There are tons of memes of morning face across the internet. Mostly it shows a breed of Gollum, Grumpy Cat, and Zombie. Or another non-flattering combo of a puffy face, pale skin, dark circles, pillow marks, wide pores, and lines. Seriously, what’s going on here? Why do we look so bad seconds after waking up? Aren’t we supposed to be well-rested after beauty sleep? Let’s get to the bottom of the problem. What’s happening to us during the night's sleep to give us such an unflattering morning look? Alien abduction? Partying hard in the parallel universe?

Why our skin may look less than perfect in the morning?

1. Fluid Retention

When we sleep, our body's heart rate and blood pressure slow down. Less blood circulates, and that leads to fluid retention which causes face and eyelid puffiness. The more we sleep, the puffier we get. Add here salty food, guilty pleasures and extra drinks before sleep, et voilá, you are the morning face meme.

2. Sleeping Position

So, as lying down causes fluid to rest and collect in the face, a person's sleeping position may also escalate things. Sleeping on your side or on your belly can add puffiness to your face. And do not start us on those pillow marks. A badly chosen pillow can lead to visible fine lines and wrinkles that stick all the way through the morning to noon.

3. Room Temperature

An overheated room makes pores expand. If you get sweaty they can become clogged and lead to blackheads and breakouts.

4. Age

Sometimes aging literally happens overnight. You went to bed young and fabulous and woke up like your grandmother. With aging, our skin loses moisture and muscle elasticity. It doesn’t bounce back as a trampoline anymore. Fewer hours of sleep, a bit more stress, bad pillow — and wrinkles and fine lines just pop up in the morning like uninvited guests.

How Сan Facial Exercises Help?

The ominous truth is that the morning face often stinks. Luckily, there are ways, like face yoga exercises, to diminish the traces of night, give your facial skin a kickstart from early morning and make sure you’re meeting the day glowing and dewy like a morning rose. Face yoga is like a nutritious breakfast and workout for your skin combined. When doing your morning skin routine, you definitely don’t want to miss toning and strengthening face and neck muscles. You’ve got like 68 of them to work on. Morning face yoga wakes you up, brings oxygen to your blood, and nourishes your skin for a healthy and radiant complexion. It increases blood circulation, tones your muscles, stimulates the lymphatic system, releases any stress tension, and lightens your morning mood. As a result:

• Firm skin and defined face shape
• A natural face-lift
• Flattering volume to cheekbones and lips
• No face puffiness
• No eye bags and dark circles
• Sleepy and weak muscles get strong and energized

Face Yoga Exercises for Morning

The best time to start your face yoga routine in the morning is after cleansing your face. You’ll need a clean face and clean hands to do it. If your skin gets extra dry after cleansing you can put on some serum and start the exercises. The serum will moisturize, nourish and work as a lubricant while you warm up those sleepy muscles. We’ve combined a nice 5 steps routine for you to get a general impression of the morning face yoga. It starts with toning the biggest muscles first (neck and forehead) and works its way to the more delicate area (eyes) as you get a better grip on the process.

Exercise 1. Warm-Up

Every physical exercise routine starts with a warm-up. And face yoga is no different. This exercise will gently wake up your face and bring energy and warmth to your face. How to do it:

1. Put your hands to your forehead, and very gently begin tapping it with your fingertips.
2. Slowly begin to move from the forehead to the under-eye area and all the way to the neck.
3. When you’re done tapping through every cell of your face and neck, bring your hands together. Start energetically rubbing them to warm up.
4. Put warm hands on your face.
5. Breath in. Breath out. Feel stress and tension leave your facial muscles.
6. Put your hands down. You are ready to start.

Exercise 2. Neck

The main goal of this exercise is to promote lymphatic drainage. This will reduce the morning face puffiness, and bring color and youth to your complexion. It also helps to wipe the pillow marks off your neck, if there are any. How to do it:

1. Put both your hands just below the ears and the jawline.
2. Using all of your fingers to gently press the skin and move from the top of your neck towards the collar bone.
3. Repeat for 30 seconds.

Exercise 3. Forehead

This exercise will massage and release the tension of the big muscle at the front of your forehead. Bye-bye, frown wrinkles! It also has the botox-like effect. The more you do this massage, the more relaxed your forehead will be during the day. No more over-raising or over-furrowing your brows. How to do it:

1. Make hands into fists.
2. Put them to the center of your forehead.
3. Horizontally move fists from the center towards your hairlines.
4. Repeat for 30 seconds. Or as long as you want.

Exercise 4. Cheeks

This exercise is an alternative to fillers. It helps to defeat gravity and firm up sagging skin. It also tones your cheek muscles, giving them a lift and a radiant skin glow. How to do it:

1. Fill up one of your cheeks with air.
2. Pretend that you’re using mouthwash and move the air from one cheek to another.
3. Continue for 1 minute and relax.
4. Repeat 5 to 10 times for best results.

Exercise 5. Eyes

This last massage seems simple, but it is the top choice when dealing with the puffy eyes and dark circles. Add your favorite eye product, try closing your eyes and fully relaxing while doing this exercise. How to do it:

1. Use your index or ring finger to tap gently around your eye area in circles.
2. Continue up to 1 minute

3 Things To Do After Your Morning Face Yoga Routine

1.Give yourself a credit

You did it! You’ve carved out time for yourself, immersed into self-care and now you look fabulous. Your morning face is not a morning face anymore.

2. Continue with your morning skincare

Your face is now prepped to make the best of the skincare ingredients. Don’t forget to apply your moisturizer and other beauty products, and top it up with at least 30SPF sunscreen for best protection.

3. Drink water

Your face just had a workout! Drink up and help your tissues and skin to stay hydrated.