Welcome to Beverly's Notebook

Beverly Hanna - Age 79 - Creator Flexaway System Facial Exerciser

11.10.08

A couple of days ago I received a letter from a user exhuberantly endorsing the effects of the Flexaway System on her face. In it, however, she touches on an issue that I feel is of vital importance to our users present and future. You can read her entire letter by clicking on "What People Are Saying", but here is an excerpt which I feel worth calling to your attention:

"...When I got the product I didn't take the time to read instructions and did not get it placed in my mouth properly. I spent two days feeling uncomfortable using it. Finally I took the time to take another look at the instructions while looking in a mirror. From that point on it was a breeze..."

To stress the importance of the point she makes, let me share with you a serious problem which arose when a writer/reviewer for MSNBC named Diane Mapes mistakenly placed the buttons facing backward causing the rubber band to irritate her mouth. As a consequence she dissed the product totally. (She also stated that she used the product for two weeks but still looks old) which does not constitute libel in the legal sense, and no amount of pleading or cudgelry on my part has gotten a response from MSNBC, Microsoft or NBC. Apparently being huge and powerful means never having to say you're sorry.

Without looking at the printed instructions that come with the Flexaway kit, and using a mirror to check to make certain it is in your mouth exactly as shown in the photo/illustration, it's a toss up whether you will be doing it correctly. Shortly before the Mapes article appeared, we had already taken costly steps to make this product as user-friendly as possible and it appears we have been successful.

Keep flexing! Nothing lifts despair faster than seeing an attractive face in the mirror when the alarm clock goes off. It will energize you for the entire day and beyond, I promise you!

11.2.08

With recent revelations about the failure of regulatory agencies to blow the whistle on corporate abuse of investors, maybe it's time to take a closer look at the products deemed safe to put on our skin.

Could burning your skin off with acid on a routine basis extract a price over time? Could injecting a deadly toxin less than an inch from the brain have an accumulative effect over time?

This started me thinking about setting up a forum on this website inviting people to share their experiences with organic products -- which are best, which are priced fairly and, conversely, which are not recommended for specific reasons.

I'd be interested in hearing what others think in this regard.. You can email me at bibes3@comcast.net to let me know.

10.16.08

While ours is an on-line business, we frequently get calls from folks who want to hear a human voice before sending their credit card numbers into the wild blue yonder.

The question most of them ask is: "Does this thing really work?" After assuring them that it will work provided they are willing to use it regularly, they often complain that they are fed up with expensive creams that claim to do wonders but don't do a thing (i.e., do not remove wrinkles or improve facial appearance in any visible way).

In a recent foray into a department store, I perched on a stool at a popular cosmetic counter while a young man proceeded to apply his wares to my face. It was a slow day so some of the other cosmeticians stood around watching. I must admit that overall it was a very pleasant experience, with him dabbing, patting, and humming while his colleagues cooed and oohed as I watched their faces for affirmation that he was making headway.

Before applying the pretty stuff, he explained that he was applying an amazing new product that works on contact to decrease wrinkles...so potent that only a little dab will do ya (which was good news considering it would probably cost out at a dollar a dab). After using it for a month without visible results I quit. Yet another triumph of hope over experience, I told myself

In a way I'm relieved that so many of these expensive creams don't work as advertised. It saves us from having to choose between looking good and watering the soup to feed our families.

9.18.08

Lately we're seeing a flurry of articles critical of facial exercise as an anti-aging tool, often accompanied by quotes from cosmetic surgeons explaining why they do not help.

These are not Public Service Announcements, as you might suspect. Like most other businesses these days, cosmetic surgeons are feeling the pinch of this economy, whereas facial exercise is more accepted and more in demand than ever.

While facial exercise has three obvious advantages over cosmetic surgery (price, a more natural appearance and permanency), a surgical facelift by a skilled physician is beyond anything facial exercise alone can achieve, but a word of caution: Never take the low bid!

8.27.08

Call it syncronicity or just plain coincidence, lately I have had a cluster of emails from new users concerned with how the eyelids and eyebrows can be lifted by flexing when they feel very little movement in that area. There must be a number of you out there who are wondering the same thing, so let me get to this issue here.

Yes, your eyebrows and eyelids will lift, and here is why and how. I think the best way to explain it would be to use regular body pushups as an example: Even though only your arms move, the entire body gets a workout from the tension. (As my late husband put it, "If your face could do pushups you wouldn't need a Flexaway.")

The tension in the upper face takes time to develop -- usually after switching over to the heavy bands. To speed up the process try lifting your eyebrows, but only SLIGHTLY so you don't develop or emphasize any lines in the forehead. This also blocks the frown lines. Use a mirror to study your facial movements while flexing to make sure you don't see a wrinkled brow or frown lines forming. You may even lay the flat of your hand across the forehead in the beginning to prevent any lines from forming.

The detractors of facial exercise point out that it causes lines rather than removing them and there is some truth in that. It's just not the WHOLE truth, fortunately. The Flexaway was designed to keep facial movement at a minimum but tension at the maximum.

-Bev