I am not vain , rich or brave enough to face plastic surgery , when my mother rang for her weekly chat and I was feeling ancient after spotting a new wrinkle , I probed her for beauty advice . If I was feeling old , she , with a nearly 40-year-old daughter , must be feeling ancient - yet she looked great . At 65 , she could easily pass for ten years younger . Scroll down for video . Sarah 's face was transformed after the exercises . She 's pictured before ( left ) and after ( right ) ' I thank my genes , the fact I 've never tried a cigarette and the facial stretches I 've been doing for 30 years , ' she said . Ah , those . I remember my mum slathered in Vaseline , gurning in a Club Sport tracksuit while I ate my Coco Pops , invariably wearing the Deely Bobbers I insisted on sleeping in between 1983 and 85 . So they worked ? My mother swore they did . Facial exercises have been around as long as youth has been considered the hallmark of beauty , with some claiming Cleopatra was the first celebrity fan . The first official guide , however , was published in Paris in 1710 , outlining the beauty routine of Ninon de L'Enclose , a courtesan famed for her lasting beauty . Nearly two centuries later , Sanford Bennett - a notoriously wrinkle-free San Franciscan 70-year-old - released his book , Exercising In Bed , which gave away his facial secrets . From then on , facial exercisers came thick and fast . Jack LaLanne , the funny Hollywood guy permanently in tight Lycra was the visage visionary of the Fifties , right up to the Eighties . Today , however , the go-to expert is Carole Maggio , the LA-based creator of Facercise , with a celebrity and royalty-packed client list . The Furrow Smoother . This involves spreading my fingers across the centre of my forehead , then pulling my fingertips down while pushing my brows up so I look very confused . I had to hold this tension for 30 seconds while staring at the ceiling . The Furrow Smoother involves spreading the fingers across the centre of the forehead for 30 seconds . Sarah pulls her fingertips down while pushing her brows up to work her forehead muscles . The Lip Lift . This is an exercise which requires a Joker smile that moves up and down an inch using visualisation . 'Imagine a plumber bent over in low-slung Levi 's , ' Maggio encourages . 'Now move your mouth to express that - ew - and hold it . ' Maggio encourages exercises to form an 'ew ' expression of disgust and hold it to lift the lips . The Nose Transformer . This is n't pretty either . It requires me to push up the tip of my nose with my index finger while pulling my upper lip down for a count of 40 . All of these exercises are performed while looking at myself so I can see that I resemble a tired-looking Miss Piggy with a hangover . But I feel the burn . The burn ! The burn that means it 's working ! The next day , after my first facial workout , I wake up to a face as sore as my glutes were after I took my first spin class in 2004 , but I push on with my exercises . The Nose Transformer was so tough that Sarah 's face muscles were still and sore the next day . 'After six days of doing her exercises twice a day , I could see significant improvement , ' a gorgeous gal pal , also in her 50s , told me . Her nickname is Maggio the Magician and I needed her to work her magic on my ageing face . Luckily , her books and DVDs are available on Amazon and ship within days . Carole 's first foolproof tips seem easy enough to do : sleep on your back without any pillows under your neck and try to avoid carbs after 5pm . She also advises drinking more water and eating more protein . These things instantly help everyone 's appearance as they get older , apparently . The DVD and guidebook then go through a series of exercises that Carole promises will take the years off and plump up my ageing skin . So . Now my new gym routine is less about getting sweaty in Lycra and more about sitting in front of a mirror pulling a series of scary , exaggerated expressions , working my 57 facial muscles while sitting with my butt clenched and back straight . I work my way through the exercises without any problems - although it hurts more than I thought it would . I am a sit-down-with-a-cheese-sandwich-and-a-Jane-Austen-novel kind of girl rather than a natural gym bunny , but even I 'm shocked my face aches this much . I am feeling the desired burn in places I never knew I had . Facial exercising is not for the lazy - it takes about 20 minutes a day and it really does hurt in places - but after two weeks my husband is convinced he can see a difference , and I feel a bit more plumped up ; more ruddy farmer 's wife than aging , old crone . My upper lip is definitely fuller and for the first time in my life I feel bee-stung enough to try red lipstick . Do I look younger ? I 'd say so . Fresher ? Indeed . Perhaps face exercise really are the key to facing forward ? www.facercise.com .
Sarah Ivens , two weeks , tries the 'furrow smoother ' , 'lip lift ' and 'nose transformer ' Exercises prescribed by Carole Maggio , the LA-based creator of Facercise . Mother-of-two noticed her lips were fuller after 39 of exercises . Experienced muscle burn and soreness during and after the moves .