IT might be time for sagging jawlines to feel the burn. Not from a chemical peel, but from the facial equivalent of lunges and crunches. The owners of FaceLove Fitness, a New York-based “skin gym,” believe high-intensity training for your mug will improve the skin’s elasticity and radiance. “When you measure the skin on musles that are exercised, it’s thicker, has less damage, more clarity and higher levels of collagen,” says Rachel Lang, a facialist who partnered with massage therapist Heidi Frederick in 2014 to start the studio. FaceLove is opening an outpost at 1 Fifth Avenue in April; until then beauty junkies can pop into their popups at 192 Front St. and the WeWork co-op office space at 85 Broad St. After a vigorous massage, clients are led through a grueling “interval training” resistance workout of scrunching and squinting, followed by a cool-down with iced stones and plastic rollers. Rollerballs work to stimulate circulation around the facial muscles.Photo: FaceLove Fitness When the potential payoff is an immediately tighter face, it’s no wonder FaceLove has plenty of devotees signing up. “We have addicts,” says Lang. Prices range from $10 for a mini “Skin Juice Booster” to $65 for a 30-minute signature treatment. Enjoyable as it may be, some doctors are skeptical. New York super derm Dennis Gross says the effects are short-lived at best. “Massage can relax facial muscles and take away the stress from specific areas, and it can also temporarily help lymphatic drainage that can prevent the look of bloating,” he says. “[But] there is no scientific evidence that facial exercise and massage can help or hurt the aging process of skin.” Others, like Upper East Side doc Debra Jaliman, go so far as to say that stretching triggers droopiness. “The more the face moves, the deeper the creases and wrinkles,” she writes in “Skin Rules: Trade Secrets From a Top New York Dermatologist” (St. Martin’s Press). Lang will argue the opposite is true in an upcoming book. “The new science, and the fact that we’re measuring skin in this new way, will start filtering down to all the professionals and doctors tasked with anti-aging,” she says.
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