Today, I'd like to talk about five ways to use tape for the face. Let's do it.
1. Lip Seal
This is the most important one. I do this every single night before I go to bed. It's so simple, but it has made such a difference in my skin! If you are doing mouth breathing while you sleep (I know, it's gross), then this is going to be life-changing for you. It's called the "lip seal." You tape your lips shut at night so that they don't get stretched out and saggy. The tape keeps them closed so that you can breathe through your nose instead of through your mouth. This is so important because if you're breathing through your mouth, then your skin will get stressed and get hot and then voila jowls! By taping my lips shut at night, I'm forcing myself to breathe through my nose and stop mouth breathing altogether. It feels weird at first (like sleeping with a big band-aid on), but once you get used to it, you'll be glad that you did! This is a super-easy trick to get a longer philtrum. You need some 3M tapes and a mirror. First, you want to put the tape on your lips, so it's more like on the bottom lip than the top lip. Then take a look at the mirror, and see if it looks like it's touching too much on your upper lip or not enough on your lower lip. If there's not enough contact, peel off some of the tapes and try again until you get it right. Once you have it just right (and I'll tell you how), hold that position for as long as possible—like 30 minutes or even an hour if you can!
2. Chin and DAO
I just wanted to show you a quick trick for how to stop overworking one muscle group, and start using another. This is the malaris muscle—it's overworked in so many people, but it can cause a lot of tension. So here's what you do: First, you'll want to tape up the muscle that's overworking with a piece of medical tape. You don't want it too tight, because then it'll be harder to smile. Just leave it loose enough that when you smile there's no tension at all. Then, use a smaller piece of tape to cover up the rest of the muscles in your face so they aren't working as hard. This will help prevent sagging and make your face look more youthful overall! If you're trying to improve your speaking skills, it's helpful to be aware of the muscles you're using to make certain sounds. For example, when you say "I," make sure that your lower jaw isn't moving while your tongue is making the /ee/ sound. The best way to do this is by practicing with a partner. Have them watch your face while you speak and tell them whether or not your lower jaw was moving during the "ee" sound. If you don't have a partner, there are other options: You can record yourself and play it back on a loop so that you can see what parts of your mouth move when making certain sounds. Or, if you have access to a mirror, try speaking in front of it so that you can see what parts of your mouth move when making certain sounds.
3. Lymphatic drainage
I'm so excited to share with you a new technique for lymphatic drainage that my instructor Vasiliki taught me. It's called facial massage, and it's pretty easy to do at home. The idea is that by doing this massage, you help move lymphatic fluid—which is where all of your body's waste products go—from the lymph nodes in your neck and face to the lymph nodes in your chest. This helps move things along more quickly and efficiently, which can help clear up stuffy noses while you sleep. You can do this technique by yourself or with a friend—I prefer to do it solo because it's just easier for me to get everything lined up correctly. But either way works! What you'll need: a roll of tape (any kind will work), an extra pillowcase or two (they don't have to be new), and some time!
4. Masseter Muscle
I'm sure you've all heard of the masseter muscle it's the one that's so strong, it makes everyone's jaw ache. It's also the one that makes it hard for us to relax and fall asleep when we're trying to get some rest. If you're like me, and you struggle with this problem, I've got a solution for you: tape your masseter muscle! I tried it myself, and personally, I'm not sure if it's working or not. But it couldn't hurt to give it a shot! And the great thing is that tape is pretty cheap so if you have a roll lying around, why not try taping your masseter? You might be surprised at how well this works!
5. Forehead
Forehead tension is a classic one and everyone is doing it. Not everyone, but a lot of people are doing it and they're seeing amazing results or highly, highly recommended if you are dealing with a lot of muscle tension in your forehead area. So let me get this one in the 11th two areas 11 and this horizontal one, for 11th, like here, just like this could be a little bit bigger. or could be like this crossing I just wanted not to do too much stuff and it's hard to feel off. So, but I so If I do it, I just did this. And in fact, because I have a pension here levator labii superioris alaeque nasi I tend to do lower, longer like this, but regular people if you're not concerned about levator labii like this wrinkles, you don't have that bad habit. And then you can just focus on the 11th here The first thing to know is that you can't put the tape on your eyebrows. That's really painful because when you peel it off, all the hair comes with it. So don't do that. The second place is this horizontal one on your forehead. Make sure that no hair gets caught in there while you're working on something, or cooking or cleaning or whatever I don't know work out or whatever for a long time. I was wearing this when I went to the gym and didn't use that stickiness because I was wearing it. And then later, no one said anything about it being 5:15 AM and everyone being like zombies or whatever, but just be sure to take it off if you go outside where other people can see you! If your forehead wrinkles like this or like this side only, then you can tape just one side of them instead of both sides.
So we’ve talked about five areas you can tape for better sleeping, and I hope you try it and let me know how it goes! The first area is just a little bit more pressing up, not down. You don't want your skin sagging when you sleep. The second area is the chin and depressor muscle. The more you use this muscle, the more it'll sag your skin, so put it on in the chin and this depressor will stop that from happening. Next up is number three: lymphatic drainage while sleeping! This works especially well if you have a stuffy nose or sinus issues—you'll put this on the levator labii superioris alaeque nasi (that's a mouthful!) and then all the way up where your lymph node is like here. And then there's number four: masseter. It'd be interesting to know if this works or not just to touch on the masseter muscle a little bit, and last but not least forehead. If you want to reduce tension in your forehead, you can use a smaller or a larger [device]. My forehead is kind of short, and narrow, so I use a smaller [device]. I'm an interesting person anyway, but if I could say only one thing or two things first, my must-have is this thing on the lip. Number five: forehead! This one could be like crossing over each other or a longer one.
