It makes sense that we can preserve at least part of our youthful facial appearance through exercise. We run, go to the gym, do calisthenics, and lift weights to build bigger muscles in our arms, legs, and abs, or at least to maintain the muscles we already have.

After a while of exercising those muscles, they get bigger or at least firmer.

We don’t want our facial muscles to bulge like a bodybuilder’s biceps, but it would be nice to keep them firm even as we age. And it just means firmer facial muscles will make the skin on our faces look firmer.

Over time, these muscles lose their natural elasticity. They still react to our facial expression: frown or smile, but this is not enough activity to maintain their youthful control.

When you are young and you squint thousands of times, the muscles involved naturally return to their original condition and position. However, from the age of twenty, they begin to lose that natural adaptability and expression lines begin to form.

Therefore, facial exercises may not eliminate all wrinkles and frowns, but they can help prevent or firm jowls and sagging chin.

This book is the result of thirty years of research the author conducted to develop her Design Exercises. She outlines the facial muscles, and it is interesting to know that there are ten, from the forehead to the neck.

Also, according to the author, these exercises help stimulate the growth of fat cells around the muscles. Although normally we do not want to stimulate the growth of fat cells, this case is an exception.

Our faces naturally have enough fat cells to make our face look full and vital when we are young. The loss of fat cells is part of why our faces look sunken and puffy when we are older.

Most of the book consists of exercises, divided into sections according to facial feature. Start with the lips and the lower part of the face because it is the area most affected by premature aging. More there are exercises for men and women over 40 years.

One section is devoted to biofeedback, as many people will initially have trouble isolating small portions of their faces to target only those specific muscles. His goal isn’t for people to buy a regular biofeedback machine, but rather he cites experiments to show that people can gain greater awareness and control of their bodies, with time and practice. So she’s encouraging, because a lot of readers will struggle at first, but they shouldn’t give up.

One criticism I have is that she doesn’t give a general program. In the notes, she says that since you won’t have time to do them all every day, just do a few every day. Focus on problem areas.

But for many people, their entire face is the problem area. What is the best way to rotate exercises? Or is there one that will help with all the rest? She does not offer any systematic guidance. Just do what you have to.

She suggests the amount of time to do the exercises and the number of repetitions, adding that you can do more than this if you feel the need. But it can take weeks for someone to realize that the suggested number of reps isn’t enough for them. They can give up instead of just increasing the number of reps to a high enough number to get the results they want.

It is difficult to write a book that can be adapted to all readers, because everyone is different and so are their faces and facial problems, but it would have been helpful to have more guidance in formulating your own exercise plan.

At the end, include a chapter on using a tape mask to remove wrinkles. That is putting duct tape on various sections of your face to bring them together.

I haven’t tried that, I’d feel like a fool putting duct tape all over my face. That’s too “metrosexual” for me.

It might work, but as a man, I’m more comfortable with the idea of ​​exercising my muscles.