From Head To... Neck: The "Face Gym Workout"

Nowadays, we spend a lot of time and money on products to make our skin perfect, and our face wrinkle free, but there are ways which we can improve the quality of our face and neck naturally that don't involve expensive products.  Not only will this save us money, but we will still  be getting the benefits of a youthful looking face. Does this sound completely farfetched? Well, in fact, much like if you want to have a youthful body, you have to exercise it; the same applies to your face and neck. If you want to firm and tone your face and neck, it's all about finding the right exercises. So, here are a few you can take advantage of…

For The Mouth
While you may feel that wrinkles around the mouth are one of the signs of aging you cannot fight, because you use your lips to talk every single day, there are solutions. As detailed in this article Lip Lines: The 7 Best Treatment Options For Wrinkles Around Your Mouth, there are a few exercises. The sphinx smile is an easy one. Keep your eyes neutral as you lift up the corners of your mouth to smile. By keeping your eyes neutral, you will avoid creasing the corners of your eyes. Be sure to repeat this exercise 3 or 4 times. While it helps with wrinkles around the mouth area, it is also great for the eyes also. Keeping your lips strong can be achieved by doing kisses. Keeping your brows smooth and pucker your lips. This helps to maintain the strength of your lips.

Minimize Forehead Wrinkles
The best way to cut back on those unsightly forehead wrinkles is to widen your eyes, but without wrinkling your forehead. By focusing on a point in front of you for up to 10 seconds, and repeating this exercise 3 or 4 times, this will help to tone those forehead muscles. Out of all the facial muscles, the forehead muscles are one of the easiest facial muscles to exercise. It's also one of the first places that we begin to notice unsightly wrinkles.

Relieve Tension
Much like we carry tension in our bodies, we can carry numerous stresses in our face. The best way to combat this is to form a lion face. To do this, inhale through your nose, while at the same time clenching your fists and flexing your facial muscles. Exhale through the mouth, then poke your tongue out, roll your eyes and open up your hands. Do this three times.  This is very similar to progressive muscle relaxation, and if you find yourself particularly tense, doing an all over progressive muscle relaxation over the body, as well as on the face, will benefit you at the very end of a long day.

Stop A Sagging Neck
Those horrible jowls can begin to show up as we get on in years, which have a terrible impact on the rest of our face. The best way to prevent this is to exercise your chin. Lift up your chin towards the ceiling, while protruding your jaw in front of you. What happens is that you will feel tightening under your chin, and as your neck begins to extend, the front muscles will begin to relax, but the ones at the side of your neck have the workout they seldom get. Hold this move for five seconds and repeat up to 10 times.

Tone The Chin
Toning the chin is all about exercising the mouth. The best way to do this is to lower the corners of your mouth, much like you are pouting until you feel tightness from your nose to your chin. While this helps to tone your chin, a positive by-product of this is that you are activating muscles in your mouth, which will, over time, give you more strength which results in a relaxed smile.

Keep Your Cheeks Firm
Maintaining strong cheeks will go a long way to preserving the overall structure of your face. The best way to keep your cheeks firm is to puff out both cheeks and move the air inside your mouth between the two. Do this until you are out of breath, and repeat three times.

If you exercise regularly anyway, adding a few extra exercises into your routine can make for a toned body from head to toe. Facial exercises are becoming more of a thing now, and while it can feel difficult, to begin with, stick with it and you will see the benefits.

This is a contributed post and may contain affiliate links.

Photo: Marie Claire Korea