What the Gua Sha?
If you love a beauty trend and/or follow beauty bloggers on social media you may have seen the same thing popping up time and time again, videos of people massaging their faces with what looks like coloured stones! If you are wondering what the hell are these people doing?! then hopefully this will help to explain.
Gua Sha
Pronounced GWA SHA this is an ancient form of massage which has been used in Chinese medicine for centuries. Gua Sha is quite literally the art of ‘scraping the skin’. Smooth flat stones with different edges are used with pressure to perform different movements on the face (and body, but we will focus on the face) to help lift tone and define the facial muscles, boost blood circulation and drain away any excess fluid in the skin. After a Gua Sha treatment, in a salon or at home the skin can look flushed, this is an indication of the work that has been happening underneath the skin, everything moving and working and the blood flowing. Regular use will result in more definition in the face and more radiant, glowing skin.
Facial Rolling
Again originating from China facial rolling involves using a hand held tool and basically rolling it over the face, there is a method to it so don’t just go rolling it in any way and expect the same results! One of the main benefits of facial rolling is helping with puffiness. Many of us suffer with puffy skin and in particular puffy eyes, too much salt in our diets, too much screen time, too many late nights all contribute. Facial rolling helps to drain away any excess fluid in the skin, boost the blood circulation and gives an instantly brighter, more awake appearance. Rolling also has the benefit of being able to work product in to the skin better, using a roller over a serum or moisturiser will greatly enhance the benefits as it is pushed deeper into the layers of the skin.
Why Rose Quartz
Rose Quartz and Jade Stone are the most commonly used crystals for sculpting and rolling tools. Recently there has been a huge demand for a more holistic approach to skin care. People are using crystals in all sorts of ways in their day to day lives so it was only a matter of time before they became an addition to our skin care routines. If you’re like me and believe in the power of crystals then you will know that using these tools daily in such a way will help on an emotional level as well as physical, to be mindfully using them to massage the skin will have a huge impact on your emotional wellbeing. If not, and you just see them as pretty coloured stones that’s totally fine too, just enjoy the feeling of the massage and be aware of how you feel afterwards. We chose Rose Quartz as our crystal of choice as its heralded as the stone of love and healing, giving ourselves a bit of self love every day as we roll our faces is definitely something we can get on board with! Rose Quartz is also great for soothing and reducing redness and inflammation, it keeps cool so feels amazing when it’s worked over the skin and instantly refreshes. We chose to partner with Flexi Skin Tools as the quality was of a high grade, I loved their back story and ethos and being a sucker for anything pretty their branding and packaging is beautiful.
Our rose quartz Gua Sha Sculptors and Rollers are available in the salon so pop in any time for a demo or to try it out on yourself. Keep an eye on our social media pages as I will be posting videos of the tools in use soon!
Love,
Arlene