If the aging processes affect all layers of the skin, what is the relationship, on the other hand, between the youth of the face and its muscles? “They are intimately connected, explains aesthetic doctor Catherine Navarro, because the face is the only area where skin and muscles are anatomically linked. These are called the skin muscles. There are twelve, located in strategic areas such as the eye contour, around the lips, the zygomatics (at the level of the cheeks) or the platysma, which originates at the corner of the lips and descends to the clavicles. . Each muscle contraction causes a fold in the skin, which, by dint of repetitions, turns into a wrinkle; evidenced by this crinkle at the corner of the eyes that appears when you laugh. “However, we have noticed that when we work on muscle relaxation in the context of maxillofacial rehabilitation, wrinkles fade,” explains physiotherapist and osteopath Paola Segondi, who has developed a massage technique for Chanel. muscles to accompany the new range of Le Lift Pro products.
Asymmetry and harmony
“We all have the same muscles, but we don’t all have the same expressions, continues Dr. Navarro, especially since the right side and the left side do not work in the same way: there is always a side which falls more than the other and which, over time, generates an asymmetry. By working the muscles, we rebalance the features and regain symmetry, which considerably softens the expressions. The technique ? Seek the balance between the so-called “raiser” muscles (those that go from the wing of the nose to the upper lip, for example, or the zygomatic ones) and the so-called “lower” muscles (like those at the corner of the lips).
Landslide
Over time, the fat lodged in the cheekbones, for example, moves downwards. This is the phenomenon that is called loss of volume and that we sometimes try to fill with volumizing products. These fats deepen the nasolabial folds and the folds of bitterness, and also bring strength to the lowering muscles at the corner of the lips, weighing down the lower face and giving us that tired or sad look. It is to fight against this sagging that there is an interest in working the facial muscles. This path is now being explored in aesthetics as in medicine, thanks to techniques that aim to reposition the tissues and lift the skin.
In a doctor’s office: Myomodulation
The objective is to correct the signs of aging by giving strength to the levator muscles, thanks to injections of hyaluronic acid deep under the muscle. This technique also makes it possible to inhibit the action of a lowering muscle: in this case, hyaluronic acid is injected into the muscle. Result: greater tone and a marked reduction in expressions that “sad” the face. The product is absorbed after eighteen months (count 300 € per syringe). Best known for smoothing the forehead, botulinum toxin can also be used to contour the lower face. Its role is to block muscle activity for four to six months. One can, for example, use a tiny bit of product to relax the muscles that go from the corner of the mouth to the chin, and thus reduce the lines of bitterness.
In institute: EMFace
The EMFace approaches facial slackening in a whole new way: without pain, the device combines electromagnetic waves, for a re-tensioning of the levator muscles of the face, and radiofrequency, called focused monopolar, which heats tissues to increase the pro-duction of collagen and elastin fibers. Four applicators are placed on the contours of the face and at the height of the cheekbones for twenty minutes. Four to six sessions one week apart are necessary, then the result is maintained monthly or quarterly as needed (€400 per session).
With a facialist: Face Taping
This method consists of applying adhesive tapes to specific areas of the face: forehead, eyelids, cheekbones, jaw, chin… Objective? Fight against the tensions accumulated in the muscles and minimize wrinkles. We see this everywhere on TikTok, with neon pink, blue or panther Scotch stripes, placed on the forehead or cheeks. fake news? Yes and no. What we see on TikTok is just to look pretty, but the background of the technique is taken very seriously in aesthetics. “At the end of a massage, the facialists from our academy give, in addition to self-massage advice, small ‘tapes’ to maintain and continue the benefits of the session at home,” confirms expert Delphine Langlois. We will soon be offering our own strips, which do not damage the skin, with ad hoc formations. »
Movements to do
Specialized in maxillofacial rehabilitation, the physiotherapist Paola Segondi offers here a protocol to restore flexibility to the muscles and lift the face. With a few daily movements repeated ten times in front of the mirror, that is four or five minutes in all and for all, you can really make a difference.1. Always start with the neckline, which is smoothed with the palms, hand from top to bottom. We continue with the neck, but in the opposite direction, upwards.
©Anjuna Boutan
2. Place the index and middle fingers of both hands in a hook under the chin and go up to the angle of the mandible.
©Anjuna Boutan
3.We massage the modiolus, an interlacing of muscles located slightly above the corner of the lips, using small pressures, using the thumb placed in the mouth and the index finger.
©Anjuna Boutan
4. We smooth the right cheek with the palm of the left hand from the chin to the temple. And, conversely, right hand on left cheek.
©Anjuna Boutan