ABOUT FACE
Discover the fountain of youth. Located at the intersection of diet and exercise, it’s driven by a self-care regimen that includes everything from skin care and lifestyle habits to facial exercises.
HOW TO PROTECT
YOUR FACE
Holistic steps to preserve
a more youthful look.
Drink plenty of water
Limit caffeine and alcohol
Don't smoke
Wear sunglasses to avoid lines from squinting
Wash your face twice a day with a gentle cleanser
Apply a facial moisturizer
Eat a balanced, healthful diet
Consider doing facial exercises
Stay out of the sun and wear sunscreen even in winter
TYPES
OF FACE
PRODUCTS
Toners unclog pores by removing excess oil and any makeup remaining after cleansing. Apply in the morning and at night with a cotton ball or pad, then gently blot to remove dead skin cells, shrink pores and leave the skin ready for moisturizing. Water-base toners are gentle on skin, while those containing glycolic or salicylic acid are best for oily skin. Some toners contain hyaluronic acid for hydration or vitamins C and E to neutralize free radicals that age skin.
Masks offer a deep cleaning to unclog pores and draw out impurities. Applied as a cream, clay or disposable cotton sheet, masks are available at Hy-Vee with a variety of face-friendly ingredients. Some are designed to exfoliate and cleanse for clearer-looking skin, others soothe, de-stress and replenish for softer, more supple skin. Use once a week at night.
Facial cleansers are available at Hy-Vee as gels, oils, creams and foams. Unlike soap, which strips skin of natural oils, facial cleansers are gentler and can be tailored to your skin type. For example, treat oily skin with a cleanser for breakouts and use a gentle alcohol-free cleanser for dry skin. Use a facial cleanser morning and night. If wearing makeup, first use a makeup remover solution or wipe, then the facial cleanser. Wearing makeup at bedtime can clog pores.
Sunscreen can reduce the risk of skin cancer and prevent premature skin aging from the ultraviolet rays that cause skin damage. Use one with at least SPF 30 applied 30 minutes before going outside. Some sunscreens include a built-in moisturizer as well.
Moisturizers hydrate and soften the skin. Moisturizers with retinol help reduce wrinkles in aging skin. Niacinamide (vitamin B3), hyaluronic acid and amino-peptides are some other ingredients that plump skin and reduce fine lines. For best results, smooth moisturizer onto clean, slightly damp skin twice a day. Use a water-base lotion for oily skin, an ointment or cream for dry skin.
Derma E Anti-Wrinkle Cleanser and Renewal Cream helps diminish age lines and wrinkles, leaving skin soft, smooth and supple. Contains vitamin A to enhance skin’s youthful appearance.
ANTI-WRINKLE
CLEANSER/CREAM
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OLAY Regenerist Collagen Peptide 24 is a fragrance-free moisturizer that absorbs quickly—without feeling sticky or greasy—for skin that looks and feels smoother and firmer.
COLLAGEN PEPTIDE
FACE MOISTURIZER
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Dickinson’s Pore Perfecting Toner is an oil-free, nondrying witch hazel product that gently cleanses and conditions for clear, smooth and balanced skin.
WITCH HAZEL TONER
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Burt’s Bees Hydrating Sheet Mask with Clary Sage moisturizes skin and balances pH and is specially formulated to improve the texture of skin, leaving it soft and supple.
PEEL-OFF MASK
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6
FACIAL EXERCISES
Different facial exercises tone various areas of the face and neck. Here are six popular ones.
1. CHEEKBONE LIFT
Place your fingers over your cheekbones and gently lift the skin until it is taut. Open your mouth to form an elliptical “O,” so you feel resistance in cheek muscles. Hold for 5 seconds; repeat 10 to 15 times.
2. EYEBROW LIFTER
Press the middle three fingertips of each hand under eyebrows to force eyes open. Smile while furrowing eyebrows down against fingers. Hold while breathing deeply. Close upper eyelids tightly, rolling eyeballs toward top of your head. Hold for 20 seconds while breathing deeply and smiling. Release and relax; repeat three times.
3. UPPER AND
LOWER EYELIDS
Form “binoculars” over eyes by touching thumbs and index fingers together. Widen the circles by gently moving index fingers and thumbs away from each other. Keep fingers pressed against skin while scrunching lower eyelids as if squinting.
4. HAPPY CHEEKS
SCULPTING
Smile with lips closed. Place index fingers at corners of mouth and press firmly. Slowly slide index fingers up cheekbones toward corners of eyes. Stop at top of cheekbones. Press to hold muscles in place for 20 seconds, placing middle fingers on top of index fingers for extra support, if needed. Relax, then repeat twice.
5. TEMPLE
DEVELOPER
Press temples lightly while closing jaw, clenching teeth and moving chin upward. As you clench teeth and increase tension in the muscle as if trying to move your ears backward, concentrate on the temple area. Clench teeth tightly for 10 seconds, then clench down on back teeth for 10 seconds. Relax. Repeat three times.
6. JAW AND
NECK FIRMER
Make an “aah” sound with your mouth, then fold lower lip and corners of lips into your mouth and hold tightly. Extend lower jaw forward, closing your mouth as you visualize scooping up something heavy. Repeat 9 times, opening and closing the mouth with each scoop. Raise chin about an inch each time until it is pointed toward the ceiling. On the final scoop, keep chin extended and hold for 20 seconds while visualizing the sides of your face lifting. Repeat sequence three times.
The
timeline
It may take one to three months to see results.
Most programs call for doing facial exercises three to five times a week, 20 to 30 minutes each time.
The Cleveland Clinic says six to seven times a week for 20 to 30 minutes might be needed for noticeable results.
Facial exercises may improve facial appearance and reduce some visible signs of aging. The exercises enlarge and strengthen the facial muscles, so the face becomes firmer and more toned and shaped like a younger face.”
—Dr. Murad Alam, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
The science behind facial exercises
Get ready to make a face! Turns out making seemingly bizarre expressions may help preserve a youthful look without surgery or treatment.
A relatively new addition to the skin care regimen, facial exercises isolate and engage muscles, adding definition to counteract the drooping, sagging and migration of fat from gravity and aging.
If that sounds like a fairy tale, consider a 2017 Northwestern University study where middle-age women appeared more youthful, with fuller upper and lower cheeks after 20 weeks of facial exercises.
For eight weeks, study participants performed facial exercises for 30 minutes daily.
For the remaining 12 weeks, they did facial exercises for 30 minutes every other day.
Their routine included 32 facial exercises developed by Happy Face Yoga, coauthor of the study along with Dr. Murad Alam, vice chair and professor of dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.