Premature lip lines
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Fri Jul 26, 2019 3:37 am

I am 34 years old and weird things are happening in my face. It seems that my lips have lost volume in the past months, and the skin of my upper lip has developed fine lines more than before. I have lost some weight during the spring, but not more than 5 kilos, about.

I had a TCA peel three months ago to my whole face. After that the texture of the upper lip became more open pore like, though they are small. Now I have little pores all around my lip line, and the line is not as clear as it was before. I have used sunscreen as much as I can.

I also did facial exercises after the peel, for a month about, semi regularly, but didn't do any specific program. I focused on my lips a lot, and noticed that my upper lip became very fleshy and somehow heavy. It didn't however make my lips look more plump, on the contrary, I felt it only made me have big look in my face, like monkeyish. After that I stopped face exercises. Now it's over a month since I stopped completely, and I feel I notice my face looks somehow weird, like changed. My lip area is shrunken, and the skin around lips is looking prematurely aged.

So, I am wondering what to do. Should I start exercising my lips again? Could there be some exercise that would not create monkey look? I also would want to avoid exercises that make wrinkles while doing them, since it looks like my skin is very sensitive now after the peel. I have been thinking of microneedling too. And differin gel, which I should use for my acne anyway.

Has anyone tried Carolyn Cleaves's wrinkle massage technique? Could that work, or does it damage the skin more if it gets stretched?

free skin care · Fri Jul 26, 2019 6:09 am

Hi Aweshine,

Okay so at 34 years you are still young and there is still hope yet. Now the changes you notice may be as a result of something health wise. Have you been able to speak with a doctor? What made you go for the TCA peel? How have you been helping the skin to repair – using any remodelling agents or Vit C or Retin A? With peels and retin – you need to use it for up to a year to get noticeable results, and peels usually have to be done a few times.

Even at 34 years – sunscreen is a must. You say you use it as much as you can – but how regularly are you using it? A lot of 30-40 year olds mistakeningly believe they only have to apply it once – but this is plain wrong. The SPF actually relates to how long you can spend in the sun and if you sweat or swim, you need to apply it more.

Okay with the facial exercises you did the so called spot training. Every program advises against this – for the exact reasons you are seeing (i.e. monkey mouth). It does take time to revert, but it will revert eventually but you need to do a full program.

Carolyn Cleaves program is very user friendly and she gives personal service which may be perfect for you, and you can send her photos. She has a very good customer service that I cannot fault and was one of the better programs I used when I started out (I was in my 50’s and after rapid weightloss but it was due to calorie restrictions and I used SlimFast at the itme but hey it was 20 plus years ago in my defence!). I have done facial exercises for over 20 (nearly 30) years now and wish I had gotten into them sooner.

I would not do just lip exercises. That’s what got you into this mess in the first place (and the mouth muscle bulked up which is what created that monkey look). I would however really stress about the need to do a whole program.

Re damaging the skin and it getting stretched – nothing could be further from the truth. With facial stretches, its not like prolonged stretching (aka pregnancy – been there done that 3 times and my stomach is proof!), but its actually about stimulating the skin and cells to become stronger. Do not worry about wrinkling during exercises with resistance, its often afterwards that the skin snaps back and the wrinkles can disappear. However there are some exercise programs out there that do not use resistance if you are really worried. For me resistance was the key as I was dealing with major sag after weight loss and it helped me big time, but it may not be what you need or are dealing with.

I would start out emailing Carolyn. She is very friendly and lovely and you can send her photos and ask for her advice. She designed her program and it is pretty balanced and well grounded and so that’s a good starting point, and you mention her wrinkle only massage technique – I would do the complete program if I were in your shoes but she can better guide you here.

Good luck and keep us updated with your progress!

Fri Jul 26, 2019 6:55 am

Thank you for answering TheresaMary!

You are partly right about the spot training. I did focus on my lips too much, but I also did exercises on my cheeks, nose and eyes. I actually own Ageless program and have tried it a little bit, and bought Carolyn's program too, but only did it once a couple of years ago. I felt uncomfortable sliding on my skin with fingers because of acne. I also read some negative reviews of these programs and it made me cautious. It could be a good thing to email to Carolyn, but I still need to find the courage to do her exercises.

In the skincare overall, my problem is that there are too much options to choose from! I feel confused. I have tried to read and study but I feel so frustrated because it's endless. The same thing with facial exercises and massage programs. The biggest issue for me is always the fear of acne, since my skin reacts very easily and one wrong move can cause trouble for weeks and possibly for the rest of my life because of the acne scars.

I did TCA(25%) mainly because of my acne scars. I hoped to have smoother skin and it did something good. I took vitamin C and zink while I was healing, for about a month. Also I was on antibiotics to keep the acne away, and that still continues for at least a month. The doctor described me differin gel, but I haven't started it yet because I wanted to give my skin some time to heal completely. With that too I am afraid it could cause acne in the start.

I used retin A for half a year over a year ago but stopped. I noticed my skin got more prone to scarring, and the texture was rough and big pores appeared. Now later I realize it might be partly my own fault because I didn't moisturize enough and didn't use sunscreen, only the spf with make up cream. Big mistake. After the peel I started to apply sunscreen twice a day. Avoided the sun as well. I do the same still if I go out to the sun, but if I am only indoors, I apply once a day. Maybe I should do more? The problem is that I have to remove make up and apply make up again after applying more sunscreen... That's why it's not so easy to just apply it when ever.

I wish to do good to my face but sometimes I feel tired and frustrated because I seem to create more problems along the way. The doctor advised me to use differin and wash my face with water only and then moisturize with basic lotion that has nothing extra in it, and remove make up with the same moisturizing lotion. How does that sound? Does the skin need more? My new lip lines are very fine, but I am afraid they develop to be permanent and big if I don't do something.

TheresaMary or someone, have you tried Carolyn's wrinkle rub out technique and did you have any real results with it?

free skin care · Fri Jul 26, 2019 10:44 pm

Yes, I’ve been doing it on and off for 10 years. I am 40 just this year. I love the technique and it’s very effective. It does sound to me though that you may need to give your skin a little time to recover before starting to challenge it. Maybe take a few weeks off, take a good vitamin c supplement every day, and after that start a balanced program, like the one Theresa suggested (Carolyn is great and it’s the program I’ve used the most over the years). One thing to keep in mind is that over exercising the face fatigues all* levels of the face, not just muscles. It’s because they are all attached (muscle fat subcutaneous tissue, skin) to each other.

Wed Aug 07, 2019 10:52 pm

I suggest you to go for Lip Augmentation treatment. But first consult with your doctor.

free skin care · Thu Aug 08, 2019 5:45 am

Oh okay. For me, sliding my skin took guts but I can honestly say it was the best thing and what I needed. However I was considerably older than you and had weightloss to contend with so major sagging was really a key issue for me personally. It would be a good thing to email to Carolyn, and perhaps she can best guide you of where to start. You have nothing to lose but this issue really!
She also has developed a skincare line too. I haven’t personally used it, but if that’s an issue you are struggling with then again make contact with her and see what she suggests. There will always be endless options, which I kind of like now as it means there is always something new to try, but like you I too got overwhelmed in the past. You don’t have to do everything at once (and at your age you really don’t need to!).
What doctor did you see re your skin? If he gave you that advice, I would really give it a try. It may help you. If it doesn’t then you can try something else but give it a shot. You have nothing to lose.
I did try Carolyn's wrinkle rub out technique and also Stamford Bennetts techniques too but never really kept them up. I don’t do one specific program, but have exercised my face for the last 20 years (and by now should be carrying it round in a bag if I listened to all the horror myths), but I feel great and I know I look good for my age and frequently get mistaken for many years younger so I figure I’m doing something right. I am older but I definitely feel more wiser now too.

As for lip augmentation, I would suggest reaching ut to Carolyn first and foremost before going down surgical route. Surgical procedures can and do have bad effects sometimes (if I had them, I'm pretty sure I would have bad results and I'm too much of a coward for needles and cuts!).

Fri Oct 04, 2019 7:13 am

A little update here!

Thanks for all the suggestions and help. I really do appreciate it. I am not going to do anything surgically, maybe I could in the future, but indeed not in this age! I always want to do things naturally.

I feel my skin has healed a lot. I started using Differin gel a couple of times a week a month ago, sometimes replace it with retin a since I happen to have the product, strength of 0,025. I feel I want to stick with Differin gel since my doctor recommended it and it is designed to help with acne. I moisturize well and use sunscreen regularly. Overall my skin seems to be more normal, not so textured and sticky. I think this effect was really just because the skin was still healing from the peel. I wish my doctor had told me more about the healing process in the longer term.

My face looks more normal now, I can see that my lips are pretty much as they were. When I compare photos from the summer to today, I can see that I still had an overdeveloped upper lip in July. Time has helped. The skin still has a little bit more fine lines than before the peel, but now I focus on keeping my lips in a position that doesn't wrinkle them. It has actually helped. I am sure that in time the lines will vanish in the combination of posture and Differin gel, which often helps with skin's overall quality. If I feel like it, I might go for another TCA peel. I can see that it helped with my acne scarring. The price I had to pay was over sensitive healing skin that left lines and new acne scars more easily... But in time they will get better.

I keep my skincare simple, and do some light face yoga, but won't build up muscles with resistance training. And I am extra careful with lips!

Overall I don't think face exercises are a that serious thing, even with my experience with lip growth. It actually was proof that exercising works. We use our muscles all the time and often in a way that causes wrinkles. We "overdevelop" some muscles naturally. It's so much about daily habits. Thinking about musicians who play for example horns or flutes. Quite a workout every time for certain facial muscles! Are they scared of the spot training? I guess not. When thinking about smiling, it is the most natural thing to do, and it is effective enough to change the face if doing it a lot compared to not smiling much at all. I do think that exercising with a full face program is a good idea, but some people disagree about the necessity of training all the muscles separately. The most important thing at least for me is to get the blood flowing and do some light muscle toning and stretching. And be very gentle with the skin and avoid wrinkles that form during exercises.

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