Gorgeous skin is yours for keeps. The answer lies partly in your hands, so get to work!
Life has a way of showing up on our skin and we need something to bring it back to a healthy balance. Like the muscles in other parts of your body, the ones in your face absorb, and store, a lot of stress and tension and unless you relax and strengthen them, they get stiff and look strained. Thankfully, there is a way. All it takes is some sleight of hand — gentle flowing strokes along the skin surface. Yes, we’re talking facial massage, to relieve tension, tone skin, give it some lift and boost blood circulation thereby brightening your complexion. As an added benefit - it works to enhance the penetration and absorption of skincare products.
That massage is therapeutic is ancient news. Facial massage uses the principles of a body massage and applies them to the muscles of the face.
What lies beneath
Your skin is made of layers — the epidermis, dermis and its foundation of subcutaneous, adipose and muscle tissue. When young and strong, these bounce back quickly from facial tension, but as you age, the tissues loosen up and start sagging. To counter this, you need to work deep, applying active and targeted pressure to the muscles of the face to achieve results.
You can massage your face with an oil, serum or concentrate, just enough for your fingers to glide across the face and neck. Warm up the product in your hands to activate its goodness and using firm, but gentle circular strokes, move upward and outward from the center of the face and around the eyes. Make sure to take it a bit easier when you massage the lymph nodes under your ears and along the sides of your neck. This is when/where you should make wide circles using your fingertips to move from under the ears downwards towards the throat, then going back up to the jawline.
Avoid pulling or dragging your skin. Be delicate around the eyes, over the cheekbones and the jawline. Apply just enough pressure to work the muscles lying beneath the surface. And remember - a facial massage is not a deep tissue massage.
A 5-minute facial massage helps stimulate the skin, increase blood flow, and coax oxygen and nutrients into the tissues. Add this practice to your skincare routine two to three times a week and you will have aided collagen and elastin production – which, in turn, helps maintain skin strength and resilience. The result: supple skin and toned facial and neck muscles.
Multiple ways to get results
Close your eyes, and gently feel your face — it’s shape, texture, and the movement of muscles. There’s more than one way to massage your face and some of these other techniques might just be better suited to your skin. Whichever method you choose, enjoy the feel of energy flowing from your hands to your face as you go through your massage routine.
- Lymphatic drainage massage: Helps remove toxins and control fluid build-up thereby reducing acne and flare-ups. A gentle massage of the lymph nodes under the ears and in the neck, works to drain toxins and helps de-puff skin, especially the bags under the eyes.
- Japanese facial massage technique: Use the fattiest part of the palm to apply pressure, hold and lift skin in place for five seconds and then release, all in a circular motion. The pressure of your palm helps lift and relax facial muscles and the circular motion increases blood flow to your face. When done right, cheekbones look higher, skin feels softer, glows more and is relaxed. The same steps can be applied to the forehead to ease tension and reduce lines.
- The patting method: Use the lower part of your fingers to pat your face... the right hand to pat the right side of the face and the left to pat the left side of the face. Do it soon after you wake up to revive your skin.
A facial massage not only smooths worry lines but lifts the spirits too, allowing you to carry this radiance and sense of wellbeing into the day.