Facial Gua Sha and Acupressure Massage _ Gothamista

Hi everyone, Renee here. This video I'm so excited to do because I'm going to show you how I use my new favorite facial tool, the Gua Sha. I know I'm late to this especially considering it's a centuries-old practice and my grandmother used to do this every single night and that was a time before we had all these fancy skincare formulas and she had porcelain skin. So I actually have had Gua Sha treatments on my body, particularly where there was a lot of pain, so around my neck, my back, and my shoulders. But also I had a Gua Sha treatment on my scalp as well and that's pretty much why I've been hesitant to do facial Gua Sha for such a long time because those treatments were not comfortable at all. In fact, the whole point of them was to scrape your skin to the point where you get some bruising. So for someone like me who has reactive skin, who is so prone to redness, I was like, no thank you. But then recently I was in Hong Kong and I got a facial and during the part of the facial where they massage your skin for about 10 minutes, they actually did Gua Sha and it was just utter facial massage acupressure, cooling, calming bliss. It just wasn't what I expected at all. And after the facial, my skin just looked so bright and lifted and yeah, I was from that point on obsessed. So what this does differently from the J-roller is that can really get into the facial acupressure points, which is very important to me because I carry so much tension in my head and in my face, whether it's I get a lot of eye tension, tension around here, a lot of tension around the jaw. This really helps to relieve that, especially if you do it consistently. In fact, I feel the difference almost immediately. When you relax the muscle tension in your face, everything just looks and appears softer as well. Even while I'm using this, I can feel the knots of tension in my skin and just these areas of tenderness where things are really, really tight. But also I can even feel, especially around areas like here, I can feel the fluid moving around. And as an added benefit, especially for someone who's prone to redness and inflammation, this feels so cooling on the skin. You definitely want to use one that's made out of real stone. I prefer Jade above everything else because it really has that natural cooling and calming energy, and it just retains it. Rose Quartz is another great one. So shape-wise, these are my two favorites, and it's really difficult for me to decide which one I prefer. I actually use them both. I feel like this one is better for the days when I just want more acupressure. It's also got more different surface choices, I guess. But this one is probably the one I use the most. Any kind of skincare tool should be used with some discretion, so I wouldn't use this over areas of acne outbreaks, rosacea flare-ups, perhaps eczema. If you're going through any kind of sensitivity or reaction, rashes, sunburns, any of that, I would wait. So before I use these, I always make sure that they're completely clean and disinfected. And right before using, I will swap this with alcohol first. Before you start, you want to make sure that your skin is completely clean. I also like to make sure that I've got some good hydration in there as well, and then I use an oil. So I'm going to use Rotary Super Seed Facial Oil. It's got enough richness. The gua sha just glides so beautifully when I use this. So I'm just going to apply a few drops. I always put on a little more than I usually would if I was just doing my routine. I even put this under my eyes, my eyebrows, and my neck. So I'm just going to show you what I do that just suits me so well, and it will incorporate the massage as well as a lot of acupressure. As far as technique goes, this part is probably the most important, which is when you use a gua sha, you don't use it like this. There's not going to be a perpendicular 90-degree angle. You need to use it pressed up against your skin. So pretty much almost flat against your skin, you're dragging it that way, not this way. This way, you may not feel it right away, but it actually can be very harsh, and it's something you would definitely feel maybe in the following days. So we're going to start on the back of our neck with the notched side. I move the gua sha up the back of my neck where my spine is, and right at the base of my skull, I just give a little pressure there because this is where I carry so much tension. This exact area is where I feel so tender. I like to repeat each stroke at least five times. Now onto the side of the neck, where you can use either the long side or the notched side of the gua sha. I glide from my shoulder up to where my ear is, and then I put a little pressure and just wiggle it around. As far as pressure goes, you can apply more pressure here than you would on your face. I don't mind it getting a little red. That's how I know it's working. I can really feel it working the muscle. It's tender for me right now, and this is a very important muscle to massage and work the tension out of because this muscle right here is how we get tech neck, but also when this is tense and tight, it actually draws the rest of our face down as well. It pulls the rest of our face down as well, so work that muscle. Then, of course, do the same on the other side. I always feel that one side is way more tender than the other. This side is better than the other side that I just did. Then I work my way gradually into the center, so from the collarbone, and then the center where we get all the folds right from the clavicle bone. Adjust your speed and pressure according to what feels comfortable to you. You shouldn't be pulling and dragging your skin. If so, then maybe slow down the pace a little bit, lighten the pressure, or maybe add a little more oil. For the face, I actually like to start at the bottom mainly because this is probably this area right here is where I hold the most tension, but also I have TMJ issues. I completely clench my teeth at night using this edge for the jawline. I like to anchor with a finger, and even as I'm gliding upwards, I can feel all the knots but right here. It feels so tender, so I like to spend some time. This is the masseter muscle. We use it all day, all the time to chew, to talk. I grind and clench my teeth at night, so it tends to get particularly tense. Take some time to really explore your face. Find where those acupressure points are, and also which areas of your face hold more tension and are more tender. Then the side of my nose outward to where my ear is, except for it's angled outwards a bit so that this part sort of really gets under the cheekbone. Again, you don't want to use too much pressure. It's easy to want to use a lot of pressure because it feels really good, but just be mindful of not going overboard. This is a great acupressure point right in front of the ear. As I'm gliding, all these knots in my face under where my cheekbone is. Some days there aren't any, and some days like today there are a few. Now for the eye area, which is so delicate, so you want to make sure you are super gentle here. Do not pull or drag. Just glide slowly, and you end right at your temple where you really want to work this acupressure point. Right over here, the temple is connected to the master muscle, so we hold so much tension. When we get tension headaches, it's all because of this. So I really like to spend some time and just work that pressure point. And then on the brow bone, I like to use this side. And again, just work that temple muscle. This actually feels so good because we have pressure points along our brow bone and also around the hairline. And something I love to do, this helps me so much with eye tension and just tension headaches, is just using this side and putting it right here along the bridge of my nose, right under the brow bone. I can feel the tender spots right here. I actually feel more energized just doing that alone. And then I go back to the long side and go from the eyebrow area underneath the eyebrows all the way up to the forehead. This area right here in between our brows is one of the most important acupuncture points of the entire body. So I go from the bridge of my nose right down here and move it all the way up. Doing this part in particular just makes me feel so relaxed. In fact, there have been times where it's almost made me feel a little dizzy if I stand up too quickly. This is powerful. Then I work from middle outwards. So underneath the brow and then move up towards the hairline. And that's it. My whole face feels so relaxed. In fact, everything feels relaxed at this point, particularly on this side, which is where I did the demo. But everything is just... I feel the opposite of... I clean these by just putting them in a bowl of soapy water. I like to use a little bit of dish detergent. The reason why I prefer to do that is because if I sort of clean them and soap them up under a running tap, they will slip out of your hands. They become very slippery and you don't want to risk cracking or breaking these. It is heartbreaking. So a lot of you have been asking me what I do for gua sha and I'm just so happy to share it with you. I hope you enjoyed this and until next time, I'm wishing you great skin health. Bye!