In my blog post earlier this month I covered the topic of Rolfing; a type of bodywork that focuses on aligning connective tissue. I met with a Rolfing therapist here in Chicago, named Katy, and we discussed the differences and similarities between facial Rolfing and the facial massage work I do in the treatment room. My ears really perked up when she mentioned that part of her facial Rolfing work includes working with the inside and outside of the mouth! Working with the inner part of the mouth while massaging the face is something that I have seen before in facial videos but didn’t know a lot about.

scrub me secret: to learn more about Rolfing and my experience with Katy check out my blog post “What’s Rolfing? Can make you look and feel younger?”

I am obsessed with lifting massages so after talking about this different type of facial massage I went straight to investigating more. Buccal massage is the formal name for this type of technique where the inner and outer parts of the face are worked with. Buccal Facial treatments help lift and smooth facial muscles and tissue, I’m all in!

scrub me secret: Buccal facial massages are becoming more well known in the past few years because of Meghan Markel. Meghan is said to be a huge fan of this lifting massage and has her esthetician incorporate it into her facial treatments.

Benefits of a buccal face massage:

Think of this type of facial massage as a workout session for your facial muscles. The deep massaging from both sides of the muscle can strengthen, lift and contour your face. Strengthening and lifting muscles in the cheeks and jaw area helps smooth smile (jowl) lines, fight facial sagging, and take puffiness the eye area making eyes look brighter. When performed correctly and routinely enough buccal facial treatments can sculpt the jawline and cheek areas to make them look more contoured. Like some other facial massages, buccal massage provides some lymph drainage and also some relief for those with TMJ.

What buccal face massage is like:

Your esthetician or facial massage technician will cleanse your skin and apply a lightweight facial oil. Most buccal massages start out with some facial cupping to get oxygen and lymph moving in the skin. After the facial cupping, your technician puts a pair of gloves on for sanitation reasons and starts massaging your face around the mouth area.

scrub me secret: your massage technician or esthetician will use gloved hands to massage the mouth and lips by using a light pinching motion. This helps plump the lips and smooth any fine lines surrounding them.

It may feel a bit off or strange at first as your esthetician uses their gloved hands to massage the inner and outer parts of your mouth but you will soon feel comfortable with the feeling! Areas of your gums will be massaged where your gums connect to your inner cheek, this will loosen jaw tension. Massage movements around the jawline help contour the jaw. Other techniques like massaging the cheek muscles from both the inside and the outside will help sculpt cheeks and help the face appear more lifted. A buccal massage lasts anywhere from 20-60 minutes depending on your esthetician or massage therapist. If performed correctly you should see immediate results. With a consistent monthly routine, you should be able to fight the signs of aging without having any injectables or invasive treatments.

My experience with buccal face massage:

After reading up on buccal massage I’m super excited to start learning this technique. Then I can master it and start lifting all of your faces! From what I learned from reading and watching a few videos I was able to create a little buccal facial massage routine to try on myself. I started with facial cupping and then, with gloved hands, worked on the inner/outer parts of my lips and cheeks while also working with my gums and jaw muscles. This massage that I did on myself was a short one that lasted about 5 minutes but even with this I was able to see a bit of lifting in my face and overall I felt a little more “awake” looking. I can see how incorporating this into a facial can give some major results!

scrub me secret: Yakov Gershkovich is a man from Russia who has been deemed a master in facial lifting massages. He has his own specific sequence and techniques that include some buccal massage work. Yakov travels all over to teach estheticians and therapists his special massage secrets. I’ll be taking his online course in the future for sure!