Making faces can cause more wrinkles

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I don’t know about you but I think that smiling and laughing really aged me. Although the dermatologist told me those are expression lines but to me, they’re pure plain dreaded wrinkles and fine lines! In fact, I had this strange thought that I can probably look younger if I didn’t smile and laugh so much in the past! So you can bet I have serious doubts that facial exercises can prevent wrinkles. And it looks like I’m not alone having this thought because Paula Begoun also thinks likewise.

I don’t always agree with Paula Begoun’s views on beauty but she does make sense in many instances and this is one of those.

In her article, facial exercises are more a problem for skin than a help. She even quoted Dr. Wilma Bergfeld, Head of Clinical Research, Department of Dermatology at The Cleveland Clinic and the first woman president of the American Academy of Dermatology on the topic and this is what Dr Bergeld said:

“Though I don’t recommend them I do believe they could work in some controlled situations. However, you would never want to do anything that moves the facial skin, especially as it ages, or overmanipulate the skin,” Bergfeld added, “because it would create more wrinkling, increasing the loss of elasticity in the skin.”

If you think about it, this definitely makes sense because the skin on the areas of our faces with the most movements tend to have more fine lines and wrinkles. Most prominent are the areas around our eyes, the areas around our mouths and our foreheads. In fact, I have most fine lines around my eyes than anywhere and this is definitely no smiling or laughing matter!

I used to do some mouth exercises in the past to try to slim down my face and now that I know for sure, you bet facial exercises are a no-no for me and the same applies to exaggerated facial expressions, when I do remember that is. And please girls, don’t make faces after reading this entry even though you may not agree with me okay?

Comments

  1. Nikki says:

    LOL I believe ya! I love love love smiling and making faces! OH NO!!! lol

    Nikki: Haha…but you still look young! Another way is to fatten the face so that wrinkles will not surface so quickly! ?

  2. ParisB says:

    One word – Botox! LOL… Nevermind Sesame, at least lines from smiling and laughing are “happy” lines ?

    Paris: Yes Botox! But I’m afraid of the injections! Haha…and I like your remarks that these are happy lines. Which means the more wrinkles one have, the happier one is… ?

  3. De says:

    Haha, this is no laughing matter indeed and I agree with you.

    But I would rather be a happier person with laugh lines than someone who is trying hard not to laugh too much, wait till you see my laugh lines!!

    De: That’s so true. Looking young but not happy is definitely nothing to be envious of…

  4. Florence says:

    Ha ha, smiling & laughing can cause wrinkles…. in that case I shall always carry my no expression face to go out…:)

    Florence: Haha…be an aloof beauty!

  5. prettybeautiful says:

    yeah i have read about this too, i think it is true to a certain extent. but someone ages without laughing lines would look ugly in my opinion. yey for happy lines! but squinting eyes too often is bad bad bad

    Prettybeautiful: A bit unnatural I think. You know some of the women who are old but have gone for multiple plastic surgeries look like that…

  6. Elaine says:

    My mother’s aunt hardly ever laughed or smiled, not many lines or wrinkles but a sort of sad bulldog face.

    I’d rather be an old lady with laugh lines and bright sparkling eyes anyday.

    Elaine: Hmm…I’m wondering if she took basic care of her skin like applying creams or sunscreen… But you’re right about having bright sparkling eyes!

  7. Tine says:

    Aww I don’t think it’s a bad thing getting the lines from smiling and laughing. Better to get them that way than frowning all the time ?

    Tine: Yes, it’s true. Anyway, I was just kidding. I can’t stop myself from smiling and laughing anyway.

  8. Syen says:

    Hellooo! I kinda agree about the laugh lines. I think I’m starting to get a wee bit of lines around my eyes in the areas that crease when I’m laughing my head off.

    But with that said, I’d rather live a laughter-filled life, than stay miserable the whole time worrying about my lines. =P

    Syen: How true! If we worry about them, then we’re going to develop worry lines instead!

  9. Leon says:

    Hey Sesame, I have recently started doing some basic facial exercises and trust me it works. Its a good way to tighten up sagging skin. I was planning to write about it, may be I’ll write about it next week:)

    Leon: Okay, I’ll check out your article when it’s up. I’m curious to know too…

  10. Love to laugh says:

    When you exercise the muscles, they become bigger, they swell… this makes the skin on top of the muscles tighter.

    I’ve been doing exercises for my forehead and I’ve noticed quite a bit of change. The expressions lines have been really reduced.

    It makes sense to tone our muscles, even those in our face. Better than disgusting Botox injections or plastic surgery.

    And if we age with wrinkles or laughter lines, what is the big deal?

  11. sesame says:

    Interesting what you say about the muscles. I definitely wasn’t aware of that. Thanks for sharing! So the facial exercise will probably have to be ongoing to have sustained effects.

  12. Sally says:

    The muscles in our faces (there’s lots of them!) require a work out just as bum muscles do. The exercises are more about reducing the effecting of gravity and lifting sagging muscles rather than reducing lines eg. jawline, and turkey neck.

  13. Shelly says:

    my mom is one that you would call a smiley person and shes 47 with tiny little line on her forehead, she’s never been too concerned with staying out of the sun and has always sun tanned so i would think that genes have alot to do with skin ageing.

  14. Nikki says:

    I would expect that a former president of the American Academy on Dermatology would object to facial exercises. If more women picked up on doing facial exercises, which are FREE, that would mean dermatologists would make less money. Duh! ?

  15. Patricia says:

    I do believe face exercises can help, I believe when someone uses the same muscle over and over again it will cause a wrinkle but you have to build muscle in all parts of the face for it to work and fill out your skin. I’am going to try face exercises soon and I will save this website on my favorites and let everyone know how its going. I’m 40 years old with fine lines around mouth, I have a couple of forehead lines and my eyelids I can definetly tell I’m getting older. I will let yall know in 6 weeks how it is going.

  16. sesame says:

    Great…will be interested to know your results. ?

  17. maryam says:

    Patricia, how did the face exercises work out for you?
    maryam last post is: Vitamin Guide for Beautiful Skin

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