Nasolabial Folds--What's Worked and How Long Did It Take?
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free skin care · Thu Mar 10, 2011 9:28 am

And a very happy birthday to you tomorrow Antonia! Double birthday celebrations from either side of the pond.

free skin care · Thu Mar 10, 2011 10:12 am

Lol. Thanks M. I have a few more years on you but I'm going backwards Wink

free skin care · Fri Mar 18, 2011 5:28 am

I wish there was a magical product for NL folds just like Easy Eye Solutions for eyes..

Wed Mar 30, 2011 6:52 am

re-posting for vjperkiins

vjperkiins wrote:

From reading the Truth in Aging website, I found that using a red LED light and Osmosis Replenish serum works. My N/L were getting worse. Then I bought a Baby Quasar and some Osmosis and 2-3 months later, they look much better. However, TIA has recently recommended a less expensive LED light, the Sirius Aurora Light Therapy System.
http://www.siriusbeauty.com/aurora/aurora/ for about $150. The Osmosis Replenish is about $40. From my understanding, this combo has working for several people. Check out TIA.

Mon Jun 06, 2011 10:39 am

Does anybody know of a device or exercise similar to Facial Flex that would significantly reduce N/L folds? I got fillers under my eyes and around my cheekbones, and I am desperately looking for something that won’t interfere with the treatment.

Mon Aug 08, 2011 6:58 pm

the last time i posted on here i was considering all kinds of drastic surgerys. i dont think i have actual folds ...more like slight creases or a darkening in that area. i have lost weight which i am not even sure what the difference has been for my n/s area bc i have been trying to get my facial fat to where it doesnt bother me as much....i am now seeing more of a cheekbone and from certain angles i have that line underneath my cheekbone..so that is good progress. im about 15 pounds lighter than i was at this time last year. I am now working on my skin from the inside out...i purchased kimberly snyders book and have been detoxing and have cut out meat and dairy, and gluten if possible..and only have my "bad" food like french fries at dinner..i have added probiotics, digestive enzymes, magnesium oxygen supplements..and i just started on her green smoothies. ive had hormonal acne for the past couple years and i cannot do the tanaka massages for that reason...i also am getting ematrix treatments done..you all might really love them as they are a new kind of treatment that rebuilds collagen in the skin. i stopped sunbathing in my early 20's but i still feel that ithere was probably damage i could help, and its suppposed to lift and tighten the skin...so far i have had 3 done and my acne is not improving...its supposed to be a treatment that takes up to a year to see the effects. hopefully all of these lifestyle changes will help my skin out...

free skin care · Fri Aug 12, 2011 6:23 am

When looking for treatment methods to help combat those folds from the nose down to the sides of the mouth any treatments that work to firm and tighten the area are likely to all have some benefits.

I personally recommend the Tripollar STOP it's definitely helped tighten my skin.

free skin care · Sat Aug 27, 2011 5:56 pm

I've read NLF are caused by a loss of HGH. Fasting seems to be working well for me, my whole fast is a lot tighter. I also use the Tua Trend and copper peptides.

free skin care · Sat Aug 27, 2011 8:03 pm

I find that mine have diminished like halfway to perfect in the last month or so. I don't know what exactly it is but I've had 2 colonics, eating more veggies, using tazorac.

Side note - good to be back on here, I've been gone awhile!

free skin care · Sat Aug 27, 2011 8:21 pm

Many members here noticed that the n/l area improved when we started drinking green smoothies so that backs up the thought of adding the veggies and seeing results. Also colonics would be cleansing and it makes sense the skin would respond well.

free skin care · Sat Dec 31, 2011 1:07 pm

I responded to this thread a few months ago and wanted to give an update to be fair. I backed off most of my treatments due to time constraints and stress(trouble at work, my mother died, my crohns disease has flared up again). I'm almost back at square one. So sad, all that work down the drain. Just wanted to report the lesson I've learned, when you find something that works stick with it because nothing is permanent!! It's not as bad as before but I've definitely lost a lot of my progress.

free skin care · Sat Dec 31, 2011 2:25 pm

I know mine have lessened to really like they were when younger. I have been doing cps this past year..it is that..or I did go on a real healthful diet last summer. But I was thinking it was the cp's...but never thought that it could be my good diet.

Sat Dec 31, 2011 5:05 pm

Ava with wings wrote:

I responded to this thread a few months ago and wanted to give an update to be fair. I backed off most of my treatments due to time constraints and stress(trouble at work, my mother died, my crohns disease has flared up again). I'm almost back at square one. So sad, all that work down the drain. Just wanted to report the lesson I've learned, when you find something that works stick with it because nothing is permanent!! It's not as bad as before but I've definitely lost a lot of my progress.

Ava, how long did it take for the results to disappear after you stopped your treatments? That's unfortunate. I suppose the saying "Beauty is work" applies strongly in this case.

free skin care · Mon Mar 05, 2012 11:42 pm

Sorry, didn't see this question. It took about three months to undo the last year of progress. Shock

free skin care · Tue Mar 13, 2012 4:56 am

I've been trying to read through all of the massive exercise threads as well as the NL thread here so sorry for just jumping in!

On instinct I applied a sort of homemade "frownies" on the NL like someone mentioned way at the beginning of the thread. My NL totally disappeared for the first few minutes after I removed them but more importantly I realized that I have a habit of engaging the muscles around the corners of my mouth nearly constantly! Its kind of a drawing back and sucking in of the corners at the same time, almost like sucking on a lemon, but not so much because their drawn back. Sometimes its more a drawing in of the cheeks and light clenching. I started Ageless facial exercising in September (with a three month break starting Dec, but started back again last week with FE (with just a few grips I find easier from Ageless)... Anyways, I think what I'm engaging is the risorius (and sometimes the buccinators when i draw the cheeks in)n and when I try to engage the risorius what I see is a deepening of the line and a pooching of the skin around the mouth and a but of puffing of the skin on the cheek side of the line. Please excuse my very scientific terms here. Is there such thing as an overbuilt rissourius (not from the program but from constant contraction of the muscle... like 11 lines) and what would it manifest as?

The funny thing is, when I gain weight the NL completely fill in and disappear, so there's more to it than the muscle engagement.

Oops, my post didn't seem to post! I applolgize if this turns out as a double post!

free skin care · Mon Mar 26, 2012 10:11 am

Chinese medicine theory thinks sagging skin may be caused by qi deficiency,too.We can eat red dates£¬yams£¬potatoes and rice to invigorating qi.Also some Chinese medicine such as ginseng has the effect.But it must be used under the instruction of doctors.

free skin care · Wed Aug 29, 2012 12:34 pm

Does losing weight help improve the appearance of facial folds (including nasolabial ones)?

free skin care · Wed Aug 29, 2012 4:23 pm

VeronicaM wrote:

Does losing weight help improve the appearance of facial folds (including nasolabial ones)?

VeronicaM not necessarily. UmEnis two posts above yours just said hers disappear when she puts on weight.

And she's not the only one for whom this is true:

On the Eva Fraser clip on Youtube, they joke about how being overweight means less lines (FF to 1:23): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcyRLKq3aZg

I don't think N/L lines can be removed by spot training. I think it's a combination of exercises that will bring about a change that diminishes them. It's what did it for me anyway.

I managed to keep N/L lines from never coming to be by starting face exercises BEFORE I ever had any problems, at the age of 20:

And by 35, and 15 years of doing Eva Fraser's program on and off, the tone in my face was wonderful and I didn't have N/L lines:

I switched to FE and in four months I developed N/L lines which until then had never been something I had to deal with Sad

I stopped FE hoping things would go back to how they were, but they didn't. I tried doing Eva's program again to try to fix my face, but while the program had previously helped me maintain great tone, it seemed like it was not able to fix a problem that didn't happen naturally as in this case. Anyway, after a hiatus of not doing anything coz I was too sad or too scared to make things worse, I figured I'd nothing to lose doing Carolyn's program. Initially I thought like most people do: that I needed to do more in the areas that need most work, but I found that did me no good. And with Carolyn's insistence that I do her program exactly as she directed and my keeping in touch with her to make sure I was on the right track--sending her pics for her evaluation and confirmation that the changes were coming along as they should--I was able to get my face back to how I liked it. Below is my journey in pics.

I started Carolyn's Facial Fitness in Jan 2007 and the 3 photos you come to first show my N/L lines at the time I was starting her program. The hiatus I'd taken and I'm guessing the loss of bulkiness I had gotten from FE left me with more lines. The 3 photos immediately below the first three were taken in March 2007, three months into the CFF program:

8 months in, August 2007, my N/L lines were where I wanted them and I was very happy with my face:

January 2009, about 2 years since I started the program I'm on, I couldn't have been happier:

Here's another random photo taken in June 2008 that I think shows the improvement in my N/L lines when compared with the January 2007 image:

Here's a pic taken of me in my 40's:

The heading of this thread asks "how long it takes". I believe that is something that is unique to everyone. I had over 15 years of face exercises under my belt when I started CFF and that was 15 years started when my face had good tone. So muscle memory might've played a part in getting me my results fast. Your mileage may vary.

What I do believe is that if your face had tone once, then if you can find a way to exercise all muscles so that they can get tone again...then eventually together they will give you a facelift that reminds you of a younger you. I believe consistency is key. Find a program whose results you admire--not just those you see in the trainer but also in others who do the program. Now do the program as directed, checking in with the trainer when in doubt or just for reassurance--as trainers usually can point out improvements we do not see and hence be encouraging when you feel like you're losing hope. And just commit to the program. Don't worry about "how long" before you see results. Just make it part of your life and someday your results will surprise you.

*raises glass*Here's to facelifting by exercise to smooth out N/L lines and give them a youthful appearance.

free skin care · Wed Aug 29, 2012 7:07 pm

nonie aka ad, I love how you use photos of yourself and other to explain different points and exercises. It really helps me to see what you are talking about. Thanks

free skin care · Wed Aug 29, 2012 11:48 pm

Completely agree with Cookie. Wonderful results, and it helps to strengthen what she is saying when you can see the proof is in the pudding.

free skin care · Sun Sep 02, 2012 7:23 am

* If you're overweight and lose weight to a normal weight, you can improve the appearance of NL folds. Similarly, a reduction in salt content or not sleeping with your face in the pillow may help some people. However, if you lose too much weight and become too thin, you can make the NL region look worse.

* Second, in regards to Nonie's photos, she is smiling in all of them, so that doesn't count as NL folds. Just look, even a child has "NL folds" when smiling:

Nonie, you are a beautiful, youthful-looking women who doesn't appear to have anything wrong about your face or a single line.

For it to be an actual NL fold or line, Nonie would have to have the line or fold when she is not smiling.

free skin care · Sun Sep 02, 2012 11:16 pm

cm5597 wrote:

* If you're overweight and lose weight to a normal weight, you can improve the appearance of NL folds. Similarly, a reduction in salt content or not sleeping with your face in the pillow may help some people. However, if you lose too much weight and become too thin, you can make the NL region look worse.

* Second, in regards to Nonie's photos, she is smiling in all of them, so that doesn't count as NL folds. Just look, even a child has "NL folds" when smiling:

Nonie, you are a beautiful, youthful-looking women who doesn't appear to have anything wrong about your face or a single line.

For it to be an actual NL fold or line, Nonie would have to have the line or fold when she is not smiling.

LOL CM5597 you can't help yourself can you? I think everyone can see the difference and improvement of my N/L lines which helps them understand what I'm talking about. I also believe EVERYONE knows we all have has N/L lines when they smile. Heck IIRC, that might've been the point of the very first post I ever posted on EDS after someone tried to say she had no N/L lines and then claimed that Carolyn on the CFF website does when Carolyn is smiling on all her photos so obviously should, only she has nicely lifted cheeks that make her lines look youthful. Only one with a paralyzed face or a very bad cosmetic surgery job wouldn't have N/L lines on smiling. It would not be a good look either. LOL But don't insult our intelligence. Everyone can see a difference between N/L lines due to aging and sag and a N/L lines that someone with good tone and a youthful face has. There's a plumpness in youthful N/L lines and a lift to the cheeks.

You are the only one who seems not to see that these lines:

are more aging than these:

.
You never have seen it so I doubt you'll start now. I appreciate your compliment but let's stop pretending that I don't look frumpier and older in the first pic than in the second set. Neutral

Also what do you mean that N/L lines improve when one loses weight? That doesn't even make sense. People are getting fat injections in their faces to fill out lines and give them a youthful face because that's what fat does: fill in lost volume that causes lines. Loss of mass in the face is one reason we get extra skin and sag as we age and hence the reason to try to build the face to replace lost mass. So how do you figure that weight loss, which will include fat loss in the face, would make N/L that already exist be less visible? Did you miss the first images I posted that prove just the opposite of what you are saying? Or you're trying to tell me that as much time as you spend on forums you've never seen people share that after their weight loss they have lines in their faces so they want to see if face exercises can help fill them up or they are considering filler to plump them up a bit. And no, not all of them go from obese to slim. Some just notice this with loss of a few pounds.

Here's more evidence of this happening:
http://www.realself.com/question/procedure-nasolabial-folds-weight-loss

Starr Jones is another example; her N/L folds looked youthful when she had some mass in her face:

When she lost weight, they lost the plumpness and look thin making her appear to have papery thinner skin as people tend to get as they age:

I didn't even need studies on this to know this is the case. It's just logical to me.

Quote:

Study: Being too thin will age your face
BY ROSEMARY BLACK
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Second helpings on dessert might seem like the sweetest way to celebrate new research that says being thin ages us more than anything else.

Sadly, you can't have your cake and eat it, too: While the research does note that thinness makes the face appear older, this holds true only for women over 40, says lead study author Dr. Bahman Guyuron.

"For those younger than 40, it's the other way around," says Guyuron, chairman of the department of surgery at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in Cleveland.

"For women under 40, gaining weight obscures the facial definition that is inherent in a younger woman."

The study, the first of its kind, to be published in the April issue of the Plastic and Reconstructive Journal, focused on a variety of factors that can make people look older.

A thin face is the lead culprit because being slender causes a loss of volume in the face, Guyuron says.

"This loss of volume creates jowls and makes wrinkles develop," he says. "The older we get, the more the face gets depleted. When you lose weight, this look is enhanced and aging is accelerated.

In older women, having a little weight on board makes the face look a little younger." Facial shape actually changes with age, says plastic surgeon Dr. Jacob Steiger of Boca Raton, Florida.

In the late 20s and early 30s, a woman's facial shape is a heart or inverted triangle but with age, it becomes a square or an upright rectangle. To keep that younger looking shape, many women opt for a procedure to fill out the face with injections of Restylane, Juvederm, or a similar product.

"But to tell a patient to gain weight to look younger is silly," Steiger says. "The study just shows that a full face looks younger than a gaunt face and it illustrates the importance of volume when women are thinking about facial rejuvenation."

Being thin isn't the only factor in whether your face looks aged or not, according to the study, which looked at nearly 200 pairs of identical twins over the course of two years.

Since the twins' genetic makeup was the same, researchers were able to attribute the differences in how old they looked not to their gene pool, but to external factors. And the researchers found that, in addition to thinness, smoking, heavy drinking, sun exposure, being divorced and being on antidepressants also are to blame.

Source: http://articles.nydailynews.com/2009-03-31/entertainment/17918910_1_gain-weight-younger-older-women

Oh here's another example: Jennifer Hudson:

Before:

After:

free skin care · Mon Sep 03, 2012 7:19 am

I'm not disputing the fact that there are small differences in your face in the sets of photos.

But sorry, they are not NL folds/lines if they exist only when you're smiling, so I think it's unfair to call them that and it just fuels more people to be more harshly critical of themselves. I think you can instead say that you didn't like your look.

This is what real NL folds/lines look like:

Note the person is not smiling.

free skin care · Mon Sep 03, 2012 7:27 am

Nonie wrote:

You are the only one who seems not to see that these lines:

are more aging than these:

.
You never have seen it so I doubt you'll start now. I appreciate your compliment but let's stop pretending that I don't look frumpier and older in the first pic than in the second set. Neutral

After mentally correcting for the difference in angles and the really bad lighting which makes the first photo look worse than it is, I actually think you do look a slight bit younger in the first photo than the second because your cheeks and lower face are a bit plumper. But you look awesome in both and I know people would kill to look as good as you in either photo! Smile

free skin care · Tue Sep 04, 2012 12:11 am

cm5597 wrote:

I'm not disputing the fact that there are small differences in your face in the sets of photos.

But sorry, they are not NL folds/lines if they exist only when you're smiling, so I think it's unfair to call them that and it just fuels more people to be more harshly critical of themselves. I think you can instead say that you didn't like your look.

This is what real NL folds/lines look like:

Note the person is not smiling.

cm5597 wrote:

Nonie wrote:

You are the only one who seems not to see that these lines:

are more aging than these:

.
You never have seen it so I doubt you'll start now. I appreciate your compliment but let's stop pretending that I don't look frumpier and older in the first pic than in the second set. Neutral

After mentally correcting for the difference in angles and the really bad lighting which makes the first photo look worse than it is, I actually think you do look a slight bit younger in the first photo than the second because your cheeks and lower face are a bit plumper. But you look awesome in both and I know people would kill to look as good as you in either photo! Smile

cm5597 WTH are you talking about? LOL

You WISH it was just lighting. Laughing

So is lighting the explanation for the loss of tone in my face? And the puffy eyes?

Girl puhlease! So many people have contacted me and thanked me for sharing these before and after pics because the difference was like day and night and they followed suit and are happier with their faces since doing so. If I truly looked younger after FE, why would they switch to a program that is aging? You obviously cannot read faces if you really think I aged with CFF.

Here's another look at the photo in which you say I look older in than the one above:

Yeah right. Bad Grin

The other thing you like to state ad nauseum is that I'm beautiful and that I am being hard on myself and how many would give anything to look like me. IMO this is your way of trying to sugarcoat the obvious: that my face looked worse after doing FE. Of course anyone who didn't have the face I had before or whose face wasn't as toned as mine was or who didn't know how MUCH BETTER I looked before (or who is biased like you) would see nothing wrong with that post-FE pic. But c'mon nah! Need I remind you what I looked like just four months before the photo you say I looked younger in?

This sugarcoating tactic is the same one you use when people complain about changes they don't like in their faces. You try to convince them that they look good. Only I'm not that gullible. I know I looked BETTER before I looked like that. It may not be the ugliest face there is, but it was WORSE than what I had. And for me, that's not a good thing.

Also, I don't know why you keep saying I don't have N/L folds. Laughing

Is it that you don't know what the definition of "nasolabial folds" is?

OK, let me help you out:

Definition: A skin crease on each side of the face that runs from the outer corners of the nose to the corner of the mouth. (http://www.reference.md/files/D060/mD060052.html)

The nasolabial folds, commonly known as "smile lines" or "laugh lines", are facial features. They are the two skin folds that run from each side of the nose to the corners of the mouth. They separate the cheeks from the upper lip. the term derives from Latin nasus for "nose" and labium for "lip".(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasolabial_folds)

No one is arguing about the fact that N/L folds become more pronounced as we age (kinda like how I aged in 4 months with FE Laughing

) but they are laugh lines so they show on everyone when people laugh or smile. Nonie isn't a freak. She too has them.

For people with youthful faces or good tone, N/L folds tend to only show when they smile. But that doesn't change the fact that they are lines that run from the nose (NASO-) to the mouth (LABIAL) hence N/L lines/folds. Oy vey!

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