Watch CBS News

Brookline Salon Helping People Get A Natural Facelift

BOSTON (CBS) - You squeeze in time to exercise. You try to eat right. You feel great. But sometimes you don't always look as young as you feel.

"I'm getting to the age where I keep pulling up on my face and pulling it back and thinking; would I ever do cosmetic surgery?" said Jen Dwyer of Quincy.

Dwyer won't rule that out, but for right now she is counting on Lavinia Borcau to take years off her face. The former rock climbing champion from Romania now owns a salon in Brookline Village. She is taking what she knows about training her body and applying it to the face. She developed a series of exercises designed to tone and tighten the facial muscles to decrease the appearance of wrinkles, almost like a yoga class for the face.

WBZ-TV's Kate Merrill reports.

"It plumps up your skin," She said.

According to Borcau, the exercises are based on a European program. They isolate individual muscles to target certain trouble spots.

"My neck definitely got more of a contour back," she explained while pointing out her profile.

Sandy Smith of Brookline told us she figured it couldn't hurt and it might help. She is definitely looking to target one area.

"Seeing, you know, what you can do to firm up the neck," she said.

Doctors we spoke to said there is no scientific evidence that this work. One Mass General plastic surgeon did say if practitioners are noticing a positive result, this may be worth studying.

Lavinia claims the exercises are not a replacement for plastic surgery but something that might help delay a cosmetic procedure.

Both Jen and Sandy figure it's worth a shot.

"It seems so reasonable," Jen said. "We exercise other muscles in our body, why not our facial muscles."

"We'll see," Sandy said. "I mean, I'm game."

There is no painful recovery and at $80 for five classes, it's a lot cheaper than a facelift.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.