How To Relax Facial Muscles

We carry a lot of fucking stress in our face. Both emotional and physical stress can add a ton of tension to our face muscles. This tension??? You can feel AND see. 

If you’re tensing up your face in response to stress often enough, your muscles can actually stay contracted. This causes jaw muscle pain, tension headaches, tingling, redness, and, worse of all, WRINKLES.

All of these effects of facial tension can make your stress worse, which makes your muscle tightness worse. It’s a seriously awful cycle!

So, focusing on releasing tension and relaxing your face is ESSENTIAL to good skin-care and self-care. 

That’s why we’re going to break down some of the best ways to relax those facial muscles. Say bye-bye to pain and wrinkles!

How To Relax Facial Muscles 

Facial massages. 

Our fave way to release facial tension? A facial massage! They feel luxurious AF and the circular motions can actually manually release your muscles and give you a ton of relief. 

You only really need your index and middle finger and a knowledge of facial pressure points to give yourself a good massage. However, that takes forever and touching your face with your hands means transferring oil and bacteria. (Gross.) 

Instead, use a facial massager like the PINK BALLS FACIAL MASSAGER. It’s the perfect tool for massaging your forehead, jawline, neck, tits—ev-ery-thing. It feels amazing and helps relieve facial tension, reduce puffiness, and sculpt the shit out of your jaw. 

We also are OBSESSED with the HOT MESS ICE ROLLER for relieving facial tension. It’s another TSC massage tool with a ton of skincare benefits. 

Instead of two disco-esque balls as massagers the HOT MESS ICE ROLLER has an aluminum ice roller. Adding an icy element to your facial massage feels sooo good if you deal with aches and pains.

Whatever you choose, add the ICE QUEEN FACE OIL to the massage for smooth rolling. It’ll make sure your massager can glide easily along your face while you really get in there and release those muscles. 

Sauna time. 

Saunas are naturally super relaxing. The combination of the steam and the spa-like experience can help relieve some of the tightness. 

Steam opens up the pores and stimulates the epidermis, which can help manually release muscle tension. (More on saunas and skincare here.) And, the relaxation you feel kicking back in a sauna can totally mellow you out and relieve stress—stopping that annoying cycle of stress and tension. 

So, time to get in a sauna! And, to maximize the experience, give yourself a face massage with the HOT MESS ICE ROLLER or the PINK BALLS FACE MASSAGER while you relax. It’s the ultimate self-care experience, guys. 

Facial acupuncture.

Facial acupuncture is like PURE MAGIC. It can help increase blood flow, release tension, relieve pain, and reduce inflammation. And, no, the needles DO NOT hurt. 

Beyond facial relaxing benefits, acupuncture can even help with the appearance of skin by smoothing away wrinkles and stimulating collagen production. (Yes, plz.) 

If you’re a little freaked out by acupuncture, we get it, but read about our founder Lauryn Bosstick’s amazing experience with facial acupuncture here. You’ll fall in love like she did. Your face deserves this! 

Facial cupping.

If acupuncture seems out-there, buckle up. Facial cupping is another way we recommend you try to relieve your facial tension!

These little cups can increase oxygen-rich blood circulation, strengthen your skin, stimulate collagen production, and release tightness in your facial muscles! (Also, no needles required, which is probs a plus for some of you.) 

Of course, you can go to a spa to get facial cupping, but you can also do it yourself with this Skin Gym Facial Cupping Set! They’re a great tool to have in your Caboodle and they’ll fit right in aesthetically with all your pink The Skinny Confidential skincare goodies. 

Facial exercises. 

You exercise other parts of your body to relieve tension, so it only makes sense that you exercise your face too! Face yoga is like a free facelift and can do wonders on your muscle tension. 

Face yoga involves super simple exercises where you just have to smile wide or squint to practice releasing and stretching the muscles. It doesn’t seem like much, but a little goes a long way to relieve muscle tension, tighten skin, and stimulate collagen production. 

Face yoga every day will keep the Botox away, guys!!! 

Reduce stress.

Okay, number one way to relax your face? Stop stressing! Of course, that’s much easier said than done. But, if you can minimize stress in your life you won’t carry so much tension in your face (or anywhere else). 

So, close your eyes and take deep breaths. Do something you love. Cut out shitty people. Write in a gratitude journal. And, of course, treat yourself to the best self-care practices from The Skinny Confidential Shop blog. 

A little self-love and self-compassion can be amazing for your skin, face, and body. Learn more in the episode of The Skinny Confidential: Him & Her podcast called “How To Manage Stress & Anxiety.” In it, Lauryn and her husband Michael give you all the best advice on staying relaxed and mindful!

Relax your face muscles using these tips to reduce pain and keep your skin snatched!

We spend a lot of time at The Skinny Confidential talking about how to take care of the skin on your face, but under that skin are muscles that directly affect the way your skin looks and feels!!!

This is why it’s really important to take care of muscle tension when you identify it. Using massage, acupuncture, exercise, cupping, and/or stress reduction you can def relax your face so it feels and looks amazing! 

For more self-care and skincare tips and products, head over to The Skinny Confidential Shop! We’re like your must-have toolbox for relaxed muscles, a toned jaw, and perfect glowy skin. Reach all your #beautygoals with us!