Every woman is looking for the proverbial fountain of youth. After treating hundreds of women battling acne, wrinkles, and aging for years, we've come to realize there is no magic pill for skincare that will heal your skin overnight. Skincare is all about consistency.
We can't stress enough the importance of a skincare routine. Give your face some TLC daily, and your skin will thank you for years to come.
Skincare routines do not need to be complicated. In fact, the easier, the better.
We're skincare minimalists, so we created an easy 3-step system for you to do a gua sha facial at home.
We like to keep it holistic and straightforward because it saves us time, money, and improves our overall health. We're advocates of our TOMA Essential Skincare Kit that has done wonders for our clients and us, but today we are going to talk about an ancient Chinese facial massage that does more our for skin and health than any topical product we use.
Ancient Chinese Gua Sha Facial
Chinese Medicine doctors invented Gua Sha or "wind-scraping" to remove pathogens and improve circulation in our bodies. Oftentimes this causes redness and bruising as blood is being moved to enhance circulation. For use on the face, the intense scraping method is a milder "gliding" version to help tone and firm the skin.
Similar to body scraping, facial scraping’s goal is to facilitate circulation and lymphatic drainage for a youthful, dewy glow.
As you gently "scrape" your face, fresh oxygenated blood stimulates cell renewal. The blood transfers nutrients that make cell regeneration and repairs efficient, which is vital for healing scars and boosting collagen production.
Every woman should add gua sha scraping to their routine. It's highly effective and only takes 5 minutes.
Not quite sure how to gua sha at home? Learn how to with our "How-To Gua Sha Scrap at Home."
In just 5 minutes a day, you can experience al these wonderful benefits of gua sha!
Benefits of Gua Sha: Lymphatic Drainage
Your lymph is a clear fluid that transports white blood cells throughout your body. Lymph nodes are congregations of tissue that filter out old cells and create new white blood cells for your body.
Your lymphatic system is CRUCIAL to your immune system. It's twice the size of our circulatory system, yet unlike our circulatory system lacks a pump (or heart) to clean and move lymph automatically.
Lymph circulation or drainage through lymph nodes only happens through muscle contraction or movement or massage. With modern sedentary lifestyles, our lymph systems are susceptible to damage and sluggishness.
A sluggish lymph system can cause:
- Swollen or puffy skin
- Chronic Fatigue
- Colds or illness
- Acne and Skin Conditions
Facial gua sha is just one piece of the lymphatic puzzle but works magic to heal chronic issues in our faces like sinus pain, mucus, oiliness, and jaw clenching. Opening up the lymph nodes in your neck and face can really help jumpstart the whole system and increase your overall energy.
Gua Sha Benefits: Cystic Acne
Yes, you can use gua sha on your acne as long as the skin is not broken and always on clean skin. An added benefit of gua sha tools is using it to calm the inflamed breakout. Place the tool in ice water for a minute then hold the flat side on the breakout for a minute or two. Never gua sha over broken skin or pustules!
People with cystic acne typically have sluggish and congested skin. Gua sha helps to move the congestion and improve circulation to the surface, which reduces flare-ups faster. Gua sha also helps the appearance of acne by reducing redness, size, and scarring of breakouts. Basically, it can help prevent and heal acneic skin, rather than allowing acne to sit there and try to heal itself.
Gua Sha Benefits: Acne Scars
As you gently scrape your skin, you're bringing fresh oxygenated blood to the surface which stimulates cell renewal. The boost of nutrient-rich blood makes tissue repair more efficient and effectively reduces acne scarring.
Gua Sha Benefits: Puffy Skin
With gua sha, it's all about circulation. Puffy skin, or edema, is due to the accumulation of excess fluids under the skin. Fluid retention can be caused by various things and can be as simple as overeating salt in your diet.
However, gua sha can help move blood and lymph to remove excess fluids from your face. When you eliminate excess fluids, you're effectively tightening your skin and contouring the skin to your muscle. The results are a tightened and more chiseled facial complexion.
Gua Sha Benefits: Dark Circles & Dull Complexion
Dark circles and a dull complexion are your skin’s way of saying, "you need more sleep." Some beauty naps combined with gua sha to improve blood flow to your skin will help you get rid of dark circles and bring back a rosy glow to your cheeks.
Gua Sha Benefits: Wrinkles & Fine Lines
In addition to improving circulation, gua sha does wonders to release facial tension. By relaxing our facial muscles, we can release wrinkles and lines that are created due to various tension patterns we hold in our face during stress.
Gua Sha Benefits: Jaw Clenching and Grinding
We recently went to our dentist who said she no longer treats as many cavities as she used to. What's keeping her in business? Cracks and tooth damages due to clenching and tight jaws.
As many as 20% of people hold their tension in the jaw and are unaware of grinding their teeth.
A gua sha facial massage can relieve tight jaw muscles and bring awareness to our clenching. By building our awareness, we can retrain our jaw muscles to relax.
Is gua sha an overnight treatment that will cure all? No, but you can see quick results. Skincare takes dedication and with gua sha added to your regular routine, the results will be remarkable.
Nothing beats a quicky at home gua sha sculpting facial.
