Beauty: Yoga-cise can tone and shape your face

You can make sure your face is in good shape with a daily exercise regime. Fashion & Beauty Editor Stephanie Smith finds out more. Plus brilliant beauty buys.
By The Newsroom
Published 11th Jan 2018, 10:12 BST
Updated 11th Jan 2018, 11:40 BST
Hamster cheeks: Anna Reich's face yoga routine.Hamster cheeks: Anna Reich's face yoga routine.
Hamster cheeks: Anna Reich's face yoga routine.

The workout season has arrived – big groan – but it’s not just your body that can benefit from a fitness regime; your face can too.

Personal trainer and face yoga practitioner Anna Reich has teamed up with the Sainsbury’s My Skin Matters range to create a five-step workout to tone and energise the face.

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There are 57 muscles in your face and neck and they respond to exercise like any other muscle, becoming smoother, firmer and plumper. This regime comprises 18 exercises which will stimulate a specific muscle to boost circulation to detox the skin and improve complexion, strengthening and firming it, which in turn encourages its natural ability to produce collagen and elastin. Or, they can relax the muscle, keeping stress-inducing wrinkles at bay. Used with the My Skin Matters range, it fortifies skin against stress, environmental damage and premature ageing. The Morning Super Set combines two face yoga moves in one, the first part boosting circulation, the second stimulating the muscle beneath the skin to promote good shape and tone.

SKIN NOURISHMENT: My Skin Matters Night Repair Cream, £4, at Sainsburys.SKIN NOURISHMENT: My Skin Matters Night Repair Cream, £4, at Sainsburys.
SKIN NOURISHMENT: My Skin Matters Night Repair Cream, £4, at Sainsburys.

Called Rosy Hamster Cheeks, you fill your cheeks with air and then purse your lips together as tightly as possible. Next, begin passing the air from cheek to cheek, as high as possible, as if it were a ball. Do this for 30 seconds. Finally, with your index finger and your thumb, take generous pinches of your cheek, but don’t pull away. Do this for another 30 seconds. Finish with the My Skin Matters Q10 Multi protection Day Cream SPF15, £3 at Sainsbury’s.

The Evening Super Set exercises work lower face muscles (cheeks, nasolabial, lips) which reduces fine lines and wrinkles. Called the Smile Smoother, begin by hiding your teeth with your lips and make an ‘O’ shape with the mouth. Keep teeth covered but now smile as wide as possible. Repeat this ‘smile to no smile’ movement up to seven times. Next, hold that big smile shape and place your index finger on your chin.Start moving the chin up and down and apply resistance with your finger. Slowly start tilting your head backwards and then forwards again – repeat this movement twice more.

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