Scraping your face with a stone. Strange, you say? Not at all, this gua sha technique has been used for centuries as a traditional treatment in China. It has become wildly popular in the beauty world, but why?
Discover the benefits gua sha has to offer you and how to use it!
The benefits of gua sha:
1. Gives you radiant, firmer skin
Regular use of the gua sha tool gives you radiant and firmer skin. When you scrape your skin you remove moisture, which accentuates your cheekbones and jawline. This also makes any puffiness disappear from your face!
2. Relaxes your muscles
Scraping a gua sha stone over your skin relaxes your muscles. The massaging movements relax both your facial muscles and those throughout your body. Extra tip: keep your gua sha stone in the fridge for an extra relaxing effect.
3. Boosts circulation
Gua sha is the technique for better blood and lymph circulation. This is important for radiant skin and the production of more collagen. In other words: mild acne, scars and existing wrinkles can be reduced with this tool.
Gua sha in your skincare ritual:
1. Preparation
Before we get started with the tool, it is important to prepare your skin. Start with your skincare routine: cleanse your face and the stone. To let the tool glide smoothly over your skin, it is important to use a face oil. The new Glow Retreat Face Oil Stick is ideal for this! The last step of the preparation is to open up the lymph pathways by lightly pressing on the areas you will go over with the gua sha stone.
2. Gua sha do’s & don’ts: 4 basic rules
Now the real work can begin. You can carry out a ritual in many different ways, but it is important to keep these 4 basic rules in mind:
- Pull your skin along with the movement, never downwards.
- Hold the gua sha tool at a 45° angle. Work from the bottom up and from the inside out.
- Don’t press too hard.
- Never work on broken or irritated skin.
3. Gua sha massage in 10 steps
1. Start with your neck and shoulder muscles. Make long upward movements.
2. Pull the gua sha from your chin to your ear to define your jawline.
3. Start at your nose and drag across your cheek. This removes moisture.
4. Use one leg of the V-shaped side to gently massage under your eyes .
5. Make upward movements across your entire forehead and stop at your hairline.
6. Scrape towards your eyebrow and then make a light upward movement.
7. To reduce smile lines, hold your lips still and scrape with small movements over the place where your wrinkles appear.
8. Contour your cheekbones by scraping over them.
9. Don’t forget your neck. Make long movements from the bottom up.
10. Suffering from neck pain? Make long movements from the bottom up and press lightly.
* At the end of each step, pause for a moment with your gua sha. Press a little harder and make small circular movements.
