Facial Exercises

Facial Exercises

Forget Botox. Facial exercises are the cheaper, needle-free alternative to tightening a turkey neck, and subtly lifting saggy jowls and cheeks.

So, why not keep everyone guessing the secret behind your fresh face, by opting for a natural facelift with a few simple exercises? After all, not all of us can afford several hundred pounds worth of Botox jabs, so I interviewed a facial exercise guru to explain to me the basics.

82-year-old Eva Fraser has been practicing and teaching facial exercises for over 40 years.

That’s right ladies, turning in front of your mirror, exposing your front teeth in an unpleasant way, and opening your eyes a la zombie mode, are the best ways to achieve an ageless, youthful face. Just make sure you do all this in private.

But behind all these facial gestures, is there a real purpose: Eva explains further, “Basically, our faces need to go the gym. We tone our bodies, but forget about the face. We have 65 muscles in our faces that can be used; when they aren’t used it leads to saggy skin”.

82-year-old Eva Fraser (whom I’ve met in person) is testimony to facial exercises working: hardly any wrinkles etch her face, nor does she have the hooded eyes or the dreaded “turkey chin”.

Despite the tell-tale signs of makeup, classic black eyeliner, and classy, carefully painted red lips, I’m still in awe of her ageless face.

So what’s her story? And how did she find out about this simple yet effective face-lift?

When Eva turned 50, she began searching for a non-surgical way of maintaining her looks, without undergoing surgery. Thanks to lady luck, she crossed paths with Madame Hoffman, an expert in facial exercises.

Through much persuasion, Eva finally got Hoffman to teach her these simple, yet effective, exercises, in one lesson. Hoffman was impressed by Eva’s natural talent for teaching and went on to train her for a year.

Newly excited at having opened a pandora’s box of anti-aging secrets, Eva decided to grab the attention of world-famous fashion magazines: Tatler, Vogue, and Marie Claire to name a few.

Her saint-like patience and sheer determination paid off when she finally arranged a meeting with Vogue’s beauty editors, who catapulted her techniques into the public domain. The demand for her services grew, resulting in a high-in-demand, facial exercise DVD, (Facial Exercises Made Easy) and a book ( Eva Fraser’s Facial Exercises) which has been translated into 8 different languages.

During our interview, Eva touches upon a universal issue: the appearance of wrinkles. These days everyone is tackling aging in a much more expensive and, sometimes dangerous way. Botox, needles, and surgeons’ knives have all become common, quick-fix ways of embracing a temporary youth.

Gone are the methods of spending quality time in slowly reversing the signs of aging by properly taking care of oneself through exercise, excellent nutrition, and simple skincare.

However simple Eva’s methods are, they truly work as she tells me is constantly in demand worldwide! On the positive note though, she passes on some valuable beauty wisdom, which is strongly recommended:

1. If possible, go to sleep without any night cream or facial oil. Eva believes when the face is too soft, it wrinkles easier, especially if you sleep on your side.
2. Night cream under your eyes will make your eyes look baggier in the morning. The reason being is the skin around the eyes is really delicate, so the cream sinks under the eye area. Surgeons, who perform eye bag removal surgery are finding eye bags are full of heavy creams.
3. Water is the magic ingredient for your face. Thoroughly remove your makeup with a cleanser, splash your face with hot water 10-20 times but don’t apply anything before you go to bed. Attempt to sleep on your back because this will cause fewer wrinkles.
4. Doing facial exercises four or five times a week, for 15 minutes, will begin making a difference. Do your exercises either first thing in the morning or in the evening, after you wash your face.