I am not vain, rich or brave enough to face plastic surgery, when my mother rang for her weekly chat and I was feeling ancient after spotting a new wrinkle, I probed her for beauty advice. If I was feeling old, she, with a nearly 40-year-old daughter, must be feeling ancient - yet she looked great. At 65, she could easily pass for ten years younger. Scroll down for video . Sarah's face was transformed after the exercises. She's pictured before (left) and after (right) 'I thank my genes, the fact I've never tried a cigarette and the facial stretches I've been doing for 30 years,' she said. Ah, those. I remember my mum slathered in Vaseline, gurning in a Club Sport tracksuit while I ate my Coco Pops, invariably wearing the Deely Bobbers I insisted on sleeping in between 1983 and 85. So they worked? My mother swore they did. Facial exercises have been around as long as youth has been considered the hallmark of beauty, with some claiming Cleopatra was the first celebrity fan. The first official guide, however, was published in Paris in 1710, outlining the beauty routine of Ninon de L'Enclose, a courtesan famed for her lasting beauty. Nearly two centuries later, Sanford Bennett - a notoriously wrinkle-free San Franciscan 70-year-old - released his book, Exercising In Bed, which gave away his facial secrets. From then on, facial exercisers came thick and fast. Jack LaLanne, the funny Hollywood guy permanently in tight Lycra was the visage visionary of the Fifties, right up to the Eighties. Today, however, the go-to expert is Carole Maggio, the LA-based creator of Facercise, with a celebrity and royalty-packed client list. The Furrow Smoother . This involves spreading my fingers across the centre of my forehead, then pulling my fingertips down while pushing my brows up so I look very confused. I had to hold this tension for 30 seconds while staring at the ceiling. The Furrow Smoother involves spreading the fingers across the centre of the forehead for 30 seconds . Sarah pulls her fingertips down while pushing her brows up to work her forehead muscles . The Lip Lift . This is an exercise which requires a Joker smile that moves up and down an inch using visualisation. 'Imagine a plumber bent over in low-slung Levi's,' Maggio encourages. 'Now move your mouth to express that - ew - and hold it.' Maggio encourages exercises to form an 'ew' expression of disgust and hold it to lift the lips . The Nose Transformer . This isn't pretty either. It requires me to push up the tip of my nose with my index finger while pulling my upper lip down for a count of 40. All of these exercises are performed while looking at myself so I can see that I resemble a tired-looking Miss Piggy with a hangover. But I feel the burn. The burn! The burn that means it's working! The next day, after my first facial workout, I wake up to a face as sore as my glutes were after I took my first spin class in 2004, but I push on with my exercises. The Nose Transformer was so tough that Sarah's face muscles were still and sore the next day . 'After six days of doing her exercises twice a day, I could see significant improvement,' a gorgeous gal pal, also in her 50s, told me. Her nickname is Maggio the Magician and I needed her to work her magic on my ageing face. Luckily, her books and DVDs are available on Amazon and ship within days. Carole's first foolproof tips seem easy enough to do: sleep on your back without any pillows under your neck and try to avoid carbs after 5pm. She also advises drinking more water and eating more protein. These things instantly help everyone's appearance as they get older, apparently. The DVD and guidebook then go through a series of exercises that Carole promises will take the years off and plump up my ageing skin. So. Now my new gym routine is less about getting sweaty in Lycra and more about sitting in front of a mirror pulling a series of scary, exaggerated expressions, working my 57 facial muscles while sitting with my butt clenched and back straight. I work my way through the exercises without any problems - although it hurts more than I thought it would. I am a sit-down-with-a-cheese-sandwich-and-a-Jane-Austen-novel kind of girl rather than a natural gym bunny, but even I'm shocked my face aches this much. I am feeling the desired burn in places I never knew I had. Facial exercising is not for the lazy - it takes about 20 minutes a day and it really does hurt in places - but after two weeks my husband is convinced he can see a difference, and I feel a bit more plumped up; more ruddy farmer's wife than aging, old crone. My upper lip is definitely fuller and for the first time in my life I feel bee-stung enough to try red lipstick. Do I look younger? I'd say so. Fresher? Indeed. Perhaps face exercise really are the key to facing forward? www.facercise.com .
Sarah Ivens, 39, tries the 'furrow smoother', 'lip lift' and 'nose transformer' Exercises prescribed by Carole Maggio, the LA-based creator of Facercise . Mother-of-two noticed her lips were fuller after two weeks of exercises . Experienced muscle burn and soreness during and after the moves .