The eternal dilemma: eyes or mouth? When you want to look elegant, accentuate your eyes. But if you want to look sexy, focus on the lips. Full, plump scarlet lips are absolutely irresistible and give you a real desirable smile. In this post, we’ll share several tried-and-true exercises from our experts to make your lips look full and lovely every day. The lip area is extremely sensitive and also has an important role in our lives. While lips have way more sensitive skin than the other parts of your body, they lack the sebaceous glands that produce our skin’s natural moisturizers. The skin on your lips also doesn’t have melanin, the pigment responsible for tanning. No wonder your lips get chapped and dry so easily. Pro advice: always use chapstick with sunscreen in. As you age, your lips go through many changes. Their fullness decreases while the width increases. The blood flow significantly decreases and skin loses its elasticity and becomes paper-like. The corners of the mouth droop down too, creating that frowny look. Collagen and elastin in the skin decrease and fine lines appear. The orbicularis muscle around your lips loses its tone, which later, in your senior years, can gradually lead to the loss of the ability to close your mouth fully. Luckily, there is a simple and affordable way to keep your mouth young-looking and fully functional. Face yoga! Simple facial exercises from the list below have been scientifically proven to strengthen the mouth muscles, improve lip fullness and symmetry, and even help with your mental health. To see our favorite face yoga exercises for lips, scroll below.

How can face yoga for lips help you look younger?

The lip area responds remarkably well to face yoga exercises. In one study, the conclusion reported the most visible changes in the patient’s upper lip area. Aside from proven research, there is the instant anecdotal effect. Do you remember the centuries-old trick of biting your lips right before a date? The rush of blood, in this case, makes your lips look plumper and redder. Facial exercises for the lips use exactly the same principle. The area around the corners of your lips should be tended to daily, as well. When you go through stressful situations, your mouth is where you unwillingly hold all these tense emotions. Over time, it can lead to the appearance of “brackets,” otherwise known as marionette lines. To prevent the appearance of lines and wrinkles, include face yoga exercises for the lips and mouth into your daily 10-minute face yoga routine. To finish it off, a good intra-oral massage will help you swoosh away the last bits of stress from your beautiful lips.

What are the expert-recommended face yoga exercises for lips?

The exercises recommended in this case are, first of all, isometric resistance exercises. They are done with the facial muscles held in place, so the rest of your face doesn’t move (so avoiding creasing the skin more). Aside from that, there are several particularly targeted massaging techniques for the mouth area and, of course, the Magic Pencil. Let’s dive right in!

Lip booster

This exercise strengthens the muscles on and around the lips, stimulates blood flow, and makes lips appear fuller. How to do it: Step 1: Smile slightly with your mouth closed. Step 2. Take your thumb and press it into the center of your mouth. Step 3. Hold this pose for 60 seconds and release. Step 4. Repeat once more.

Lip corner massage

This massage helps get rid of the downturned lip corners, smoothes the facial muscles, and improves blood circulation in the lip area. How to do it: Step 1: Form an "O" shape with your lips. Don't close them too much. Step 2. Place your fingers in the corner of the lips and rub them around. Step 3. Continue rubbing the corners, until you feel a warmth in this area, for 30-60 seconds. Step 4. Relax.

Magic pencil

This exercise is one of our favorites thanks to its almost instant effect. Repeat it several times and enjoy a more cheerful and youthful look on your face. How to do it: Step 1: For this exercise, you’ll need a pencil or a paper straw, something straight and even. Step 2: Place the pencil between your teeth so that your lips are slightly rolled inside, and the pencil touches both lip corners. Step 3: Smile as wide as you can. When smiling, try to lift your cheeks up instead of pulling them to the sides. Step 4: Look at the mirror and make sure you’re not creating “crow’s feet” when holding the pose. Hold the pose with your mouth and cheeks only. Step 5: Hold this pose for 20 seconds, then release. Step 6: Repeat 3-4 times.

Lip pincher

This exercise helps to flex the smaller muscles around your lips, which often get spasmed and can misshape your lips. How to do it: Step 1: Put both your hands to your mouth. The index and middle fingers go on your upper lip, while thumbs stay under the lower lip. Step 2: Pinch your lips together, squeezing them tightly between index fingers and thumbs. Make sure you can feel the squeeze in the muscles around the corners of your lips. Step 3: Hold like this for 10-15 seconds and release. Step 4: Repeat 3-5 times as long as you feel comfortable.

Intra-oral massage

This kind of massage usually focuses on the jaw area. Working on the lymph nodes around the mouth and lip area from within allows for better cell rejuvenation, pollution removal, and softening of the upper lip muscle. As a whole, it helps to reduce age lines. How to do it: Step 1: You will need sterile gloves for this exercise. If you can’t get them, make sure you wash your hands really well. Step 2. Moisturize your lips with your favorite cream or serum. Step 3: Put both your thumbs under the upper lip and start massaging and smoothing out the tissue of your upper lip with your index and middle fingers. Move from top to bottom. Do this for 15-20 seconds. Step 4: Repeat on the lower lip. Put both your thumbs under the lower lip and start massaging and smoothing out the tissue of your lower lip with your other fingers. Move from bottom to top. Keep doing this for 15-20 seconds. Step 5: Repeat on the corners of your lips. Put thumbs underneath and massage the corners of your lips with your other fingers, from edges to center. Repeat for 15-20 seconds.

Takeaway

The skin on your lips isn’t like on the rest of your body, so you need to pay special attention to this sensitive zone. When picking the face yoga exercises for lips, your best bet is choosing the isometric resistance exercises balanced with various massages of the mouth area. If you develop your routine based on this advice and stick to it for several weeks, you’ll surely be blowing kisses to your reflection very soon!