1 Month of Facial Gua Sha Massage
My learning journey when it comes to skincare, face massage, and wellness is a never-ending adventure. I wanted to put gua sha face massage to the test for one month to see what type of results I could produce. I grabbed a facial model and started my gua sha experiment! What happens when you get a gua sha face massage once a week for one month?
Shop my favorite gua sha stone here
A brief overview of what gua sha facial massage is:
Facial gua sha is when a flat stone or tool is used to glide along the skin, creating circulation and stimulating lymphatic flow. Gua sha stones come in different shapes and sizes. The most popular and well-known type of gua sha stone for facial massage is the kidney-shaped stone. This shape can easily glide along the face and fit areas like the jawline, cheekbones, and brow area. During a facial gua sha treatment your esthetician or massage therapist will apply facial oil and use gua sha stone(s) and their hands to properly manipulate and drain lymph, leaving your face less puffy. Muscle tension in the head, jaw, and face can also be released during a gua sha facial. Your technician will also use gua sha stone techniques that firm skin and lift tissues, giving your face and neck a youthful, lifted look.
scrub me secret: What’s the difference between a gua sha face massage and a gua sha facial? A gua sha facial includes cleansing of the skin, treatment masks, and gua sha face massage. i have clients that prefer just the gua sha massage on its own and others that love the facial with gua sha.
Gua sha before and after:
Gua sha face massage once a week for one month
ON THE LEFT: Before the sequence of gua sha face massages
ON THE RIGHT: After 4 weeks of once weekly gua sha massage
Meet Pete! (my husband 🥰) he had the pleasure of being my test subject for this blog post. I gave him a 20-30 minute gua sha face massage once a week for the past 4 weeks and these are his results!
What we noticed in Pete’s skin:
Major de-puffing in his entire face, especially around the eye area and jawline.
Some lifting of the tissues in the cheek area, helping the whole face look more lifted.
A reduction in the fine lines along his neck. (tech neck wrinkles!)
Some reduction in his deeper forehead expression line.
Clearer and healthier overall complexion.
scrub me secret: Because This type of face massage helps combat lifestyle and environmental variants that damage our skin (such as what we eat & drink, Uv exposure, expressions, etc) consistent gua sha massage is the key to having long-lasting results.
You can perform gua sha face massage at home and /or visit a professional for treatment.
How gua sha face massage can change your face:
Gua sha creates better circulation in the skin = a more clear and youthful complexion
When you massage your face you stimulate oxygen and blood flow that circulates directly to your skin’s tissues. This blood and oxygen flow to our skin cells delivers nutrients and helps to decrease damage and aging of our tissues. This is a great way to both practice wellness for your skin and provide your face with visible lifting, firming, and radiance-producing effects.
Another awesome thing about face massage? The nutrient and oxygen flow keeps on flowing hours after your face massage is over.
Gua sha activates lymph drainage = less puffiness and a more contoured face
Our bodies have hundreds of lymph nodes; there specifically are a few lymph nodes located under our ears, down the side of our necks that help regulate lymph flow in our face. Sometimes the lymphatic system can become stagnant and not let this lymph fluid flow and drain the toxins as it should. This can result in fluid retention in the face that can make our eyes, jawline, cheek area, and other places of the face look puffy or ruddy.
Using gua sha face massage to stimulate these areas with lymph nodes and open up pathways of drainage helps these fluids to drain from the face, resulting in less puffiness and a more contoured look.
scrub me secret: lymph drainage can also lead to a reduction in breakouts for some people. stimulating lymph flow can reduce toxins in your skin that can contribute to pimples and larger acne breakouts.
Gua sha lifts & renews skin tissues = less sagging, fine lines, & wrinkles
When your gua sha stone is used in the correct way (see THIS BLOG for more details) you can renew collagen and elastin that helps your skin to feel firm and have a more lifted look. The gentle yet specific “tugging” that happens during a gua sha massage is the key to firming the skin and ironing out fine lines.
A gua sha stone can also be used for a deeper type of face massage that physically lifts the skin’s tissues upwards as it is massaged. When this is done correctly and cumulatively it can help lift areas that start to sag as we age. To work on ironing out deeper wrinkles there are tissue-stimulating motions that you can do to essentially break up the stuck tissues that hold the wrinkle(s). You can find these wrinkle-reduction motions in my blog post “5 ant-aging motions you can add to your routine today”
How to incorporate daily gua sha into your skincare routine:
Because facial massage needs to be performed on clean skin you’ll want to aim to fit it in after your AM or PM cleansing. If a midday gua sha session is the only way you can fit this into your daily routine then you can use a toner or skin essence to refresh your face before applying your facial oil for the massage.
My best tips for fitting face massage into your day:
put it on your to-do list or in your Google calendar. I have a daily planner with a checklist and each day gua sha is on that list.
do you watch TV, TikTok, YouTube, etc? You can easily gua sha for 5-20min during that time. My personal favorite is to watch 20-30 minutes of TV while I perform a facial massage for myself.
set your alarm for 15 minutes earlier in the day and sit in bed while you gua sha your face and neck. Your skin will still be clean from your PM routine so you can just wake up, grab your facial oil and gua sha stone, and start.
use gua sha as your daily meditation or self-care. We all need to take time for ourselves each day!
What do you think? Do you think you’ll incorporate more gua sha into your skincare routine? Let me know in the comments!