I was surprised when I first heard that you could shave your face and neck. I had been a fan of this ancient therapy since I investigated it last year, but hadn't realized there was a facial version.
A quick bit of hectic internet searching and actual trialing and I now consider the Gua Sha facial my second favorite after body massage. Why? Because the results are truly amazing.
Benefits of Gua Sha Facial
Gua Sha for the face and neck is called the Oriental BOTOX (or Oriental Facelift) for a reason. This Chinese medicine (or traditional herbal) treatment when applied to the face has the following effects.
Tighten sagging facial muscles
Smooths the skin and reduces the appearance of wrinkles on the face
Improves dark circles and bags under the eyes (the kind that appear as we age)
Fades age spots and other skin discolorations
Your complexion becomes rosier and more radiant
Helps clear up acne, rosacea and other skin conditions on your face
I have first-hand experience with everything on this list except the last one. Although I was expecting good results due to my positive experience with body scraping, I was still surprised to see the improvement on my face.
I had stopped taking glutathione and grapeseed, but after a few weeks of facial scraping, my face was clear and bright, something I usually only have when I take these supplements.
How this works
As discussed in detail in a previous post, gua sha refers to the ancient practice of using a smooth-edged tool to make fairly hard scraping movements across the entire surface of the body. Bruises can be difficult to smooth out, and red marks usually indicate that a scraping treatment was performed.
Facial gua sha is much gentler, but has the same scraping effect on the skin. When the skin is scraped, the skin layers are irritated. Stagnant lymph, which causes puffiness, is moved and cleared out of the system. Toxins are also released, resulting in a clearer complexion. Finally, the massage action relaxes the tight muscles that create wrinkles. It's a win-win situation.
How to use
Third Eye: Stroke from the middle of the eyebrows all the way to the hairline. The area activates healing.
Lower forehead: Sweep from the center of the forehead above the eyebrows to the temples.
Lower Brow: Use the curved portion of the scraping tool to scrape the area below the eyebrows and above the eyes. Stay on the brow bone.
Under the eyes: Slowly and gently stroke the area where bags usually appear. Start on the side of the nose and work your way to the temples. Imagine moving the stagnant lymph from the center of the face to the temples, all the way to the hairline.
Cheeks: Do the same sweeping motion for the cheek area. From the side of your nose, move across your cheeks and then up again to the middle of your ears.
Mouth area: Do the same again for the mouth area, sweeping the lymphatic fluid upward to your ears.
Chin: Sweep through the center of your face, under your lower lip and your earlobes.
Under the chin: Scrape from the soft area under the chin to the base of the ear.
Neck: Finally, it's time to scrape from the chin and earlobes to the middle of your collarbone.
The Big Sweep: Collect all the lymphatic fluid that has moved to the side of the face and drain it into the lymphatic drainage ducts. Sweep from the center of the forehead below the hairline to the temples, then to the ears until you reach the neck and end areas. Do this a few more times, all in one go.
Now do the other side.
