Face Lifts? No, Face Pilates: The Only Workout for Your Face 

People are obsessed with Pilates, which is no surprise—an almost full-body workout with no deadlifts and cute gym fits. But conventional Pilates misses one key area: the face. In comes Face Pilates, a reflex-driven workout tailored for the facial muscles. While it might seem like another internet beauty trend at first glance, it’s actually a meticulously designed treatment targeting all the muscles in your face.

This trend has been incredibly popular in recent months, with hoteliers in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Miami aiming to bring this one-of-a-kind experience to their guests. The founder of Face Pilates, Thomas Tullo, explains more about the treatment, the benefits, and how to extend your treatment at home.

How does Face Pilates work?

“It’s a 75-minute face workout tailored to detoxify and encourage lymphatic drainage in the face,” Tullo says. “It’s a great alternative for people who don’t want to go under a knife or use injectables.” The treatment is an eight-step process that includes fascial stretch therapy, reflexology, lymphatic drainage, buccal massage, microcurrents, and cryotherapy.

Every element of the treatment is intended to target each of the facial muscles to relieve excess build up of TMJ disorder: tension from the joint connecting your jawbone to your head’s temporal bone. Tullo is able to assess a client’s issues by looking at them through visual cues such as posture and facial symmetry. “Men and women have different bone structures … so it’s easier to identify issues with men since their facial features are a bit more pronounced.”

Is Face Pilates just a trend?

“No, far from it,” Tullo says. “It’s a massage, not a facial—and massages have proven to have long-term benefits.” Beauty trends for the face tend to be either an invasive surgical treatment or an overly hyped product from a niche brand: everyone remembers the snail mucin phase. Tullo views Face Pilates as a progressive model for long-term muscle care that’s rooted in medical-based research, not fads. “We’re trying to work on the longevity of muscle recovery. It’s a huge part of what Face Pilates is.”

Beyond Face Pilates as the core treatment, Tullo also offers The Buccal: a 30-minute express session using the techniques from Face Pilates but for reducing tension around the cheeks and mouth. Face Release offers an additional layer of service by adding lymphatic drainage techniques for those experiencing excessive tension from clenching. “At its core, Face Pilates is a celebration of noninvasive beauty and aging well—on your own terms, and with intention,” he says.

Face Pilates at home

The benefits of Face Pilates don’t stop at the spa. Tullo recently launched a dedicated line of  biocellulose face and eye masks to assist with post-Pilates treatment. The Reformer Mask and Reformer Eye Mask “are intended to act as a supplement for your skin,” he says. “NAD+ and NMN (anti-aging) combined with peptides and creatine allow for a fuelled-up workout for rapid cell turnover.”

Tullo continues to challenge conventional beauty treatments and aims to bring the benefits of Face Pilates to even more people around the globe. Next stop Dubai?

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