Improving your posture is a hot longevity trend — and cheaper than a facelift
My mom, a Pilates teacher, likes to remind me that I have a curved spine, or mild scoliosis, with a head that protrudes forward and rounded shoulders, apparently from leaning over my homework on the floor as a child. She says my posture is the cause of my chronic headaches (probably true) and if I don't sort it out, I'll end up bent over like a hunchback (still up for debate).
Over the years, I've been to physio appointments, yoga and Pilates classes, and hung my neck off a foam roller every evening for five minutes, all in the name of correcting my posture to prevent more chronic pain.
Don't get me wrong, these things helped and I was privileged to have access to them. But, particularly when I was in school, the strengthening exercises and orthopedic props felt embarrassing and prematurely geriatric. In my mind, they were in the same bucket as orthotics (which my mom made me get at age 11 for my pigeon toes), neck braces, and retainers. Necessary but deeply unsexy, and certainly something you keep to yourself, hidden from friends and all future lovers.
Lately, though, I've noticed a vibe shift. In May, for the first time, I heard musculoskeletal affairs spoken about purely as an antiaging beauty hack.
I came across an influencer, Helen Leland, dissecting how Emma Chamberlain could improve her posture to look better on the Met Gala red carpet. Leland suggested Chamberlain try the same simple exercises she said she used to push back her rounded shoulders and "slow down the visible signs of aging."
@helenleland
If Emma Chamberlain has bad posture… odds are, you do too!! Not trying to call you out — it's just super common, I had really bad rounded shoulders too!! BUT it is not just in your shoulders, it's showing up on your face too! Tech neck, jaw tension, early jowls — they're all linked to posture. Do this routine with me and try it for 2 weeks — but get back to me after Day 1 and tell me if you felt that shift!!! #emmachamberlain #metgala #posturecorrection #posture #posturecheck #posturecorrector #foryoupage #fyp #roundedshoulders #posturefix
♬ original sound - Helen Leland - Helen Leland
After a quick search, I found the twin sisters Valentina Giselle and Julia Aether, who use the handle @ByThatGirl, promoting a 12-minute routine to their 645,000 followers, which they said fixed their rounded shoulders and helped them " glow up."
"My posture wasn't just affecting my body. It was affecting my jawline, my puffiness, even the brightness of my eyes," the caption read.
It echoed Leland's TikTok, in which she said: "When your posture's bad, everything's blocked. More neck lines, more wrinkles, more puffiness, jowls. Posture literally controls the shape of your face."
I'm not sure it's quite that simple, but it made me think.
The boundary between healthy aging and looking young forever is blurring
A few months ago, I started doing more Pilates and posture exercises because my headaches were becoming more frequent. It's reduced the pain, but I also like how, in my opinion, they made the skin on my neck a little smoother and my jawline a little more defined. These shifts align with current body trends — a snatched jawline arguably being the " thigh gap" of our time.
As longevity and biohacking continue to trend and innovations in cosmetic procedures advance, I'm seeing the boundary between staying healthy for longer and staying beautiful blurring. Earlier this month, Elle described "perfect posture" as a "hot pursuit in wellness circles."
While posture as a marker of beauty is nothing new (think of the girls in twentieth-century finishing schools balancing books on their heads to develop poise and grace), what feels new is posture existing at the nexus of beauty and longevity.
Correcting your posture is cheaper than a facelift
My brain quickly connected the dots between Leland's take on posture helping her to "get hot and stay hot," and how Kris Jenner, Lindsay Lohan, and Christina Aguilera 's suddenly ageless faces have rocked public consciousness. Their sharper jawlines and tighter neck and face skin shaved years off their appearance (Jenner confirmed that she had an expensive facelift to achieve her look, Lohan put it down to skincare, facial lasers, botox, and dietary changes, while Aguilera hasn't commented).
When Kim Kardashian's shapewear brand, Skims, launched a product called Face Wrap last month, it further convinced me that correcting your posture, and all that comes with it, has the potential to become the next big beauty trend.
The brand has described the $50 compression garment that wraps around the head, jaw, and neck as "a must-have addition to your nightly routine." It was an apparent nod to the "morning shed" trend, where women go to bed wearing anything from skincare products, collagen masks, jaw straps, mouth tape, LED neck masks, and heatless curlers, in the hope of waking up looking beautiful.
In an Instagram video shared by Skims, an influencer takes off the Face Wrap and says: "shout out to Skims for giving me this snatched jawline," although there is no evidence to suggest a compression garment can change the shape or structure of a person's face. Skims didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
But the appeal of the wrap is clear. While demand for both face and necklifts has risen slightly in the last year—according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 2% more necklifts, or around 22,000 in total, and 1% more facelifts, around 79,000 total, were performed in the US in 2024 than in 2023 — most of us don't have a spare $100,000 or the weeks it takes to heal after one of these surgeries.
I don't see myself donning a Skims Face Wrap anytime soon, but we may just be witnessing the start of the perfect posture industrial complex. Perhaps a Rhode neck support pillow or a Savage X Fenty posture corrector bra are on the horizon.
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