The Basis of How it all Works.

The following exerpt is from a forgotten about book published in 1970 called Miss Craig's Face-Saving Exercises". It summarizes the basis of how face exercising works much better than I ever could, so in the line of many great thinkers; If you can't be the best(1/6 billion chance), then find out who's best and mimic them!


"Under the skin of the human face- be it male of female- there are bones, blood vessels, connective tissue, fat, nerves and muscles. It is the bones of the skull, and the muscles of the face which cover it, that give the fact its contour. It is the tonus condition of these facial muscles which determine whether or not the skin of the face is flabby of firm in appearance.


Muscles of the face, as well as muscles of the body, are made up of bundles of cylindrical fibers. A single muscle may contain as few as three, or as many as 165 fibers - each fiber working independently in the sense that only when one fiber is fully contracted (shortened) is the next fiber triggered to work. To tone a muscle completely, all of its fibers must be used. When you move a muscle quickly, gravity and or momentum, often does the part of the moving for you. This means that you do not need, and therefore do not use, the total number of fibers available, so a portion of the muscle remains unused. The individual fibers of a muscle cannot be partially contracted - they are either contracted fully or not at all.


Each muscle of the face and the body is there to do a job. We have, for instance, a muscle that opens the eye, and one that closes the eye; a muscle to lift the eybrows, and one to lower the eyebrows. In other words, nature has provided a muscle to do a specific job, and another to do the exact opposite. The muscles that do opposite jobs from one another are called "antagonistic mucles," but in actuality they are not antagonistic to one another -they work as a team. When one contracts (shortens) to do a "moving" job, the other relaxes (lengthens) to the same extent its teammate has contracted, thus allowing smooth movements. If one muscle is constantly contracted, it follows that its antagonistic muscle must be constantly relaxed. This constant state of either contraction or relaxation may produce an expression on your face you love, but it is this "set expression" that causes a pair of muscles to lose tone, for neither one is being used to its fullest extent. The only way to keep a muscle healthy and in tone is to use it to the fullest capacity. Sagging skin and/or deep furrows are indications that facial muscles are out of condition - that is, they have lost their tonus.


Tonus is a normal state of slight but continuous contraction of a muscle. A muscle with tonus is said to have elasticity, the property which enables muscles to regain their original size and shape after having been stretched. The skin ALSO has an elastic quality, and it is the condition of the muscles beneath it that helps determine the tonus condition of the skin.


A firm face is a symbol of youth, but a firm face need not be the property solely of the young. If muscles of the body can be brought back to tone - AND THEY CAN BE - so can muscles of the face.




The book referenced above is out of print, but available online from varying online websites. I believe it to be one of the most detailed books available on the subject and dives heavily into how the muscles of the face are structured - complete with diagrams - when if learned, will make you an expert on the subject while allowing you to have an intellectual conversation with a facial plastic surgeon - but you probably won't need to take his card.