Face Yoga? Apparently, It's a Thing

Face yoga? You're probably rolling your eyes, but apparently, it's a thing, and not just because the Kardashians featured it on their show in 2019.

Face "yoga" is just a fashionable term for facial exercises that involve moving, stretching, and relaxing the face to work one's facial muscles. While some would say this helps alleviate tension and stress in the face and increases blood flow, others would go as far as saying the practice can reduce fine lines and wrinkles.

The Duchess of Sussex herself, Meghan Markle, is reportedly a fan of facial exercises, revealing to Birchbox in October 2014 that it's one of her beauty secrets. Markle subscribes to celebrity facialist Nichola Joss's facial exercises, which she said "sculpts your face from the inside out... On the days I do it, my cheekbones and jawline are waaaay more sculpted..."

We’re fans of healthy skepticism, so as glowing as the reviews are for face yoga by beauty magazines and sites, we aren’t sure if we’re totally sold on all its touted benefits. Could it help alleviate tension in the facial muscles? Likely. Can it reverse signs of aging? Hmm.

A small-scale 2018 study published in JAMA Dermatology investigated facial exercise as a method for improving skin appearance, the first clinical trial of its kind. The study involved 27 women between the ages of 40 and 65, who were asked to perform daily 30-minute facial exercises for eight weeks. From weeks 9 to 20, the participants continued the exercises every other day.

The researchers found that a 30-minute daily or alternate-day facial exercise over 20 weeks may improve the facial appearance of selected middle-aged women, with blinded ratings of the participants' photoscales showing significant improvement in upper and cheek fullness.

It's promising research, but not without its limitations. Eleven participants dropped out before completing the study and the study itself was exclusively middle-aged women. There was also no control group.

According to Dr. Suzanne Olbricht, an associate professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School, “there aren't any good, rigorous, and scientific studies to verify claims” that facial exercises are indeed effective. So, while the recent study on JAMA Dermatology showed promise of facial exercises' benefits, it's still just one study that needs to be replicated (and achieve the same results) in further research to give it greater scientific validity.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't do face yoga, though. Just as how stretching and moving your body can have you feeling refreshed and energized, doing facial exercises a few minutes a day could probably help you release some tension and cricks in your face and neck. Just don’t call it the next best thing since Botox.