December 2002
Dear Paula,
Your bit about how face exercises don't work is totally wrong. You must be in cahoots with plastic surgeons that are doing everything possible to deny that God-given face muscles can be exercised in a manner that turns back time.

It is said that the only reason that face exercises haven't made it big (from a consumer standpoint) is because there's no money in it. The reason that they have been around for 100 years is because they do work. Nobody would invest time and energy into something that doesn't work!

I have been doing facial exercises for six years. I'm 43 and I still get carded when I go out for drinks with my same-aged friends. There are thousands of us out there - dig a little deeper, listen to your heart, and tell the truth. I plan on publishing my own book. And I will quote you. After you see what's in the book, you are going to feel a little embarrassed.

Chrystella, via e-mail

Dear Chrystella,
I have been accused of a lot of things but I have to admit, your letter just about takes the cake. According to you, I must have my non-exercised head screwed on wrong, and while that may well be the case, "being in cahoots" with plastic surgeons to further my anti-facial exercise cause for financial gain is ridiculous. You've got to be kidding. Think about it: what organization would be funding me and for what earthly reason? Talk about a conspiracy theory! I haven't made a dent in the cosmetics industry sales after all these years—they are growing by leaps and bounds as they do year after year selling more antiwrinkle creams than ever before despite my critical reviews. The few times I've commented on facial exercises couldn't possibly be enough to stop your miracle antiwrinkle treatment from gaining attention if it really worked. There have been facial exercise-themed infomercials and books galore dating back to the early 1900s - clearly, women are not eschewing this system because of me.

In terms of telling the truth, let me mention that your statement "Nobody would invest time and energy into something that doesn't work," is not realistic. Have you never heard of fad diets (the grapefruit diet comes to mind), get-rich-quick schemes (selling swamp land or credit card scams), exercise contraptions like the Abdominizer, cellulite creams, bust enhancing pills and creams, or fat-burning pills that purport to work without exercising (and our country has more obese people than any place else on earth) to name a few! Women also invest a great deal of time and energy into sun tanning, which is extremely dangerous for skin, and also spend billions of dollars on antiaging products, yet plastic surgeons still flourish. Investing time and energy in things that don't work is what the cosmetics industry counts on!

If exercising your facial muscles works for you I would be the last person to tell you not to do it, but there is no science behind it and the research that does exist indicates it is more of a problem than a help. Botox, in particular, demonstrates what happens to skin when you don’t repeatedly use your facial muscles—it becomes smooth and flawless without a wrinkle anywhere to be seen.