BLOG 270: LIP LINES? DO THESE 3 MAGIC FACE YOGA MOVES DAILY

Although I love those days when I have a good chunk of time to focus on doing a full face yoga routine, I also really appreciate having a few more targeted moves in my toolkit that I can use when I only have a few moments to spare.

This blog post will give you just that – three short and simple face yoga moves you can do daily to reduce fine lines around the lips.

Techniques like these are great when you are short on time and just want to focus on one specific area of your face. And you can also combine them with other face yoga moves when you have more time and want to do a longer routine.

It is all about building your repertoire so that you have a practice that is tailored to you and your needs.

This particular short sequence should take only around three minutes, so it is an easy one to slot into your day whenever you have a little bit of time to spare.

If you prefer to watch a video version, you can watch me demonstrating these three massage techniques over on YouTube.

Before You Start

As always, make sure you have clean hands before starting this face yoga routine. Ideally, you should also have a clean face.

Apply some lip balm or a drop or two of serum to your lips. I always use the Pro Lift Facial Moisturising Serum from my Fusion by Danielle Collins range. 

The great thing about this serum is that it penetrates down into that middle layer of skin – the dermis – which is where the connective tissue lies and where collagen production takes place.

As a result, it really helps to support the natural regeneration and repair of your skin, which is brilliant when you want your skin to look healthy and glowing.

Find a comfortable spot – you can sit or stand depending on what you prefer. It helps to have a mirror to hand so that you can see what you are doing, especially the first few times you do these techniques.

Then, you are ready to begin.

Warm Up

For a quick warm up, take the index and middle fingers on both hands and place them in the middle of your top lip.

Smooth out to the outer corners of your lip and back again. Keep repeating this action for around thirty seconds.

Then, bring your fingers down to your bottom lip and do the same here, smoothing your fingers out from the centre of your lip to the corners of your mouth and back again.

This simple massage technique helps to stimulate the blood flow to your lip area, bringing plenty of fresh oxygen and nutrients. This also helps to encourage the natural turnover of skin cells, as well as boosting collagen production to help your lips look plumper and fuller.

As a result, this technique can act almost like an instant plumper. If you look at your lips after doing this massage, you’ll notice that they immediately look fuller and smoother, with fewer fine lines.

1. O Massage

Next, make an “O” shape with your lips. You don’t want to overextend here – no need to open your mouth as wide as it can go. Just make a little “O” shape and then tuck your lips around your teeth.

Using just your index fingers, massage lightly around your mouth, starting with your fingers together in the centre of your top lip, coming round and down to meet in the centre of your bottom lip, and then repeating the action.

Continue this movement for around 30 seconds to a minute. 

You can keep the pressure relatively light for this massage. I always encourage you to work to your own level with face yoga, but it is worth noting that harder is not always better – sometimes a lighter touch works best.

As you massage, focus on your breathing, aiming for long, deep inhales and exhales through your nose.

This technique targets the orbicularis oris – the circular muscle that goes around the mouth. By holding your mouth in this “O” shape with your lips tucked in, you get this muscle working, helping to strengthen it over time.

As we age, we often find the orbicularis oris starts to weaken a bit. As a result, the skin attached begins to crumple and wrinkle. Combined with reduced collagen production, this can lead to fine lines around the lips.

However, when we tone and lift the muscle through regular face yoga exercises, we also smooth and tauten the attached skin.

2. Pinch and Squeeze

For our final technique, take your index and middle fingers onto your top lip and your thumbs onto your bottom lip.

Pinch them together, squeezing your lips between them.

With this move, you want to make sure you are pinching down into the muscle around the lips, not lifting or pulling at your skin.

Keep breathing deeply through your nose as you hold the position for around 10 seconds.

Release and then repeat twice more.

If you have my Face Yoga Journal then you might recognise this technique from that book. It is a great one for boosting blood circulation to the lips and mouth area. It also helps to wake up the muscles here.

3. Flick

For our final technique, place one index finger on the outer corner of your lower lip. Rapidly flick your finger down in a short brushing motion, moving along the lower lip as you do so.

When you reach the other corner, reverse the movement to come back to the other side again.

You can have your mouth closed or slightly open during this move, depending on what works best for you.

Continue for 30 seconds to a minute. Don’t forget to continue with those deep, long breaths at the same time.

Then, take your finger onto the upper lip. Do the same action, except this time you want to flick your finger up towards your nose instead.

Again, continue for 30 seconds to a minute.

This should leave your lips feeling tingly and warm – a sign of all that fresh blood flowing to your lip area.

Done!

We’re all finished. Your lips should hopefully be feeling lovely, full, and plump.

The key with any face yoga technique is to do it regularly. Even just a few minutes a day can make a difference, as long as you are consistent.

Of course, fitting a new habit into our busy lives can be a challenge, even if it is something that can be done in just 3 minutes a day.

That’s why I’ve created a new 21-day face yoga course. Each class in this course is just 3 minutes long, so it is easy to fit into your day, even when you are busy. 

With 21 different classes, it is the perfect way to build a regular face yoga habit. And it will also help you build your face yoga repertoire so that you can adapt your practice to suit your needs – just as we discussed at the start of this post.

Find out more here.