The “high cheekbone sunken cheeks” look that dominated the runway for years has recently become a new obsession among Hollywood celebrities, social media influencers, and the general public. While this trend remains controversial, many people try to achieve a more sculpted look by posing in a particular way, using makeup, and even resorting to surgery. Facial exercises for face fat are an underrated way to achieve a naturally slimmer and more defined look without going under the knife.

Controversial Trend

Beauty trends tend to cycle faster and faster. Due to the ubiquity of social networks, they affect wider audiences. The sunken face trend, however, seems more controversial than others: many people find it unattractive, especially if the surgery is performed on faces that are already slim. Moreover, buccal fat removal surgery is irreversible, so one will be stuck with the look even after the trend goes away. Those with excessive buccal fat and pockets hanging over jaws will see the best results from buccal surgery. If you simply have a youthful round face and full cheeks, there’s no need to undergo surgery to “fix” it. Making permanent changes to your face or body is nothing new and remains a personal decision that shouldn’t make one a target of bullying. If we don’t like the look of a particular celebrity, we can just move along without publicly expressing our distaste. Still, there are more natural ways to achieve hollow cheeks without plastic surgery.

Maturing and Aging

It might sound facetious, but the best way to get hollow cheeks naturally is to wait. However, you might have to wait for quite a while. Our faces naturally lose volume as we mature and age, making our cheeks more hollow. This is linked to one of the main controversies surrounding buccal fat removal surgeries – it can make you look older and even give you a “sickly” appearance. That’s another reason not to blindly trust “before and after” pictures of influencers claiming to know the right face workouts to achieve the hollow cheekbone look. Faces tend to become more hollow as they mature, and the chubby cheek picture from when they were sixteen really proves nothing. Volume and fat are actually the mark of youthful faces. This also includes the temples, eye sockets and bridge of the nose, areas that lose volume and begin to deepen or appear pinched as we age.

Toning the Muscles in Your Face

Face slimming exercises are an often-overlooked way to slim your face and accentuate your cheekbones. It’s not as permanent as surgery but not as temporary as sucking your cheeks in while taking a picture. Just like with body workouts, the results will be there as long as you keep doing the exercises and will disappear if you stop. The technique boils down to exercising the muscles in your cheeks and jaw, the two places we want to accentuate. In many faces, it will also create a more hollow look in the cheek area and prevent sagging.

Facial Exercises to Lose Face Fat

Toning the muscles in your jaw will make it more prominent and draw attention away from your cheeks. It can be as simple as regularly chewing gum, but you can accentuate your jaw even more with the “Kiss the Ceiling” exercise:

• Slowly tilt your head backward until you’re looking at the ceiling. Perform a “kissing” motion 10-20 times. Imagine you’re trying to reach something with your lips and feel the muscles in your jaw working.

Now we’re moving towards our cheeks, and one of the best hollow cheeks exercises makes you feel a bit like a fish, sucking the air in as well as puffing your cheeks. This will tone the muscles in your cheeks and prevent them from sagging.

• Make fish lips by sucking your cheeks in – hold this position for a bit and release. Then, swish the air in your mouth from one side to the other like a mouthwash. Repeat 10-20 times.

Lastly, we want to accentuate the cheekbones.

• Gently lift your cheekbones with your fingers without dragging or creasing your skin. Gently open your mouth and hold it in a big “O” for a few seconds. Imagine you can pull the corners of the mouth and cheeks into the open mouth while holding the pose. Repeat 10-15 times.

What is Mewing and Does it Really Work?

You might have heard of mewing, which involves positioning your tongue on the roof of your mouth to accentuate your chin. It started as a viral video by orthodontist Dr. John Mew, developed into a trend, and ended up as a meme. Pressing your tongue on the roof of your mouth lifts your chin and gives you a more “sculpted” appearance, a sharp jaw, and hollow cheekbones as long as you keep the posture. Mewing won’t alter your face permanently, but it touches upon another important subject, which is proper posture. The appearance of your face is affected by the way you hold your body and position your teeth. If you’re worried about your posture or proper bite, consult an orthodontist or even a general practitioner. They will identify any potential problems and give tips specifically for you instead of generic advice on social media.

Proper Diet and Exercise

If the chubbiness in your cheeks corresponds to the fat content of your body in general, the best answer to the question of how to get hollow cheeks is proper diet and exercise. As you burn weight from other areas of your body, the fat will recede from your cheeks as well. Of course, we are all different in our genetic makeup. Some people retain their chubby cheeks even if their body is slim. In this case, dieting to lose weight from your face will not bring results and may even be harmful. Make sure to follow a proper regimen and stay healthy. You only have one body, and there’s no need to starve yourself for a trend that will change anyway.

Understanding Function

According to Jillian Osborne, a face yoga teacher and a Luvly app face yoga expert, it is always beneficial to consider why our bodies are constructed as they are; in this instance what is the purpose of buccal fat and buccinator muscles? Buccal fat pads located in the cheeks act as slip and glide for smooth movements of muscles used in chewing, swallowing and speaking. The buccinator muscle forms the walls of the cheeks and controls their movement. The buccal group has the very important job of helping produce sound, as well as holding and processing the food you eat in the oral cavity. By understanding these components, we gain insights into the intricate design of our bodies and how various structures work together to perform essential functions. This can help us make more informed choices on the best course of action as we gain appreciation for our physical makeup. Sadly, the pursuit of the "high cheekbone sunken cheeks" look, driven by beauty trends and social media, sometimes involves irreversible surgeries and questionable methods. Exercising your face (and your body in general) is a healthier and more natural alternative that is more rewarding than chasing fleeting trends. Explore 7 exercises for sculpted cheekbones.