Face Gym

Ageing gracefully may now be even easier and far less painful than thought. It may sound like a strange concept – exercising your face – but it is an ancient ritual that has been practiced for years and one that has just become commercially available.

Beauty writer, Inge Theron, contributes a regular column Chronicles of a Spa Junkie to The Financial Times, and through her career has sweated her way through countless gym classes, been poked and prodded in the chairs of many beauty salons, and has undoubtedly endured some painfully unpleasant anti-ageing treatments. But now, Inge has decided to take things into her own hands, or face, for that matter.

Face Gym is the just-launched concept from Inge Theron, combining her love for exercise and beauty. She debuted the treatment at Selfriges, London in May as part of the store’s Beauty Project, a six-week exploration and celebration of the beautiful body.

Inge was interviewed by the Daily Mail Online and said, “(she) had suffered several distressing treatments over the years so wanted to go back to basics and swap injections for good old-fashioned face massage. Face Gym is grounded in the principal that we don’t think twice about toning our muscles at the gym so why think differently about the face?”

With over 50 muscles in our face, it is important to take care of these muscles, as they are crucial to the way we look. Regular stimulation or exercise, just as you might do for your legs or behind, will help lift, tighten and tone the facial area. But the added bonus is that there is no sweating required! You just lie back in a chair, close your eyes and let your beauty therapist do all the hard work for you!

The non-invasive treatment replicates a typical gym workout with a warm-up, interval training and cool down stage. (Yes, we know it sounds rather odd). The treatment consists of facial flicking, pummelling and fast finger movements to lift the cheeks, drain excess fluid from under the eyes and work on fine lines. Each treatment lasts for 30-minutes and costs approximately $60. You can also target specific areas for an extra $25 for each 10-minute add-on.

While this is the first commercially available treatment, albeit only in the UK at this stage, this is not the first time we have heard of facial exercising.

Face massage has been practiced in ancient cultures for centuries and was once the secret of Chinese Empresses practiced 3,000 years ago to increase circulation of blood to the face.

More recently however, TV actress Lindsay Wagner created her own facial massage system which she writes about in her 1987 book, “Lindsay Wagner’s New Beauty: The Acupressure Facelift”. The 20-minute daily massage system uses finger tapping on specific points of the face and claims to produce results in weeks. The simple alternative to a surgical facelift, helps soften lines and wrinkles and is far more cost-effective than cosmetic treatments.

If you have tried any of these treatments, do share your stories with us by leaving a comment, we would love to hear your feedback.

You can buy a copy of Lindsay’s book online here: http://www.amazon.com/Lindsay-Wagners-New-Beauty-Acupressure/dp/0135368065

If you loved this article there are plenty more on woman with drive. Stay up to spend and receive all the latest articles first – before everyone else! Subscribe to our fortnightly newsletter here.

Share Article