Plus, a crash course in facial muscles and how they work through the decades.

Admittedly, we’ve all— at one point or another —​ fallen down the figurative rabbit hole of using a search engine to find ​the ​​Internet's suggestions on ​“how to look younger” or “how to slow down the aging process” or even “Help! Where’s the nearest neurotoxin specialist in my zip code?!”

But you might not yet have searched for “aging well” solutions to your face via facial yoga. You also probably haven’t asked yourself, “How does my facial anatomy change as I age?”

Keep reading as we’ve explored these questions and have some answers.

First, it’s important to ​get to know the anatomy of your face BEFORE deciding how you’ll treat it as you age.​​

Your face has layers

There are a lot of components that make up that beautiful face of yours. Bones and tissues do everything from giving your face its unique shape to helping you chew delicious food to allowing you to yell at your favorite reality show during every rose ceremony (or it that just us?).

The structural elements of your face, from inside to out, include:

  • Bones
  • Muscles
  • Fascia/retaining ligaments
  • Subcutaneous tissue
  • Skin (dermis/epidermis)

Let’s take a quick look at what each of these layers do, shall we?

Bones: 14 bones make up the bony structure of your face. But bones aren’t just about shape. They ​are responsible for a number of jobs we typically​ ​don’t think much ​about, including protecting structures, providing attachment points for muscles and supporting soft tissue.

Muscles: 20 muscles on each side of the face are responsible for facial movement. (So​ ​that​ saying,​​ ”It takes​ 42 muscles to frown, but only 14 to smile” adage? May be a bit incorrect.) Muscles are the force behind all your facial expressions, from smiling to making your very best WTF? face.

Fascia: These different types of connective tissues all contain collagen, the naturally occurring substance that is in joints and helps give skin volume and plumpness. Fascia and retaining ligaments hold things together (in your face, not your life). They connect tissues and bones and generally assist in both voluntary and involuntary movements.

Subcutaneous Tissue: Who knew this deep layer of skin was also rich in connective tissue? ​(Probably every derm and skin specialist reading this right now.) ​The subcutaneous tissue connects the dermis layer of skin to your muscles and bones. It also stores energy (fat!) and helps regulate body temperature (think sweat​!​).

Dermis: This middle layer of skin produces your hair and houses the nerve endings that allow you to feel things like pressure, pain, hot and cold. ​(​Thanks a bunch, dermis​!)​​

Epidermis: This outermost layer of skin is the thinnest and provides a few essential functions. It’s responsible for your skin color, skin hydration and, well, keeping the rest of your body inside where it belongs.

Now onto the meat (the muscles)

Now that we’ve covered what the layers of the face are… you’re probably still wondering “What exactly is facial yoga and what does it target?”​ (Yep, we are going there.)​

Facial yoga is an exercise routine that targets the muscles in your face.

It’s believed that these muscles will plump up as they get stronger, which could possibly reduce fine lines and wrinkles. If you’re looking for comparisons here, just think about your booty workouts. The more you squat, lunge and thrust, the bigger your payoff. Maybe the same goes for your face.

How many muscles are there to work out?​ (Asking for a friend…)

As you already know, your face contains 20 muscles per side that push and pull your features around so you can smile, frown, shoot knowing looks to your BFF across the room and do all the other things your face does every day.

So instead of trying to go through all​​ 20, let’s ​focus​ on areas of the face where wrinkles tend to appear​ most often​. There are five muscles in particular you’ll want to familiarize yourself with.

Yoga for six muscles of the face

1. The frontalis muscle extends from your eyebrows to the top of your skull. It’s composed of two distinct sections, which perform different actions depending on which part of the muscle is activated. Your frontalis pulls your scalp forward or backward to help you make different facial expressions.

This muscle is also the one that raises your eyebrows, so you can make your best “Excuuuuse me?” face. This also means the frontalis is the muscle behind those annoying forehead wrinkles.

Recommended yoga pose for the frontalis: Fingers on forehead

Place the sides of your index fingers flat along your hairline. Then place your thumbs above your eyebrows. (You’re looking to create a shape like a heart on your forehead.)

Now slowly move your thumb and index away from each other to smooth out your forehead skin. Hold the skin taut (gently!) as you lift your eyebrows up toward your index finger. Repeat five times and hold for a few seconds on your last round.

2. The orbicularis oris muscle (sometimes referred to as the kissing muscle - Ooh la la!) is one of the muscles responsible for moving your mouth. It plays a prominent role in everything from whistling to chewing.

Recommended yoga pose for the orbicularis oris: Lion

If you’re looking into facial yoga, you’ll come across “the lion” pose. Yes, it looks ridiculous and yes, sticking your tongue out might just help strengthen your orbicularis orbis muscle.

3. The procerus muscle is one of the muscles responsible for frowning.

That means the procerus muscle is also partially responsible for causing those pesky lines between your eyebrows — also known as the glabellar lines. It’s no wonder the procerus muscle is the most common spot to receive botulinum toxin injections.

Side note: if you’re dealing with unwanted 11 lines and looking into botulinum toxin injections to treat them, here’s some info that can answer your biggest questions!

Recommended yoga pose for the procerus: Massage

Since the procerus holds a ton of tension, a more hands-on approach will help relax it. According to Goop, you can use two fingers to gently press between your brows and slowly spread your fingers. Self-described face yoga expert Danielle Collins also recommends using the thumb (your most powerful digit) to “flick” upward between your brows.

4. The risorius muscle is a superficial muscle on either side of your mouth that aids in smiling. It works both independently and with other nearby muscles to pull the corners of your mouth toward your cheeks. Because of this, it’s sometimes referred to as the “smiling muscle​.​”​

Recommended yoga pose for the risorius: “Smile pushups”

In a 2018 New York Times feature, Gary Sikorski, the founder of Happy Face Yoga, recommends doing 10 assisted “smile pushups” to strengthen the upper lip and help lift sagging cheeks.

Essentially, you’ll smile as hard as you can with your lips closed. Then place your index fingers at the corners of your mouth and press firmly upward into your cheek muscles. Hold for 20 seconds and repeat two more times.

5. The zygomaticus major and minor muscles also help you flash that dazzling smile of yours (and cause smile lines 😒).

The zygomaticus major only works in conjunction with other muscles, helping move the cheeks, lips and chin.

The zygomaticus minor has a smaller (but not insignificant) role. This muscle retracts your upper lip, which means it helps with expressions of smugness and contempt. So any time someone cuts you in line at the coffee shop ​—​​ or stops short in front of you in traffic ​—​​ you’re using the zygomaticus minor.

Recommended yoga pose for the zygomaticus muscles: Lip pucker

Possibly the easiest pose to remember of the five poses we’ve recommended today, the lip pucker is just as simple as it sounds.

Keeping your mouth closed, pucker your lips like you’re about to plant a big smooch on your partner (Or your pet. We don’t judge!). Hold the pucker for five seconds, release and repeat.

Ready to start working out that face of yours?

Now that you know more about some of your major facial muscles and how they work, you can decide how often you’ll incorporate facial yoga. Maybe daily, maybe never. That’s up to you. If you’ve got questions about how to best care for your skin through the years, talk with your licensed health care practitioner or injector to create a plan for meeting your specific skin goals as well as the treatment options that will support them.