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The reason Madonna 10 years younger
Liz Hoggard26 Nov 2008
Pictured last week, hours before her divorce from Guy Ritchie was announced, Madonna looked dazzling.
Few 50-year-old divorcees could be photographed in close-up confident that they looked a good decade and a half younger. The forehead was smooth, cheeks plump and jawline taut.
While recent speculation has focused on surgery being behind the star's youthful demeanour, those in the know have put her firm facial contours down to the remarkable skills of one woman: facial exerciser to the stars, Eva Fraser.
Upon meeting Fraser, I can see what the fuss is about. She also looks astonishing. Taut, unlined skin. Killer cheekbones. She's 80 next month and yet she looks as if she's only in her early fifties.
Fraser is living proof that facial exercises can dramatically reduce the signs of ageing. No wonder her fans include Jane Birkin, Helen Fielding and, of course, Madonna (rumour has it she is regularly smuggled into Madge's London home).
Forget Botox or cosmetic surgery — Fraser argues that muscles of the face can be retrained, just like any other muscles, to become firm and strong again. Through structured "exercises" — tiny movements of the eyebrows, lip corners and jaw — our unique facial contours will gradually reappear. "You work the muscles through resistance," she tells me.
Most of her clients are women aged between 35 and 55, though men sign up too. Even lazy beauty types like me can benefit. "The good news is that it's never too late to start exercising," says Fraser.
The routine takes 10-15 minutes tops, for a minimum of four days a week. "It becomes like brushing your teeth." She promises nose-to-mouth lines will lessen, upper cheeks will be lifted and plumped. You'll get a firmer jaw line, eyelids will be stronger and lifted. Yes, there is a danger of looking idiotic if someone catches you unawares grimacing and gurning into a mirror. But after four to six months Fraser fans report a marked improvement. Even dermatologists are impressed..
Her mission is to prove that you can look good at any age. "Ageing is not a skin problem," she says sternly. "The skin is attached to the facial muscles, so when the muscles droop and sag, so does the skin. There are 60 muscles in the face, just sitting there and getting longer and longer until your cheeks drop into your jawline and neck." A lot of her advice is common sense: if you get the circulation going in your face, increasing blood and lymph flow, this invigorates the skin. Think of it as gym for the face.
Beauty isn't Fraser's only interest. A tapestry conservationist (she used to sit regularly for Matisse), she found out about facial exercising by chance in 1978 when she met Madame Hoffman in Germany.
A former ballerina, Hoffman had devised a method of exercising the facial muscles with a doctor friend in the Thirties..
After much persuasion, she agreed to train Eva for a year in London. Today at her Facial Workout salon in Kensington, Eva offers one-to-one tuition. After a course of four lessons (each 90 minutes), you are ready to carry out the exercises yourself at home.
Every facial muscle is exercised separately.
First Eva gets me to tackle the eyelids — which involves curving index fingers under the eyebrows, then raising them and holding the bone. You close your eyes and stretch your upper eyelids downwards in five small movements.
You hold, release the squeeze slowly, then repeat.
Working the cheek means isolating and then individually moving four main muscles through intricate twitches and staggered lifts from the mouth's sides..
Facial exercising — the secret of Madonna's youthful looks Pretty soon my cheeks are aflame, and I'm feeling a dull but satisfying ache.
Eva has a horror of heavy night creams, which she believes make the skin too soft. " I advise leaving the skin clean and product- free overnight." She says when surgeons perform under- eye operations, they remove layers of builtup gel and cream.
Because she looks so amazing, people ask to check behind Eva's ears for facelift scars. They don't find any. " Surgery wears off. It just works on the skin, not the muscles — so after five years the weight of the skin pulls it down again." In contrast, her facial exercises improve the scaffolding of the face, so the skin drapes far better.
And there are unexpected benefits — one of her facial exercises involves an ear massage to pep up the circulation and create skin glow, using index fingers and thumbs — which apparently sends men wild. No doubt Madonna knows all about that one.
Eva Fraser is offering a discounted Christmas starter lesson for £100 (usually £130) if you book before 31 January. You can also buy her DVD, Eva Fraser Facial Fitness Made Easy, for £19.99. Call 020 7937 6616 or www.evafraser.com.
FIVE OTHER NATURAL 'FACELIFTS'
REJUVANESSENCE
What is it? A light fingertip massage to relax the 91 muscles in the face, neck, head and shoulders, increasing the blood flow to reduce wrinkles and improve skin tone.
Contact: The Hale Clinic, 7 Park Crescent, W1, 020 7631 0156, www.haleclinic.com.
FACIAL YOGA
What is it? A yoga workout using facial exercises to strengthen and tone muscles and release the tension that causes lines and constricted blood vessels.
Cost and contact: £100 for one hour with Facial Yoga expert Katrina Repka, 8.30am- 11am, Wednesday, The Life Centre, 15 Edge Street, W8, 020 7221 4602, www.thelifecentre.com.
FACIAL REJUVENATION MASSAGE
What is it? Using Indian Face Massage techniques, gentle pressure is applied to relax the muscles and connective tissues and remedy the sagging and creasing effects of habitual facial expressions.
Cost and contact: £40 for one hour with Facial Rejuvenation pioneer Kundan Mehta. The London Centre of Indian Champissage, 136 Holloway Road, N7, 020 7609 3590, www.faceliftmassage.com.
PURE MASSAGE FACE THERAPY
What is it? Over six massage sessions the muscles in the face are re- educated, lifting the skin around the cheekbones and jaw. Advice is also given on diet, posture and breathing patterns.
Cost and contact: £87 for one hour. Pure Massage, 3- 5 Vanston Place, SW6, or 63 New Bond Street, W1, 020 7381 8100, www.puremassage.com.
COSMETIC ACUPUNCTURE FOR ANTI-AGEING
What is it? Specially tailored acupuncture is applied to the face to improve circulation and hydration, reducing fine lines and improving elasticity and skin tone.
The treatment also includes a Chinese Herbal Facial.
Cost and contact: £79 for 80 minutes. China Life, 99-105 Camden High Street, N1, 08700 100 023
