Jawlines have their role in beauty!
Attractiveness is a highly subjective and contentious contemporary issue. However, there’s no denying that a strong jawline is almost as highly coveted as a full hairline, a trim waistline, or flawless skin. A strong jawline is seen as an indicator of youthfulness, power, strength and confidence.
The film industry, runways, and stages worldwide have popularised straight jawlines with sharply chiselled angles. Think of your favourite actor, artist, designer, etc. For every 5, at least one is blessed with the coveted ‘perfect jawline.’ And it cuts across the bar for women and men. For every Brad Pitt, there's an Angelina Jolie. Chris Hemsworth, Jeniffer Aniston, Christiano Ronaldo, and Sandra Bullock; they are not in short supply.
Men aspire for a strong chiselled jawline, while women prefer a more firm and delicate jawline. However, the majority of people are not born with a naturally prominent jawline. It doesn’t help that time and gravity play a cruel game on muscular atrophy, bone thinning, skin sagging, turkey necks and jowling of the chin. This further elevates the aesthetic appeal of those with the desirable firm jaw.
To even the battlefield, there are traditional, new and holistic, and aesthetic tweakments at your disposal to help you achieve a perfectly trim jawline. The methods vary between invasive and non-invasive techniques, each presenting unique benefits to the subject. We’ll take a look at the methods available for jawline enhancement, and hopefully, you can zero in on the one that’s perfect for you.
Factors to Consider Before Choosing Your Preferred Jawline Enhancement Technique
There are many ways that the jawline can be enhanced, and they range from simple DIY techniques that anyone can undertake anywhere, to in-patient procedures, to simple office calls. The ideal method depends on a couple of things, e.g.;
- Age
- Cost of procedure
- Timeframe for observable results
- Downtime involved
- Post-procedure care
- Risk factors
- Permanence of results
- Preference for or against invasive and non-invasive techniques
Non-invasive Procedures
As a standard, most people are averse to invasive procedures due to the risks involved, downtime, and cost. Conversely, these are the three top reasons why people opt for non-invasive jawline enhancement protocols.
These procedures mostly involve incorporating exercises that target the jawline and applying creams and ointments dedicated to lifting and plumping the skin for a fuller effect.
What are some of the exercises?
- Mewing: a technique where you straighten and rest the entire tongue on the roof of your mouth in order to gradually widen the jaw for a more toned outcome.
- Neck curl-up: This is simply adopting a good resting position, curling your neck towards the chin till you feel a stretch in your jaw, and then resuming the normal position.
- Clench and release: Clench your teeth for 5 seconds, feel the jaw muscles tighten, and then release the clench.
- Fish face: Make an O shape with your mouth and hold for a few seconds. Release and make an E. Hold for a few seconds, then go back to the O, and do them in a loop.
- Chin Lifts: In a seated position, place your hands behind you to the back of the chair, then gently tilt your head back till you feel a stretch in the jawline.
Each of these exercises requires consistency and patience for results. They cost nothing and can be incorporated into any routine, including work time. This makes them ideal for people who are short of time and resources but still want defined jawlines.
A more effective method is incoroporating a jawline exercising tool, like the 3.0 Chisell Regular Bite. The device is portable, and chewing on it can be as discreet as your method. Consistency in use gives you a visibly larger and stronger jaw. You also get to choose how tough you want your bite guard.
To keep the results consistent, ensure to hydrate as this perks up your skin from within. Also, apply moisturisers to keep the outer skin hydrated and top it up with sunscreen to avoid sun damage. Use medical-grade neck creams if you feel that the skin in that region has become saggy.
Invasive Procedures
There are several procedures in this category, and they vary from light to mildly invasive–then there is surgery. These are not everyone's cup of tea, as they come at a cost, involve some downtime, come with a bit of risk, and may require stringent post-op care. And still, the results aren't always permanent.
Below are the 5 of the most common types of invasive techniques for Jawline reshaping and definition.
Surgery
Cosmetic surgery is the gold standard when it comes to jawline rejuvenation or transformation. With a good plastic surgeon, surgical reconstruction or alteration results are unmatched. As long as the candidate qualifies, they can get precisely what they want–within limits. Usually, surgeons refrain from operating on younger kids unless the procedure aims to correct an extreme deformity.
The most popular procedures for jawline enhancement are neck lifts and face lifts. Unfortunately, experienced surgeons aren’t too many, and when they come about, they are very expensive. Do not skimp out on paying top fees, as cutting corners has been known to give botched outcomes that may cost more to repair or cause irreparable damage.
Also, beware that the recovery time for surgical procedures is longer, and you need time in excess to allow for healing. The post-op care required in terms of medication, altered diets, assistance needed and follow-up consultations is also quite demanding. To top it off, all forms of surgery come with risks, including potential bleeding out. Therefore, surgery shouldn’t be something you just wake up and decide to do.
Implants
Implants are not as invasive as surgery. The aesthetician can augment the front of the chin or the mandibular angles. Chin implants immediately impact facial appearance, creating a more defined, chiselled, and beefed-up appearance. The implants can be put in from an insition on the skin or inserted from within. Both come with benefits and drawbacks that your doctor should discuss beforehand.
Botox
Botox is a drug that can be injected into wrinkly muscles, rendering them unable to contract. These muscles relax and soften, reducing the appearance of wrinkles. It takes about 7-14 days for the effect to become visible. However, the results are not permanent. Anyone hoping to improve jawline appearances needs to beware that the procedure will only give temporal results; it can have certain side effects, can cause discomfort when injecting and requires financial investment if the patient will go in for sessions every 6 months.
Fillers
There are many variations of dermal fillers in the market, with hyaluronic acid being the most popular one. Your aesthetician basically injects the gel-like substance along the desired areas, e.g., marionette lines (corners of mouth to chin) or the nasolabial folds (nose to corners of mouth. The fillers help restore lost volume, smoothen out the jawline, improve angles' definition, and soften creases. There is less downtime involved than with cosmetic surgery, but the results only last about a year and some months.
Some patients get fat injections. These can go on the cheek to elevate the middle face, giving the bottom half a more raised effect. This can be done as an outpatient procedure, but it requires some time for grafting, needs anaesthesia, and calls for more downtime. The results also last longer than chemical fillers.
Modern Methods
There are newer methods that have become more and more popular over time and are now widely available. Their results are not immediate, and you might need a couple of sessions to witness results. One popular treatment is Ultechnology, which uses heat energy to shrink wrap skin. Another one is Coolsculpting which freezes stubborn cells and waits for the body to break them down over time and flush them out of the system. It is impossible to exhaust the variations of ‘new and holistic’ aesthetic tech out there, but based on your budget and time resources, you can definitely get something that fits the bill.
In Conclusion
Whether or not you choose an invasive or non-invasive method of jawline enhancement boils down to individual preferences, resources, and whether or not you qualify for the procedure. Surgery has the best results of all methods but also comes at a greater cost, and not just financial. Exercising takes up the least amount of energy, effort, and resources, and paired with a jawline exerciser; it might give you the best value of the methods discussed. But, at the end of the day, beauty is what you feel from within and not what society sets as a standard.
