By Holly O'Neill
21st Apr 2020
21st Apr 2020
Facial massage makes an instant difference.
Warning: graphic notions ahead.
Look, you’re either the kind of person who is going to spend time at home massaging your own face, or you’re not. Somewhere along the journey from intern at IMAGE to junior beauty editor at IMAGE Magazine, I picked up a few notions. I only sleep on silk pillowcases now, I keep serum ice cubes in the freezer, I hang eucalyptus in my shower, there is always more skincare than milk in my fridge and yes, I dedicate several minutes of my day to massaging my own face. When you try it out for yourself, you’ll stop scoffing.
You may have seen some of the tutorials on TikTok, should you be among the many to download the app out of isolation boredom, amid baking banana bread and Zoom quizzing. If you haven’t reached that level of ennui yet, I’ll explain: essentially, the Tiktoker pinches, slaps, massages and squeezes their face until minutes later, they have an entirely different, lifted face. That might sound slightly aggressive, but it’s not.
Here’s how it works; massaging your face boosts circulation and lymphatic drainage for bright, toned and firmer skin. You use light to medium pressure, sweeping across your facial contours and acupressure points. Doing this has incredible benefits, including relieving facial tension and headaches, reducing puffiness and inflammation, releasing jaw tension, increasing blood flow, easing muscle pain, migraines, sinus pressure and fascinatingly, lifting and sculpting your jaw and cheekbones.
The first step to facial massage is to use a facial oil, for slip on your skin. Some of my favourites are the La Mer Renewal Oil, €185, Votary Super Seed Facial Oil, €81.50 and the Kora Organics Noni Glow Face Oil, €26, because they are all vitamin-packed and feel divine, but you don’t need to splash out this much on a facial oil. Garden of Wisdom’s Pure Squalane Oil is just as good for only €10.42 — it is non-greasy, hydrating, lightweight, doesn’t clog pores, improves texture and is suitable for all skin types.
The next step is your tool. I have this beautiful rose quartz jade roller, €39 (one of the many skincare products in my fridge) and gua sha, €26 from The White Company. Don’t worry about splashing out on these either if you don’t want to — try the edge of a comb, a ladle, the rim of a mug or stick two teaspoons in the fridge.
And finally, the technique. There are so many great online tutorials.
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Nichola Joss is the incredible facialist with a client list that includes Meghan Markle, Kate Moss, Scarlett Johansson, Gisele Bündchen and Gwyneth Paltrow. No better place to start than with her morning facial massage.
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Facegym in London is a place of worship for the facial massage fandom, where you can go and give your face a workout for sculpting, toning and lifting. The Facegym Instagram is packed with at-home facial massage tutorials.
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And finally, no facial massage tutorial is complete without a mention of Sarah Chapman, whose clients include Victoria Beckham, Meghan Markle and Gigi Hadid. She has a whole range of sculpting tools available to buy, but she’s shared a tutorial on Instagram that requires only your fingertips.
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