Laugh lines, also called perioral lines and smile lines, become more pronounced as you age. Healthy U Skin states the severity of laugh lines are affected by both intrinsic aging--with collagen and elastin production decreasing as you grow older--and extrinsic aging, which is influenced by smoking, as well as habitual facial expressions, exposure to sun and sleeping positions. Many beauty experts endorse exercises to strengthen muscles around your mouth to tone the area and help reduce the appearance of laugh lines.
Trumpet Player Exercise
Inhale through your mouth and hold the air in your mouth, puffing out your cheeks as if trying to blow a note on the trumpet. Hold for 60 seconds, breathing through your nose if necessary, then slowly exhale the air held in your mouth out through your nostrils. According to Fat Free Kitchen, this exercise--which should be repeated five times--will help remove laugh lines around the mouth and tone the cheeks.
Massage
Massage the area around your mouth, using the pads of your fingers and rubbing in a brisk circular motion. Massage in an upward, outward motion, and try to feel the muscles surrounding the laugh lines, then gently pull them and smooth them out. According to Ask the Trainer, you should close your eyes and breathe deeply, while visualizing fresh oxygen traveling throughout your face.
The Grimace
From Families.com comes this lip-curling exercise to reduce laugh and smile lines. Roll your lips inside your mouth and press down gently to keep them together and compressed. Exhale sharply but keep your mouth closed; this will cause the skin around your mouth to balloon. Hold the position for four counts, then exhale completely and relax your mouth. Repeat 10 times.
Sneering Exercise
Place your middle fingers just below the outer edge of each nostril, pressing in and down, to perform this exercise from Opal Acupuncture. Holding your fingers in place, contract the muscles by drawing your top lip into a sneer, and lifting it towards your nose. You should feel the skin being pulled out from under your fingertips. Breathe, and hold the sneering expression for six seconds. Repeat 10 times. Doing this exercise in front of a mirror will help you isolate the proper muscle and avoid contracting unnecessary ones.
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