One thing a year of shop closures highlighted is just how much we took our monthly salon trips for granted. On a positive note, lockdown taught us how easy it is to keep up with a beauty and self-care routine at home. One of many at-home treatments we adore is face massage. Find out how to do your own, as well as its benefits below.
WHAT IS A FACE MASSAGE?
Face massage is a technique that stimulates pressure points on your face, neck and shoulders. The procedure relaxes your facial muscles, promoting skin health and has a rejuvenating effect.
FACE MASSAGE BENEFITS
Face massage is often carried out by professionals, but it’s so simple to perform yourself. Its benefits may include stress relief and relaxation, improving blood flow, firm skin, and helping to minimise wrinkles.
- Softer skin: Massaging with moisturizer helps to keep your face hydrated which could improve its texture. A face massage combined with a gentle face scrub can also help exfoliate your skin. This may help in unclogging pores and reducing blemishes.
- Improved circulation: Face massage encourages blood flow to the skin, giving it a healthy flush
- Glowing skin: As mentioned, face massage with moisturisers helps give your skin a healthy glow by improving both its circulation and hydration. When massage is combined with a gentle exfoliator it can help to shift dull, dead skin. This helps reveal newer skin cells which gives the face a brighter, more even complexion
- Slows down ageing: Another great thing about face massage is by improve the circulation of blood in the skin it can encourage growth of new skin cells. This could help prevent fine lines and new wrinkles. Massage may also boost the production of collagen which helps improve skin’s elasticity, making it appear younger
- Sinus relief: Whilst a facial massage won’t cure a virus such as a cold or flu, it can relieve some of the pressure in your sinuses. The massage may also help alleviate headaches.
HOW TO MASSAGE YOUR FACE
Giving yourself a face massage is easier than you think. Just follow the steps below:
STEP 1 – PREPARE YOUR SKIN
A face massage should be done after cleansing your face and whilst you’re applying moisturiser.
Start with washing your hands, then use a mild facial cleanser to gently cleanse your skin. If you’re wearing makeup, double cleanse to remove every bit of makeup residue. To do this, first remove makeup with an oil-based makeup remover, wash your face, then cleanse with micellar water or another cleanser of your choice.
STEP 2 – USE THE RIGHT TOOLS
Although you could massage your face with your hands, you could also use a roller or face massager instead.
Two tools beauticians love for face massages are quartz rollers and ice rollers. A rose quartz roller such as the Finishing Touch Flawless Contour, is generally cool to touch and doesn’t require you to chill it beforehand. This type of roller may help promote collagen production, reducing wrinkles, and is ideal to use all over your face and neck, including under your eyes.
The cooling touch has a soothing effect, and you can even use it to reduce under-eye puffiness and dark circles. Easy to use with or without vibration, it can help you up your face massage game. We love using it with the vibration on though as it helps moisturizer penetrate deeper, for healthier and more-hydrated skin.
Alternatively, you could use an ice roller. Unlike quartz rollers, ice rollers such as the Finishing Touch Ice Roller aren’t generally cool to touch on their own. It contains a gel and water mix, and you should keep the roller in the freezer for a few hours before using it.
Whilst you may need to wait to cool it, ice rollers are an excellent choice for cold therapy since the gel inside them is cooler than quartz. Massaging with this type of ice roller can help reduce the size of your pores, soothe and refresh skin, and reduce puffiness and muscle tension. An Ice Roller is also great for calming the skin after a treatment such as microdermabrasion, dermaplaning or waxing. We also use ours if tweezing to soothe our eyebrow area.
STEP 3 – MASSAGE YOUR FACE
- Pour some under-eye-friendly moisturiser with lots of slip in your hand and rub your hands together to warm it up, before applying it all over your face. You may also use a serum or face oil.
- Start your face at your neck and use your roller to roll the skin upward in one direction toward your chin. Avoid rolling up and down.
- Roll upward and outwards under the jawline. Repeat five times.
- Next roll upward and outward beneath your cheekbone toward your ears. Repeat five times.
- Gently roll under your eyes to help reduce puffiness. Being extra gentle is vital because the skin under the eyes is thinner and more sensitive. Repeat three times.
- Starting from one side of your forehead to the other, roll up from the brows to the forehead, stopping at the hairline. Repeat each sweep five times until you’ve gradually moved from your left to your right temple.
- Allow your moisturiser to melt into the skin and enjoy the effects of a massaged, hydrated face!
BONUS TIP: Don’t forget to roll more slowly over the neck, chin and jaw. You can be quicker and firmer on the cheeks and forehead.
SEE? FACIAL MASSAGE IS SIMPLE
Easily one of the most enjoyable personal beauty treatments, face massage is a great way to relax and distress and has a host of benefits.
So, what are you waiting for? Are you ready to pamper yourself with a facial in the comfort of your home? Before you go, don’t forget to check out other beauty tips from our blog, including tips for a spa day at home and to check other products in our Finishing Touch Flawless range.