It doesn’t matter if you’re eating, smiling, talking, crying, or just simply watching your surroundings; you are using your facial muscles.
For example, the Zygomaticus Major muscle is the most used facial muscle. It’s responsible for moving the mouth, helping you smile and laugh. This is why it’s deemed the laughing muscle, but how can you ensure it always stays healthy so you always look youthful?
Now, please hear me when I say this. Refrain from stressing over how much you move your face! Even if you consciously try to lessen the use of your facial expressions, you won’t significantly change the strength of your facial muscles. Live your life! Laugh, cry, smile, and be YOU! What you do at the end of the day is what will make a difference. If you want to keep a youthful look and prevent lines & wrinkles, I’ll tell you how!
Let’s start by thinking about our overall body. When we work out, we build strength and muscle, right? Well, the same thing happens to our facial muscles. We must do the RIGHT strength-building to keep the muscles healthy and youthful. It comes from working the muscles out properly, not from a lack of moving the muscles or using neurotoxin blockers. Sometimes the simpler is better!
Over time, by using our facial muscles, we lengthen and weaken them, so we want to do movements that tell our facial muscles to tighten back up. This approach to skincare is why I went to California and got specialty trained in Hungarian facial massage. I brought this technique to the RGV because it gives people the freedom to be their youthful selves and reach their goals without having to stress or add something to their bodies. Let me be your personal facial muscles trainer! While performing Hungarian facial massage, I customize the drumming, pinching, and sweeping motions to what YOUR muscles need. Another fantastic thing about this specialty massage is it does lymphatic drainage simultaneously, which is incredibly beneficial to your skin & health! You will have immediate results with one session of the Hungarian massage, but just like working out, the more you do it, the stronger and better results you’ll have. Fun fact, Hungarian facial massage has a known nickname, “organic Botox”, because that is how tightening and youthful you can get with these massages.
There is one more part of strengthening our muscles, though! You get to see your Esthetician on average once every 30 days, so what do you do to help your muscles the other 29? Easy, adding a couple-minute technique into your skincare routine!
Many of us have heard of Gua Sha, but what is it, and does it work? Gua Sha is a traditional Chinese medicine technique that involves scraping the skin with a stone tool. It was created to improve circulation, reduce inflammation & tighten muscles. Done correctly, it can be very beneficial; done wrong, it can do nothing or cause damage. Luckily it’s effortless to learn and just takes the RIGHT tool to achieve it! Below you will see two of my favorite tools to strengthen facial muscles at home.
The first is the High Beauty Roller, a pillar-cut stone with a pointed tip that allows you to work the entire face. It also has a glass container with a roller ball inside to carry and use your favorite oil while doing the treatment! It takes a classic approach to the technique, feels great on the skin & looks beautiful sitting on your bathroom counter!
The second is a brand-new device that I now carry at the spa. It’s Mount Lai’s new electric Gua Sha! This tool is highly unique because it has the shape of the Gua Sha tool, white jade rollers to help sculpt the face, red LED to stimulate collagen production & heat to help soothe and release wrong tension. I have not found any other at-home tool like it!
Both of these tools are amazing & the at-home routine is easy to learn with them! Check out the @westfernspa instagram to find videos on how to use them! Do not stress or worry about how you’re enjoying your life; see your Esthetician, chose your favorite at home routine & keep yourself looking like YOUR beautiful self!
