Face Massage: How it Really Works 🧐
How facial massage works:
Face massage is a technique that has many forms. This type of facial treatment can be performed using a gua sha stone, facial rollers, gua sha spoon, or just your hands alone. We can use massage to treat specific skincare concerns like lines/wrinkles, breakouts, sagging skin, dull skin, and a puffy face and/or neck. In this blog post, you’ll learn all about the science behind face massage and why I find it works so well for giving us the skincare results we desire.
scrub me secret: Over the past 3 years I have taken the time to learn, practice, and get certification in gua sha facial massage and Thai herbal poultice facial massage.
Face massage facts ⤵️
Massaging the skin boosts circulation in the skin, creating a more radiant glow.
Great circulation boosts oxygen flow in the skin which helps it heal faster and retain collagen and elastin better.
Face massage has the ability to create lymphatic movement, helping to detox the skin and body.
We can release tight facial muscles using facial massage. Tight facial muscles can result in discomfort, TMJ, and facial sagging.
When performed correctly, facial massage can result in a more contoured-looking face by reducing puffiness.
Face massage has been practiced for thousands of years.
Why face massage works for skin clarity:
During a facial massage, there is also focus placed on the decolletage, neck, and back of the neck. This is more helpful than you know for clearing breakouts, acne, and clogged pores!
Releasing muscles and tissues in your face, neck, and décolletage opens up pathways that allow stagnant lymph fluid to get moving. Lymph carries away cellular waste. We need our lymph to flow correctly so it can help detox this waste and not keep it stored in our bodies. When lymph fluid becomes stagnant (unmoving) it can create issues like congestion, acne, and/or a ruddy complexion. Face massage using your hands, facial cups, or a gua sha stone can create the release for lymph to easily flow and move along the lymphatic drainage process. That’s what makes facial massage helpful for clearing our skin!
scrub me secret: we have lymph nodes underneath each ear and along the sides of our neck. This is why we always start our skin clearing or de-puffing face massage with movements underneath the ear and up and down the neck.
Why face massage works for anti-aging:
Face massage is an excellent tool for both preventing aging and reducing signs of aging. We can massage with our hands, gua sha stones, and facial rollers to lift the skin, make our face look more contoured, and remove/reduce wrinkles.
Sagging we see in the face is partially caused by tense muscles that pull our face and neck downward. When we release these tense facial muscles we can then more easily massage and lift our facial muscles, helping them sit in a higher place (say hello lifted cheekbones and brows!) We can also use targeted movements to release a wrinkle and smooth it out to make it less visible, or ideally make it disappear. Certain expressions we make, such as furrowing our brow or squinting our eyes can create wrinkles. Targeted face massage movements can release the skin’s tissues that are stuck and create those expression lines. Furthermore, face massage creates blood flow, oxygen flow, and nutrient flow in our skin. That means our body’s largest organ (our skin) is getting a delivery of all those nutrients and circulation, which is really helpful for plumping the skin.
scrub me secret: I am currently taking a face taping course and practicing using kinesiology tape on my chest, face, and neck to stimulate skin tissues and lift sagging skin. I will report back on whether it has great anti-aging benefits or not.
Left: Me when I was 25 and using skincare but NO face massage. Right: Me now, 32 years old. I’ve been utilizing face massage consistently for about 3 years.
Why I incorporate face massage into my skincare routine:
Since the beginning of my career as an esthetician I have always been drawn to more holistically based skin care treatments. My dry skin tends to look dull so the idea of massaging my skin to boost circulation/oxygen flow to create radiance really appealed to me.
As I learned more about face massage I loved the ways I was able to contour and lift my face and neck using just my hands, facial oil, and a few gua sha tools. As I age I ideally would like to keep my skin wrinkle-free and lifted-looking for as long as possible, but I want to do this in a way that feels right for me. Botox, fillers, other injectables, and invasive treatments don’t feel like something I personally want to use. I have found that face massage allows me to focus on the health of my skin while helping me look and feel naturally beautiful.