Cupping + Gua Sha
Elevate your skin ritual by adding 5-10 minutes of massage with a gua sha or cupping set a few times per week at home to support healthy glowing skin in between your studio treatments.
Gua Sha
An ancient practice for modern day
You may have come across gua sha on your Instagram or Facebook feed. It has been a bit of a trend for a while now.
Gua sha is a 2000-year-old treatment and is considered to be one of the oldest recorded forms of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).
It has many great benefits to the skin and body and a few of those benefits include:
- stimulates blood flow, delivering oxygen and nutrients
- helps to flush toxins and excess fluids
- smooths fine lines and minimises puffiness
- improves product absorption
- sculpts the jawline and cheek
Directions:
Always perform your routine on freshly cleansed skin, so during your evening skin ritual is the best time I find. Apply an oil of choice to your face and neck, preferably something that isn't too heavy and that contains naturally derived ingredients only. You want to apply enough so that the skin doesn't absorb it too quickly and allows for a nice glide across the skin. Hold the stone at a 15-40 degree angle from your face and apply very light pressure. You don't want to drag the skin, but rather glide and smooth. Follow my quick routine as displayed in my video on the right. Always work from the centre of the face towards the ears and hairline. You can also begin by performing this across the décolletage using the same general rules moving from the centre of the chest towards the armpits.
This is a very simple sequence that will take you 5-10 minutes. You can take your time by doing more repetitions on each area. Repeat on both sides of the face and neck. Take a few deep breaths before you begin and go slowly! Enjoy.
Facial Cupping
You may have experienced body cupping during an acupuncture session or seen this modality popping up on social media.
Much like the gua sha, cupping is a very ancient technique which has numerous benefits to the skin and overall well-being.
Cupping on the body is often performed with fire and glass cups which are applied to the area desired and left for a few minutes.
In this practice we need to keep the cup moving in order to avoid any bruising. You need to apply a generous amount of oil to the face and neck before you begin so the cup can easily slip across the skin.
The benefits to this modality are:
- increase in microcirculation
- strengthens skin and connective tissues
- relieves muscle tension
- overall brightening of the skin
- decreases puffiness
- tones the jawline and neck
- improves product absorption
Directions:
Begin your session with freshly cleansed skin. Apply a generous amount of your desired facial oil to your neck and face, preferably something naturally derived. Gently activate the supraclavicular lymph nodes located above the clavicle to begin. You can also perform this across the décolletage to begin your treatment using the same general rules moving from the centre of the chest towards the armpits. Follow my demo on the left for a guide. Do not apply any pressure or suction the cup too strongly onto the skin. You want the cup to glide freely across the skin, if there is too much friction you may need a little more oil. Pinch the cup onto the skin, glide, then remove the cup by pinching it again to release the pressure as you end and begin each new stoke. Repeat on each side of the neck and face.
Take a few deep breaths before you begin and go slowly! Enjoy.
