Jowls: What They Are and How to Improve Them

Jowls are the loose, sagging skin that forms along the jawline, just below the chin. They appear when the skin loses elasticity and the underlying muscles weaken, allowing the tissue to droop. While genetics and age play a big role, there are natural methods — like face yoga and gua sha — that can help improve their appearance.

What Causes Jowls?

Jowls develop as part of the natural aging process. Over time, your skin produces less collagen and elastin, the proteins that keep it firm and springy. The muscles in your lower face and neck also lose tone, and fat pads shift downward. This combination leads to sagging along the jawline.

Genetics also matter. Some people are simply more prone to jowls because of their bone structure and skin quality. Sun damage, smoking, and rapid weight changes can speed up the process.

How Face Yoga Can Help Jowls

Face yoga targets the muscles in your face and neck. By strengthening the muscles around your jaw and chin, you can create a subtle lifting effect that may reduce the appearance of jowls. The key is consistency — a few minutes a day, every day.

The Jaw Release

This exercise helps relax the masseter muscle, which can become tight and pull the jaw downward.

1. Sit comfortably and look straight ahead.
2. Tilt your head back slightly and look at the ceiling.
3. Move your lower jaw forward so your bottom teeth are in front of your top teeth.
4. Hold for 10 seconds, then relax. Repeat 5 times.

The Chin Lift

This targets the muscles under the chin and along the jawline.

1. Sit or stand with your spine tall.
2. Tilt your head back and look at the ceiling.
3. Pucker your lips as if you’re trying to kiss the ceiling.
4. You should feel a stretch along the front of your neck. Hold for 5 seconds, then relax. Repeat 10 times.

Gua Sha for Jowls

Gua sha is a traditional technique that uses a smooth stone to gently scrape the skin. When done correctly, it can help reduce fluid retention and improve circulation, which may make the jawline look more defined.

How to Use Gua Sha on Your Jawline

• Apply a few drops of facial oil or cream to your jawline and neck. Never use the stone on dry skin.
• Hold the stone almost flat against your skin, not on its edge.
• Use light pressure — a glide, not a massage. You should never feel pain or see bruising.
• Stroke from the center of your chin outward toward your ear. Imagine you’re sweeping fluid toward your ear, where lymph nodes are located.
• Repeat each stroke 3–5 times, then move to the other side.

Neck Strokes: Always Downward

After working on your jaw, move to your neck. Here, the direction is different: always stroke downward, from under the jaw to the collarbone. This is the exit route for the fluid you’ve moved off your face. Never stroke upward on the neck.

What This Does NOT Do

Be honest: face yoga and gua sha cannot completely eliminate jowls or dramatically reshape your jawline. They can improve muscle tone, reduce puffiness, and give your skin a healthier appearance, but they won’t reverse significant skin laxity. For that, you’d need clinical treatments like fillers or surgery, which we cover in a separate guide.

A Realistic Routine

A realistic routine takes about five minutes a day. You can do the exercises in the morning or evening, and use gua sha a few times a week. The key is consistency — you’re more likely to see subtle changes over months, not days.

In the MEWAI app, your daily session is built around a selfie scan that reads your facial contour. It guides you through specific strokes for your jawline and neck, with clear direction and pressure cues. You can re-scan weekly to track your progress side by side.

Other Factors That Affect Your Jawline

Your overall lifestyle plays a role too. Staying hydrated, eating a balanced diet, and protecting your skin from the sun can help maintain elasticity. Weight fluctuations can also affect the appearance of jowls, so maintaining a stable weight is beneficial. For more on diet and weight, see our dedicated guide.

The Bottom Line

Jowls are a natural part of aging, but that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. With consistent face yoga and gua sha, you can strengthen the muscles and improve circulation, which may soften the look of jowls. Just remember to keep your expectations realistic and enjoy the process of caring for your face.

Jowls vs. Double Chin: Know the Difference

Jowls and a double chin are often lumped together, but they are different issues and respond to different work.

• Jowls are sagging skin and tissue along the jawline, below the chin, caused by loss of collagen, elastin, and muscle tone. They sit at the sides of the lower face.
• Double chin is a layer of fat or loose skin under the chin, in the center. It can be caused by genetics, weight gain, or posture, and it often makes the jawline look softer from the front.

Face yoga and gua sha address both, but with different targets. For jowls, the focus is on the jaw muscles and the outward sweep toward the ear. For a double chin, the focus shifts to the muscles under the chin and the neck, with strokes always moving downward toward the collarbone. Knowing which one you’re working on helps you choose the right exercises and strokes.

How to Get a Better Jawline: What Actually Works

A sharper jawline is not about one magic move. It comes from a combination of muscle tone, reduced fluid retention, and skin firmness. Here’s what to focus on:

1. Strengthen the jaw muscles. Exercises like the Jaw Release and Chin Lift (from the routine above) build tone in the masseter and the muscles under the chin. Stronger muscles give the jaw a more defined edge.
2. Move fluid out. Gua sha and lymphatic drainage reduce puffiness, which can blur the jawline. Always stroke outward from the center of the face toward the ear, and on the neck, always downward to the collarbone. Use light pressure — a glide, not a massage.
3. Keep the neck engaged. The neck muscles anchor the lower face. If they’re weak, the jawline loses support. Include neck exercises in your routine, not just face work.
4. Be consistent. Changes are subtle and take weeks to months. A five-minute daily session, guided by a scan that reads your facial contour, is more effective than occasional longer sessions.

What a Selfie Scan Can Tell You About Your Jawline

A selfie scan is not a magic trick — it’s a way to see what your face actually needs. When you take a front-facing photo in good light, the scan reads your facial contour, muscle tone, and skin condition. It then builds a plan that targets your specific weak points, whether that’s the jaw, the neck, or the cheeks.

The scan also gives you a baseline. You re-scan weekly, and progress photos sit side by side, so you compare real images instead of relying on memory. This is useful because facial changes are slow; without a side-by-side, you might not notice the small improvements that are actually happening. Your photos stay on your device and are never uploaded.