Forehead Smoother

Targets: Forehead, frontalis muscleDuration: 60 secondsReps: 3 sets of 5 sweeps

Horizontal forehead lines form from decades of frontalis muscle contraction — every raised eyebrow, every squint. The Forehead Smoother works the opposite direction: light resistance training that encourages the muscle to relax instead of habitually tensing.

How to Do It

Place both hands on your forehead with light pressure. Gently sweep outward while trying to raise your eyebrows slightly.

Why It Works

Resistance-based facial exercises train the frontalis to work with less habitual tension, the same principle behind reducing tension headaches that originate in the forehead and brow.

Benefits

• Softens the look of horizontal forehead lines over time
• Reduces habitual forehead tension that can contribute to tension headaches
• Takes under a minute — easy to do during your skincare routine

Which muscles this works

The frontalis is the broad, thin muscle across your forehead, and it is the only muscle that lifts your eyebrows. Each time it contracts, the skin above folds into a horizontal crease. After years of raised eyebrows, concentration and squinting, those folds can settle into lines that stay visible at rest. The Forehead Smoother is less about strengthening the frontalis than about teaching it to stop contracting when it doesn't need to.

Step by step

1. Cleanse your face and leave it slightly damp, or add a light serum, so your hands glide instead of drag.
2. Rest both hands flat across your forehead, fingers together, just above the eyebrows.
3. Apply light pressure and sweep outward towards the temples while trying to raise your eyebrows gently against your hands.
4. Let the brows drop completely before the next sweep. The release matters as much as the lift.
5. Do 5 sweeps, rest for a few seconds, then repeat for 3 sets.

Common mistakes

• Pressing hard enough to drag the skin. The pressure should be light.
• Frowning while you concentrate. If your brows pull together, relax your face and start again.
• Raising the brows as high as they will go. A small movement is enough.
• Tensing the neck and shoulders along with the forehead.

When to skip it

If you've had botulinum toxin or filler in the forehead, check with your practitioner before massaging or exercising the area. Stop if you get a headache, and skip it on irritated or inflamed skin.

What to expect

Lines that are already etched in won't disappear, and this is not a replacement for sunscreen or a retinoid, which have much stronger evidence for fine lines. The change many people notice first is a habit change: catching yourself raising your eyebrows when you read, think or look at a screen. Give it at least six to eight weeks of daily practice before judging it.

The best-known study of facial exercise followed 16 women aged 40–65 through a 20-week programme of 30-minute sessions. Cheek fullness improved and dermatologists rated them about three years younger on average (Alam et al., JAMA Dermatology, 2018). It was a small study, the authors noted the results may not apply to other groups, and the programme was far longer than a one-minute video, so expect gradual and modest change.

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