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Accentuating the cheekbones gives the face that extra bit of appeal. If the cheekbones appear more prominent this also adds contour and shape to the cheeks, giving a more elegant tapered shape to the face.

The muscles that need to be toned in order to highlight the cheekbones are the zygomaticus major. These are one of the pairs of levator muscles of the lips (levator simply means uplifting). These particular levator muscles are the ones that draw up the outer corners of the lips.

They run from the outer corners of the lips to the outer area of the cheekbones. The response of these muscles varies quite widely from person to person, depending on facial type. Some people use the muscles quite easily in facial animation, while others hardly use them at all. You can find out how your facial pattern of muscle response helps to determine how your face looks, and how it ages in The Ultimate Natural Facelift

Regardless of how well these muscles are developed in your face, you can use this very simple exercise to tone the zygomaticus muscles to highlight your cheekbones.

  Keeping the mouth firmly closed, force a smile using the lips only. Keep the eye muscles as relaxed as possible: do not squint or narrow the eyes at all; keep them as wide open as you can.

Try to lift the cheeks outwards towards your temples - imagine you are trying to lift the corners of your lips to form a banana shape. Hold the smile for three seconds, then relax.

Now do the same again but this time try to prevent your lips from widening. Keep your lips slightly pursed to help you do this.

Remember to keep the eye muscles relaxed. Hold for three seconds, then relax.

As you do these exercises it may help if you touch your cheeks so that you can feel the muscles working.

Relax and repeat five times. Do these exercises once a day.