Strength training and exercise help you keep your muscles toned and in shape, but you’re probably neglecting a whole set of muscles: your face. The human face has over 40 muscles, all of which work to help you with tasks such as eating and expressing emotions. Even though you probably don’t give much thought to these muscles, they have a significant impact on how your face ages. Two of the biggest contributors to visible and permanent signs of aging are frown lines and lines that form around the lips. Learn more about frown lines and lip pursing and how you can fight them below.
Frown Lines and Lip Pursing
Frown lines, also known as Glabellar lines, are the vertical lines that occur between your eyebrows when you frown or furrow your brows. The lines are caused by the contraction and movement of two particular facial muscles: the Procerus and the Corrugators. Frown lines occur throughout your lifetime, but it is not until you start to age that these lines become more pronounced and more permanent. When you are young, your skin is much more elastic and is able to “bounce back” quickly after you’ve finished frowning. However, when you age, your skin loses its elasticity, and frown lines become permanent.
Lip lines are the vertical lines that occur around your mouth, but particularly on your upper lip. The main cause of these lines is pursing your lips, which you may do frequently during each day without being aware. Smoking is one of the biggest contributors to lip lines both because you are constantly pursing your lips and because of the free radicals released as you smoke. Sipping through straws frequently can also lead to more pronounced lip lines.
How to Avoid and Correct Frown Lines and Lip Pursing
Telling you not to frown or purse your lips ever again is highly unrealistic, but there are ways that you can help to prevent your frown lines and lip lines from becoming more pronounced. The first thing you want to do is to keep your facial muscles as relaxed as possible. You can do this by maintaining a neutral facial expression, or you can give yourself frequent facial massages to relax the muscles. The best way to truly eliminate frown lines is with the use of injectable fillers like hyaluronic acid, or to get Botox, but you can amp up your anti-aging routine to fight these signs of aging as well. Be sure to exfoliate your skin at least once a week and use anti-aging products that contain ingredients like hyaluronic acid, retinol, collagen and copper peptides.
Aging is caused by both intrinsic factors (those like genetics, which you don’t have control over) and extrinsic factors (like lifestyle and skin care choices you can control). You aren’t going to be able to prevent your muscles from ever moving again, and you wouldn’t want to. To minimize your frown lines and lines from lip pursing, help your facial muscles relax with a massage and be sure to take great care of your skin with high-quality skin care products.
Vine Vera 