Women

This Face "Workout" Promises to Give You a Noninvasive Facelift

I willingly got my face worked over for the sake of a tightened, contoured face. It sounds painful—and it is—but it also works. It's just one part of the buzzy beauty service known as FaceGym. Launched in the UK back in 2016, the "workout" for your face just landed stateside at the newly revamped Saks Beauty Floor. The company promises a non-invasive facelift and, from my couple of times trying it, it definitely delivers.

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Courtesy of Face Gym

What is FaceGym?

FaceGym, founded by Inge Theron in 2016, is on a mission to get people "training" the 40 muscles in our face just as we do the rest of our bodies. Theron started out as a writer for the Financial Times and got the business idea from reviewing countless beauty services in a column. The "training" portion varies depending on the results you want—lifting, tightening, sculpting, detox, and de-puffing are among those offered. The goal is to stimulate the facial muscles and restore the skin's elasticity, as well as kickstart lymphatic drainage, improve circulation, and promote collagen production.

What does a facial "workout" involve?

Like a body workout, there are different stages—warm up, cardio, sculpting, and cool down—and the whole thing takes about an hour. I was given a custom mix of a few workouts to try, but Yoga Face and Signature Electrical are other workouts. When I tried it out, I was seated while the trainer—their word for facial massage therapist—stood behind me. (I wasn't supine like with a traditional facial because they want you to feel like you're working versus relaxing.) For the warm up, the trainer massaged oil into my face with fingertips and knuckles to activate the skin. Then we moved onto the cardio portion of the workout. That was a much more intense style of rapid kneading, tugging, and pressing into my skin. The trainer wasn't open-palm slapping my face, but the movement was definitely intense. I'd go so far to say it was painful in a hurts-so-good way (akin to getting a deep tissue back massage) especially when it came to working out the knots in my jaw. I broke a sweat.

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The sculpting portion of the workout also involved hand massage, only this time focusing on emphasizing the contours of my face. My trainer would slide her hands repeatedly under my cheekbones, for instance, and I could instantly tell they appeared rounder and higher on my face. Then, tools come in.

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What tools are used?

The types of tools vary by workout you; I experienced a mini yoga ball to stretch the face, a radio frequency device to fight puffiness and bagginess, a gold dermaroller to boost collagen and smooth fine lines, an electrical muscle stimulator (EMS) used for firming. The cool down—a jade gua sha tool to calm the face down after all that activity—was the chill shavasana part of the workout.

Courtesy of Face Gym

How much does it cost?

Workouts cost $70 to $275.

How long do results last?

Results are immediate. My trainer even showed me how half of my face looks after treatment versus the other, and my eyebrows and cheeks were significantly more lifted. I have a very round face and my jawline looked significantly more defined and tighter on the neck. Obviously, the results are temporary—mine lasted about a day—but a FaceGym workout is something I would definitely do before a big event.