought the first Ageless ebook about 2 years ago, and did not have good results. In fact, the program made my face look more haggard, and the NL folds were awful. After a year I finally gave it up and purchased Facercise. WHAT a DIFFERENCE. I thought at first "This isn't gonna work, where's the tugging and pulling" However, the program has helped me regain the lost volume i my cheeks without an awkward stage, I have smmothed the NL lines (slowly, yes, it takes time and dedication, I am no where near my goal yet) and if you were to ask me which is better, I'd say Facercise. FYI I am 34.

free skin care · Fri May 27, 2011 8:02 pm

Thanks CareyBear - I'm so glad you found something to help you. I love Facercise - it's so quick and easy and my face feels the workout when it's over.
For me - it's whatever works! I found some very valuable exercises with Flex Effect, Facial Yoga and Facercise and a few other dandies! I am so happy to have facial exercise as part of the arsenol. I don't think you need "one" particular program to get where you want to be. I do agree that for anyone's best results one should comprehensively exercise your entire face.

Sun May 29, 2011 2:54 pm

I am worried that some of my goals are opposite the norm. Can't decide. I would like to:
1)Lengthen nose or maybe lift forehead in center to create visual length. Bridge is too flat. Can I build it make it look more narrow between eyes.
2)Flatten muscle under chin (mentalis?) It protrudes down and feels thick and almost pointy when I flex. Will exercise make it protrude more? What about botox?
3)Lift corners of mouth and build apples of cheeks, w/out building outer cheekbone which is prominent causes smile lines in eye area.
4) Lift hooding eyelid area and fill in lower hollows. May need fillers in the lines from inner corners down?
5) Slim under cheekbones down to jawline. Face is round and want more oval look.
I'm late 30's, & build muscle easily. Hope this isn't too complicated. Was leaning toward Ageless for slimming, Flex Effects for forum but heard it can build jaw. Maybe better to get knowlege from the Facialbuilding book to understand? Hope someone can help. I'm excited to start face exercises, but don't want to create the wrong effect.

Wed Jun 01, 2011 6:32 pm

I've been doing Facercise for a couple weeks. It's not bad, but there are only 14 exercises, and being the fitness junkie I am, I can't help feeling that 14 exercises are too little to hit all the muscles of the face.

So last night one of my friends brought over her Flex Effect and Carolyn's Facial Fitness DVDs to try, which I was interested in because they had a lot more exercises in them.

The FlexEffect DVD I didn't like at all. A lot of the exercises have you pulling on the skin. (The one where they grip the eyelids was probably the worst). I also felt that the hand grips on the cheek exercises were too confusing. The other thing is that Deb herself doesn't have a very natural look...kind of a young and old look all at once. Carolyn's Facial Fitness was really similar to FE. I liked it a little better than FE, but it had the same problems with skin pulling and so on, and I don't think Carolyn looks that great either. It must be the kind of exercises they are doing.

So, I'm not going to be getting my own copy of either FE or CFF. I've been thinking about getting Eva Fraser's books/DVD. From what I've seen on her website, Eva looks great ...really natural. Has anyone tried this one?

free skin care · Wed Jun 01, 2011 8:15 pm

Hi and welcome fitness bunny. The first thing that came to my mind - if you don't mind is to know your age and goals with facial exercise.

Personally I think all three of the women: Carole, Deb and Carolyn look rather marvelous for being in their 60's and no "interventions" to speak of.

I think Eva Frasier looks great too and she has a few freebies on her site. I think you can purchase there also.
I've always found her to be an inspiration. Some on here have met her personally.

free skin care · Thu Jun 02, 2011 2:54 am

Fitness bunny that’s interesting your reviews. I know that in the beginning I was really concerned about pulling on the skin for sure, but the proof really is in the pudding. I’ve done both Facercise, FlexEffect, CFF’s and Eva’s. I was lucky to have sessions with Eva Fraser herself, and I do really like her, but I also think that her face is very gaunt at times. That might be more to do with hormones etc. With FlexEffect I thought the cheek exercises were easy to understand from the dvd but there is a book that goes with the kit that you can use for reference and there is also the forum there which was very helpful to me in the beginning.

free skin care · Thu Jun 02, 2011 5:19 am

I want to add to what TM has written. In general I find the cheek and eye exercises for Flex Effect to be very effective.
For the lips and lower face my preference is Carole Maggio. I cannot comment about Carolyn. As for Eva - anyone that looks that great in her 80's gets a big hats off from me. (I assume it's naturally done!)

free skin care · Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:35 am

I believe Eva to be natural and not have any work done, and I do think that her photos don't do her justice. She is inspirational to me and others for sure. I just think she has a look that is very unique to her and I'm not sure we can all obtain that look from her exercises. I think she is very slim and skinny in real life too which is perhaps why she is gaunt looking facially.

sister sweets wrote:

I want to add to what TM has written. In general I find the cheek and eye exercises for Flex Effect to be very effective.
For the lips and lower face my preference is Carole Maggio. I cannot comment about Carolyn. As for Eva - anyone that looks that great in her 80's gets a big hats off from me. (I assume it's naturally done!)

Thu Jun 02, 2011 6:34 pm

I'm 37 years old, and the biggest problems for me that I want to correct are my Naso-labial fold lines, cheeks in general and mouth (my lips are looking thinner than I would like).

I am fairly new to facial exercise, so I don't have a lot of experience with the different programs. That is why right now I am going based on the results of the different authors.

Deborah Crawley seems to have the most problems exactly where I need the most work... the cheeks and around the mouth. That area looks kind of unnatural on her. I don't mean unnatural as in plastic surgery but unnatural as in it is a somewhat strange look. On her video, Deborah has kind of an overly tight, pinched look around the mouth on the lower cheeks when she speaks. My husband and I were looking at her face trying to determine what exactly wasn't right, and he finally said, 'I know what it is, her cheeks look like Schwarzenegger's bicep'. I know what he means, that part of her face looks too bulky. On the other hand, her lips are a bit thin, there are horizontal lines on her forehead when she speaks, and she does have NL lines. Coming from a fitness background, I think that maybe she trained the muscles in an imbalanced way.

On the plus side, Deborah's eyes are reasonably good, although I was looking at a recent picture of Carole Maggio, who I think is about the same age (?), and her eyes look better than Deborah's (although maybe Carole has had some surgical help? Her lips look unusually full ... hmm

)

Eva Fraser, I think, looks lovely. Her lips look full but natural, and her lower cheeks (where Deborah has the most trouble), look toned but in a very soft, feminine way. I didn't notice any gaunt look on Eva, although on the downside, her eyes are not that toned, and her nose is a little large for her face. (Maybe would benefit from a nose exercise?)

What I will probably do is get face exercise systems from several different trainers. I have been looking mostly at DVDs up until now, but I will probably get some books as well for variety. There was one by Jeanette Johnson and another by Reinhold Benz that both looked good on Amazon. Anyone know anything about these? I probably will not be adding Flex Effect to the mix, though, because Deborah didn't seem to stand out in any particular area compared to the other trainers, plus I don't like her exercises as much.

free skin care · Fri Jun 03, 2011 1:48 am

LOL well NL’s I got rid of with the cross stretching of FlexEffect, and I’m in my 60’s so I’m one happy lady, but I don’t just do FlexEffect, but several others too. Re the biceps, that’s actually a good point but that proves to me that her exercises do work. The lines of her forehead though aren’t permanent from what I’ve seen. She makes all kinds of funny expressions, but when she stops you don’t see the lines staying there. Thats still a big issue for me even now. Sometimes my darned forehead looks like a train map.

I have to say Eva’s great with makeup though in just the right place as her lips are very thin in real life, but she taught me a little trick with lipstick and lip liner and I’ve seen Carole Maggio do the same, so maybe that’s a hidden secret. When I say gaunt, to me its like her face doesn’t have much fat and you can see the muscles. Eva though is very professional and ladylike – a true English lady!

I think Deborah’s been around longer than any of those you mention, but to say she doesn’t stand out I have to say that’s just your personal opinion but to me she most definitely does. Her system does work all the muscles – and she has a fitness background too so to try to say her program creates imbalance isn’t correct. The before and afters on their website speak volumes plus I really like the support you get from their forum which you don’t get with other programs. Each to their own!

Fri Jun 03, 2011 5:52 am

TheresaMary wrote:

I have to say Eva’s great with makeup though in just the right place as her lips are very thin in real life, but she taught me a little trick with lipstick and lip liner and I’ve seen Carole Maggio do the same, so maybe that’s a hidden secret.

TheresaMary, would you mind sharing that little trick?
TIA

free skin care · Fri Jun 03, 2011 8:31 am

Well I've got to give full credit to Carole Maggio (this is from her newsletter):

Tip of the Month

Many clients have called me to ask how to get the appearance of bigger lips. Here’s a tip that will help. Of course, it goes without saying that you need to practice and perfect the upper lip exercise outlined on my Facercise DVD. In addition to this exercise, however, you can enhance the look of your lips by utilizing this make-up tip. Line your lips (twice) using a sharp pencil lip liner. Stay on top of your vermillion border (the top edge of the upper lip) and then fill in the lips with the pencil. Then use a stick lip gloss and apply the gloss to the entire lip. Your lips will look amazing, sexy and full. That’s how the movie stars and desperate housewives do it.

Suellen wrote:

TheresaMary wrote:

I have to say Eva’s great with makeup though in just the right place as her lips are very thin in real life, but she taught me a little trick with lipstick and lip liner and I’ve seen Carole Maggio do the same, so maybe that’s a hidden secret.

TheresaMary, would you mind sharing that little trick?
TIA

free skin care · Fri Jun 03, 2011 10:06 am

fitnessbunny wrote:

Deborah Crawley seems to have the most problems exactly where I need the most work... the cheeks and around the mouth. That area looks kind of unnatural on her. ....and he finally said, 'I know what it is, her cheeks look like Schwarzenegger's bicep'. I know what he means, that part of her face looks too bulky. On the other hand, her lips are a bit thin, there are horizontal lines on her forehead when she speaks, and she does have NL lines. Coming from a fitness background, I think that maybe she trained the muscles in an imbalanced way.

LOL. Deb is going to get such a kick out of this post. Do you mean Arney's Arms back in the day at 22.5" all roided out? I mean in all reality, back when Deb was competing in Body Building (at the same time as Mr. S), her waist was smaller than his biceps. The image created here has put a huge smile on my face. If I were drinking coffee I would have spit it on my computer. Thank God for small favors.

NL lines, and forhead lines are natural lines on all faces during expression. You will notice that even an infant when smiling will have these lines. The difference is younger skin, when relaxed, does not hold a road map in it.

Deb's thin lips are genetic. In all reality, a person's DNA should be considered when looking to make corrections. Noses don't shrink. Eyes don't get bigger or smaller, and Hairlines don't change.

I would also imagine anyone with a fitness background is keenly aware of our ability to sculpt our muscles by way of technique to desired shapes and sizes... Again, our DNA our only fixed component to the formula.

IN all fairness to Deb. People should check for themselves her photo pages and her youtube clips. She really doesn't belong on an episode of the Simpsons... Laughing

free skin care · Fri Jun 03, 2011 11:23 am

Deb Crowley looks amazing and she's the reason I purchased her program a couple of years ago. When I received the newest version (3) when it was first launched, I was curious to see how she was aging and I have to say...she looks beautiful...clear, even, toned skin and facial/neck muscles...she truly is the best advertisement for her program.

While I'm not currently following her program, it certainly doesn't take away that it truly is a very effective muscle building program. The jolting and cross-stretching methods I still do frequently.

Claudia makes a valid point..we can't alter our DNA but you can become the best that you can become when you consistently practice a multi-pronged approach to healthy living/aging.

free skin care · Fri Jun 03, 2011 7:01 pm

Her excercise for the upper lip is bar none - the best ever. I just shared photos with a member interested in Ageless Secret and she made specific comments about my upper lip. I naturally have fuller lips and the upper lip exercise enhances to create a sensual shape and pout. It also seems to help with how your lips are 'placed' and held - if that makes sense. One of my favorite exercises of all.

TheresaMary wrote:

Well I've got to give full credit to Carole Maggio (this is from her newsletter):

Tip of the Month

Many clients have called me to ask how to get the appearance of bigger lips. Here’s a tip that will help. Of course, it goes without saying that you need to practice and perfect the upper lip exercise outlined on my Facercise DVD. In addition to this exercise, however, you can enhance the look of your lips by utilizing this make-up tip. Line your lips (twice) using a sharp pencil lip liner. Stay on top of your vermillion border (the top edge of the upper lip) and then fill in the lips with the pencil. Then use a stick lip gloss and apply the gloss to the entire lip. Your lips will look amazing, sexy and full. That’s how the movie stars and desperate housewives do it.

Suellen wrote:

TheresaMary wrote:

I have to say Eva’s great with makeup though in just the right place as her lips are very thin in real life, but she taught me a little trick with lipstick and lip liner and I’ve seen Carole Maggio do the same, so maybe that’s a hidden secret.

TheresaMary, would you mind sharing that little trick?
TIA

Sat Jun 04, 2011 12:12 am

I see what you guys mean, but I have to disagree. I took a snapshot of Deborah from her DVD so you can see my point. You can see the image here: *mypicx.#/uploadimg/331215468_06042011_1.jpg

Just type in three w's instead of the * and "com" instead of the # in the url above. Sorry, I couldn't paste the link in any other way.

Arrow 3 shows how Deborah has horizontal lines even though she is hardly raising her eyebrows at all. When she does raise her eyebrows higher, the wrinkles are much more prominent.

Also, see that line on the face (where arrow 1 is pointing) that kind of curves in a funny way as it approaches the mouth? That looks overbuilt. Also notice the area around the chin and mouth area within the oval where arrow #2 is pointing. That area on Deborah's face protrudes in a somewhat unnatural way like a box. And it's not just this one picture, either. If you watch the whole video, Deborah has that same box-like look throughout when she purses her lips even the slightest bit. I don't know whether it's because she just worked the muscles too hard or whether she worked them in an unbalanced way.

TheresaMary, I understand what you mean about how Deborah's built look proves that her exercises work, but I think you can agree that those bulky female body builders also prove that their exercises work, but I don't want my face to look like their bodies... they look like men.

My intention is not to put down Deborah Crawley. I'm sure that she has worked very hard to achieve what she has, and I'm sure there are women out there who want to look like her, just like there are women out there who want to look like the female bodybuilder pictured above. And there is nothing wrong with that. Everyone is entitled to have their own ideal. It's just not the look I want for myself. My whole point in starting this discussion was to find out which of the facial fitness systems out there create a more feminine look. Would appreciate your advice.

Sat Jun 04, 2011 12:14 am

I forgot to say that you should put "www." instead of the * sign

free skin care · Sat Jun 04, 2011 7:43 am

I couldn't get it to go fitnessbunny but I've seen Deb alot. I find her to be a lovely handsome woman. Maybe her facial structure is that way - and she just enhances it with the exercise.

Some of flex effect lower face exercises *can* cause some bigger building in some faces - works for some and not for others. It may not be your cup of latte.

I avoid a lot of lower face building - I try to Lift vs Build there. I focus more on cheeks and eyes and lips. Flex Effect has marvelous cheek exercises - this is for sure!

Carole Maggio's lower face exercises create a more feminine profile - for me anyway.

Fitness B - I think it's important for you to know that probably all of us have experimented and discovered what has worked for us. Not one face is the same obviously. Some get gaunt from facial exercise. I also think some exercises get worked harder than others - this is not intentional in some cases and may result in overbuild or a less than desirable appearance temporarily in an area.
You will NOT find perfection with one program - I highly doubt it anyway.

free skin care · Sat Jun 04, 2011 11:27 am

fitnessbunny wrote:

My intention is not to put down Deborah Crawley. I'm sure that she has worked very hard to achieve what she has, and I'm sure there are women out there who want to look like her, just like there are women out there who want to look like the female bodybuilder pictured above. And there is nothing wrong with that. Everyone is entitled to have their own ideal. It's just not the look I want for myself. My whole point in starting this discussion was to find out which of the facial fitness systems out there create a more feminine look. Would appreciate your advice.

Hi Fitnessbunny,

FWIW, I don't think that you can judge a facial exercise system by the look that its founder has. (Though I used to think that, too Smile

). For example, I haven't really anyone on the FlexEffect program whose has the same "look" as Deb, nor have I seen anyone on the Ageless program with the same "look" as Loulou. What you'll find is that based on people's strengths and weakness and their adaptation of a program, they can get widely different results and even looks.

Ultimately, each program provides a set of exercises, but its the interaction between your natural muscle strength, genetics, and, *most importantly*, your own ability to build fullness in your face while retaining facial symmetry. For me, that is the key---it's not about the workout, but how you apply it once you know your own strengths and weaknesses. For example, there are some muscles that I only did 1 - 2 sets for a week, and others that I do like 6 - 8 intense sets a week, and that's what I need to do to maintain and continue to improve the femininity and beauty of my face. But if I continued to do lots of sets on my masseter (corner jaw muscle), you bet I'd look more masculine. So it's all about finding the right training routine to achieve the balance of facial features that you find most attractive (and of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder Wink

).

If you have any concerns about how to create a more feminine look, the power is in your hands, and I think many us and various trainers from different programs will happy to try to help you as much as possible Smile

I realize that this is probably not the straightforward answer you want, but having a few years of experience now, I just wanted to share one of the most important lessons I've learned.

Best wishes Smile

free skin care · Sat Jun 04, 2011 11:42 am

fitnessbunny wrote:

I see what you guys mean, but I have to disagree. I took a snapshot of Deborah from her DVD so you can see my point. You can see the image here: *mypicx.#/uploadimg/331215468_06042011_1.jpg

Just type in three w's instead of the * and "com" instead of the # in the url above. Sorry, I couldn't paste the link in any other way.

Arrow 3 shows how Deborah has horizontal lines even though she is hardly raising her eyebrows at all. When she does raise her eyebrows higher, the wrinkles are much more prominent.

Also, see that line on the face (where arrow 1 is pointing) that kind of curves in a funny way as it approaches the mouth? That looks overbuilt. Also notice the area around the chin and mouth area within the oval where arrow #2 is pointing. That area on Deborah's face protrudes in a somewhat unnatural way like a box. And it's not just this one picture, either. If you watch the whole video, Deborah has that same box-like look throughout when she purses her lips even the slightest bit. I don't know whether it's because she just worked the muscles too hard or whether she worked them in an unbalanced way.

TheresaMary, I understand what you mean about how Deborah's built look proves that her exercises work, but I think you can agree that those bulky female body builders also prove that their exercises work, but I don't want my face to look like their bodies... they look like men.

My intention is not to put down Deborah Crawley. I'm sure that she has worked very hard to achieve what she has, and I'm sure there are women out there who want to look like her, just like there are women out there who want to look like the female bodybuilder pictured above. And there is nothing wrong with that. Everyone is entitled to have their own ideal. It's just not the look I want for myself. My whole point in starting this discussion was to find out which of the facial fitness systems out there create a more feminine look. Would appreciate your advice.

Hi Fitnessbunny,

From what've I've seen, in a fully relaxed state, Deb's forehead does not wrinkle, and her side cheek muscles do not suck in. In the photo you have, you can tell that she is in the middle of talking because her lips are pursed.

However, the arrow you have pointing to her chin, if you prefer the look of a less built chin, you can simply not do as many repetitions for any exercise that involves the outer chin muscle, which is called the quadratus labii inferioris. Here is a diagram of the muscle that your diagram is pointing to: http://images-mediawiki-sites.thefullwiki.org/01/7/3/6/3956852364102914.png .

I think ultimately, we all have somewhat different aesthetics and each have somewhat different visions of what is beautiful. Some people love angular faces, others like soft rounder faces. Frankly, my favorite is the feminine, high-cheekbone, square-jaw look (e.g Paris Hilton, Angelina Jolie) Smile

So I may be one of the few who like a square (but still feminine) jaw look.

The beauty of facial exercises is that **once you really get good with them**, you have some power to improve your features in the way that suits *your own* desires.

Smile

free skin care · Sat Jun 04, 2011 12:46 pm

fitnessbunny wrote:

My intention is not to put down Deborah Crawley. I'm sure that she has worked very hard to achieve what she has, and I'm sure there are women out there who want to look like her, just like there are women out there who want to look like the female bodybuilder pictured above. And there is nothing wrong with that. Everyone is entitled to have their own ideal. It's just not the look I want for myself. My whole point in starting this discussion was to find out which of the facial fitness systems out there create a more feminine look. Would appreciate your advice.

Fitness Bunny, I think I understand what you are saying. It's actually quite common for people who have little comprehension of the muscular structure and how much work goes into getting things a certain way...

It's a myth that there is feminine body building or masculine bodybuilding. It's all in HOW you train. The exercises are the same. You either lift heavy or you don't. Ergo, there isn't feminine facialbuilding and masculine facialbuilding... it's all about the trainer.

Granted all the programs out there will show you various ways to hit muscles. That's really the benefit to the variety of programs...not that one makes you more of a girl.

The way you write indicates that you might be the type of person to avoid lifting weights because you have the false notion that if you were to actually do bicep curls your arms would explode to larger than your head.

This is not possible. It actually takes lifting very heavy and constant tweaking of a routine to gain a more masculine size and structure. OFTEN it takes steroids too, or at least the natural ability to pump out testosterone.

Easily your most feminine fitness model and your hardcore female body builder who looks like a man actually do the SAME exercises. Only one lifts a lighter amt, with higher reps. While the others works up to lifting a house, fewer times.

And again, their DNA is of issue. Some women won't build easily at all... Others like a man. That has nothing to do with the type of workout, that has to do with their natural makeup.

But I've met plenty of women who think that body building made them big. When in reality, they failed to realize their quads and glutes for example build easily, and they haven't lost much fat, and they look huge. At that juncture, they have failed to recognize their own personal situation.

Interestingly, you indicate that you are 37 and that Deb's problem areas, in your opinion, are the same as yours. You do realize that you're comparing your 37 y/o face to one that is 62. You are stating that your 37 y/o face looks at least 62, and not a good 62 in your opinion.

I think if you go to Deb's pics, for example, and look at pictures of her near your own age, she will look FAR younger than what you describe you look like now. Also, I think, her more youthful appearance at that age compared to now looks just that... more youthful than her actual age, and IMO quite feminine. There's nothing masculine about Deb at all. Of that I'm positive.

Just 'cause you're not physically attracted to her (I don't mean sexually) doesn't make her any less attractive than she actually is... She's just not YOUR favored look.

Given your expressed goals, I have a feeling, (especially emotionally) you would do best with a program that doesn't have you questioning your everymove. As a total newbie to this, I can see that you would do best breaking yourself in on something that's no where near as aggressive. Something that will likely leave you wanting more, but at least won't freak you out.

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