Facebuilding: facial expressions and habits are the cause of wrinkles

Author: Kristina Bondareva - facebuilding coach.
2016-04-11

Around the age of 25, a person begins to notice age-related changes on their face. Some develop crow's feet, while others notice nasolabial wrinkles. The cause of such facial changes is active mimicry and behavioral habits. Now, let’s take a closer look at each area of the face.

Forehead

Horizontal wrinkles on the forehead are caused by uncontrolled and frequent raising and arching of the eyebrows. The wrinkle between the eyebrows develops due to bringing the brows together towards the nose, a movement accompanied by facial expressions such as attention or effort. People who occasionally experience headaches also tend to have their eyebrows slightly drawn together.

To reduce wrinkles on the forehead, you need to learn to control the movement of the occipitofrontal muscle and mimicry. There is one technique for this. When you are at home, place a bandage on your forehead; it will hinder you from raising or drawing your eyebrows together. This simple method helps develop a new habit of not frowning. In about 1-2 weeks, you will stop actively moving your eyebrows. Special cosmetic bandages are sold, but a regular silk-based one will work as well.

Relax the forehead as follows:

1. Place your palm or two fingers above each eyebrow on your forehead, fixing the brow arches. On an inhale, lift your eyes upwards, and on an exhale, lower your eyes downwards.
2. Relax the muscle; use your palm or two fingers to shift the muscle and skin downwards.
3. Hold for a few seconds.

Eyes

Those with crow's feet often squint and smile. The skin around the eyes is very thin, so the contractions of the orbicularis oculi muscle do not go unnoticed.

What to do?

1. For vision problems, glasses or lenses are much more helpful than squinting or pulling the corners of the eyes to the side.
2. Protect your eyes from the sun.
3. When at home, apply a nourishing cream in a thick layer around the eyes, avoiding the area of the moving part of the upper eyelid.

The orbicularis oculi muscle is a sphincter, so to relieve tension in the eye area, open your eyes wide as if surprised, bulge them out, and then relax. Repeat this 10-15 times. This exercise helps to open up the gaze, strengthens the orbicularis oculi muscle, and eliminates wrinkles. Be sure that your eyebrows do not rise up while performing this exercise; if they do, place your palm on your forehead to hold them down.

Nasolabial Area

The nasolabial fold - clearly defined lines from the nose to the mouth (not to be confused with the nasolabial crease) - appears in those who habitually pucker their lips and clench their jaws. Here, the advice is simple: walk with slightly open lips and do not clench your jaws.

The orbicularis oris muscle is a sphincter made up of muscle bundles that approach the upper and lower lips from other mimic muscles nearest to the oral cavity. The edge is formed by bundles of the buccinator muscle, the muscle that raises the upper lip, the muscle that raises the corner of the mouth, the muscle that lowers the lower lip, the muscle that lowers the corner of the mouth, and others. Thus, by pursing your lips, you spasm all the muscles in the central part of the face.

To relax the orbicularis oris muscle, simply blow through your lips: “Brrrrrrrr…” To make it clearer, children mimic this sound when pretending a car is moving.

To eliminate an existing nasolabial fold and relieve tension in the muscles of the central part of the face, blowing exercises can help:

1. You can inflate your cheeks together.
2. Alternately inflate the left and then the right cheek.
3. Roll the air clockwise and counterclockwise.
4. Inflate the upper and lower lips.

One of the reasons for the formation of the nasolabial fold is poor posture and head positioning. Keep an eye on your posture!

Neck

"Venus rings" - horizontal wrinkles that circle the neck. The cause of these rings lies in the habit of slouching. It’s important to strengthen back muscles and to tilt your head less while looking at phones.

GO to your workout!

Thus, throughout the day, find a couple of minutes for yourself. Close your eyes and mentally go through all the areas of your face. Forehead - lower your eyebrows, eyes - relax, central part of the face - unclench your jaws and lips, raise your head, and straighten your shoulders. Stay beautiful!

You can ask questions in the comments, and I will respond. I develop individual face-building training programs and conduct classes via Skype. If you are interested – contact me. Kristina Bondareva – face-building coach.