If you’ve been noticing some lines around your cheek, nose and chin area, you are not the only one. Known as Smile Lines and also Nasolabial Folds, these are the true lines which you get around your lips from your nose to your chin. These lines are formed when one smiles and they can be dynamic or static.
Vibhuti Arora, a face yogi and founder of House of Beauty, explains, “Dynamic lines are the lines that occur when you are smiling or moving. Static lines are the lines that occur when there is no expression or motion on your lips, but you still see these two lines and they seem to droop downwards.”
Why do we get smile lines?
From a sign of facial sagging to the weakening of the cheek’s zygomatic muscle, smile lines or expression lines occur for several reasons.
Highlighting some of the causes of smile lines, Arora shares, “Weak zygomatic muscles, collagen loss between these muscles, and generic ageing are some of the reasons for the smile lines.”
Additionally, a crooked smile, assymetrical face, and weakened, lose, and droopy cheek muscles also contribute to the development of smile lines.
Avoiding smile lines
Smile lines can be avoided or fixed by natural as well as surgical methods. From doing facial exercises and yoga to hydrating yourself and getting injected—there are several options available for you.
Arora suggests doing facial exercises such as the Line Flicker Exercise, Kish Kissing Exercise, Smiling Fish Face, and the Smile and Pout technique to avoid smile lines. These exercises not only strengthen your cheek muscles and ensure that your skin is flushed with zygomatic activity, but also delay and avoid the formation of lines. She adds, “Apart from these, you should always hydrate the area well, and a pro tip for you would be to always use under-eye cream on your smile lines.”
The world of beauty has expanded so much that botox and surgery are no longer the only options. One can also use face cups, facelift pro, microcurrent devices, or any type of facial tool such as a jade roller or gua sha. All of this strengthens the muscles around that area and can help fix the smile lines without botox, fillers, or surgery.
Lifestyle changes that will help avoid smile lines
Nutrition plays a very great role in keeping you looking young and fresh because when you have protein-rich, omega-3-rich, and collagen-rich foods such as hummus, okra or lady finger, fish, chicken, and chicken broth, it helps avoid these laugh lines.
Arora suggests that in terms of lifestyle changes, one could focus on overall muscle strengthening and body exercise. “Sleeping right is also very important because you tend to get more lines on the side of the face you sleep on than the other side. So sleeping on your head as a lifestyle change and living a balanced life are definitely things that should be promoted.”
5 tips to avoid smile lines
While one must not over-focus on smile lines because these are lines of expression and lines of a happy lifestyle that one is living, one can still treat them gently and on a daily basis.
