I scrunch my brows when I sleep and it's starting to create 11's! What can I do to prevent this from happening?

Hello! | (27F) have had pretty decent wrinkle free skin up until now. Over the last few months, I’ve had such high stress that I wake up every morning with my eyebrows scrunched up. I think I make that facial expression due to bad dreams. It started out by leaving red marks in-between my brows for an hour or so but they would go away. This last week, it finally happened… a permanent light wrinkle appeared in-between my brows.

Is there any type of product (aside from Botox) that would prevent me from making that expression in my sleep? Are there methods to train myself out of it? I think I do it when I’m working as well- it’s kind of my go-to stressed out facial expression. I’m sure it also adds tension to my whole face and I’m trying to work on relieving that tension as much as possible.

As for products I’m using, I started adding retinol into my routine as well as rose hip oil, marula oil, a vitamin c oil, and a heavy moisturizer. My face has looked dry and dull recently so l’m trying to be more on top of it. I also have added more gelatin into my diet for joint and skin care.

Frownies or facial tape!!! It’s the best!

I’ll look into those! Do you think the frowns are strong enough to fight back against the eyebrow scrunch? I’m worried they’ll peel off in my sleep if I’m scrunching hard.

I do this too! I wake up making a lemon face all the time.

I started using the 3M medical grade paper tape and it works well to prevent and even reverse my 11s. I also use tretinoin at night along with moisturizers and even oils sometimes and it sticks through anything. It even sticks to wet skin. It’s still easy to take off the next day and I have zero reaction to the adhesive. If you find it too sticky initially you can stick it to the back of your hand before putting it on and that tones down the adhesive a little. Keeping my forehead immobile overnight along with the tret has reduced the appearance of my 11s and keeps them from coming back. I tried Botox once and hated it so I’m happy this works for me.

It takes time but mine went away with tretinoin 0.05%, after 1.5 years of nightly usage. I do not use any face tape

Hi there,

It seems like you may be looking for information about hyperpigmentation or post-acne marks. Have you read our hyperpigmentation wiki?

If you see that I am replying to something out of context (eg. listed in a routine), please report this comment so my handlers can remove it. Cheers!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

personally, i love the moisture surge, it is so hydrating and doesn’t leave my face feeling greasy or oily just well-hydrated

You probably need an oil. So either get the original Clinique (not gel), or you can add a separate oil (squalene, rose hip, argan, etc) to your routine. You can either pump both into your hand and mix them up or you can put the oil on after the gel.

You could try adding a facial oil or hydrating toner to your routine

I had this same issue! I switched to Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Face Cream and was surprised at how well it worked. Aveeno body lotion is too greasy feeling for me, but the face cream feels very light. I tried Cerave and Vanicream in the tubs and they both gave me cystic acne on my cheeks.

If you’re using it at night, you can always slug w aquaphor or something