Lately, whether scrolling through short videos or checking my social feed, I keep seeing the term “facial balance.” At first, I thought it was some new cosmetic procedure—sounded pricey and kind of scary. But one morning while washing dishes in the kitchen, I caught a glimpse of my face reflected in the windowpane. The left side seemed lower than the right, like one side of my face was being pulled down. Right then, I knew I had to figure out what was going on.
I started researching and discovered the truth
With my hands covered in dish soap suds, I quickly grabbed my phone to search online. Turns out, “facial balance” doesn’t involve any scalpels at all.Simply put, it involves doing some simple exercises to strengthen your facial muscles, making both sides of your face more symmetrical and firmer. I saw a blogger in a video teaching people how to “lift their cheeks.” She gently pushed her fingers from the center of her face toward her ears. It looked a bit strange, but I figured, hey, it doesn’t cost anything, so why not give it a try?
I started practicing the very next day
I picked a 7-minute video tutorial and did it every morning before brewing coffee. The exercises weren’t hard:
- Cheek puffing: Like a squirrel stuffing food into its cheeks, puff out both cheeks as hard as you can and hold for 10 seconds;
- Forehead Press: Press your palms firmly against your forehead, especially the areas with fine lines, and hold for a moment;
- Jaw Movement: Pretend to chew gum while slowly moving your head side to side like an owl.
Standing in front of the bathroom mirror doing these, I felt a bit silly myself. My cat Judgy sat perched on the sink, staring at me with an expression that seemed to say, “Have you lost your mind today?” Even funnier, my husband suddenly walked in, saw me puffing out my cheeks and shaking my head, nearly choked on his water, and asked, “Are you okay?”
After a few days of persistence, real changes appeared
During the first three days of practice, my face ached terribly, like I’d been smiling all day. Several times I seriously considered quitting. But I stuck to taking a photo of my face every Friday to see if there were any changes. To my surprise, when I compared the first photo with the latest one two weeks later, the left side of my face really did appear lifted! It wasn’t a dramatic transformation, but it was noticeable enough.Even my sister noticed during dinner: “Did you secretly get injections? Your face looks different!”
These small actions brought more benefits than I imagined
Now, after nearly a month of consistent practice, I’ve noticed not only a more balanced facial appearance but also several unexpected perks:
- The tightness around my jawline that used to bother me has completely vanished;
- When applying foundation, it blends much more smoothly and doesn’t settle into fine lines;
- The biggest surprise? I used to get headaches after meetings every day, but now they’re almost gone.
Best of all—this method costs nothing. It only takes 5 to 10 minutes daily, easily done while waiting for coffee to brew. Sure, the movements look a bit odd, but who cares when no one sees you at home?I think instead of jumping straight to injections or surgery, it’s worth trying this simple, safe method first.
I’ve grown accustomed to this little morning ritual. As long as Judgy the cat can tolerate me making weird faces at the mirror every day, I’ll definitely stick with it. Maybe after practicing for a while longer, I’ll even catch myself admiring my reflection a little longer.
