The Gua Sha Revolution: A Holistic Approach To Skincare In The Comfort Of Your Home
Why has Gua Sha become such a popular at-home skincare tool in recent years?
Nabilah explains that personally, she started doing gua sha during the 2020 pandemic when she didn’t have access to regular visits to her skincare salon. She also developed, perhaps like many others during this time, a growing interest in her personal skincare routine, experimenting with a more holistic and natural approach to her skincare routine, which Nabilah now shares with LLQ Magazine below.
What is GUA SHA:
First of all, some of you may be asking, “What exactly is Gua Sha?” The Gua Sha stone is a tool that combines ancient healing rituals with modern beauty techniques and is incredibly effective for people of all ages, skin types, and lifestyles. No fancy equipment or instruction manual required – just you and your gorgeous stone as you enjoy a relaxing facial massage from your living room.
Also sometimes referred to as a jade scraper, it’s a little flat pebble of natural jade or rose quartz stone. There are many variations in the shape and size of the tool currently out on the market, including electric Gua Sha, but essentially the technique and benefits are the same. (Regardless)
Gua Sha is an ancient Chinese facial massage practice; it’s a natural alternative therapy that relieves tension in the muscles of the face. A bit similar to a facial workout, it involves gently scraping the surface of the skin to boost blood circulation, smoothing and brightening your complexion. Not only does Gua Sha encourage lymphatic drainage, but it also helps produce more collagen, decrease facial puffiness, and soften fine lines and wrinkles. It’s an easy, natural, and effective way to detox the skin and combat aging.
Gua Sha, if done regularly, effectively rejuvenates the skin and sculpts facial muscles. If used on the jawline and cheekbone area, Gua Sha can help release tight facial muscles and give the temporary appearance of a more sculpted face. It won’t get rid of a double chin (as it can’t target fat), but it could help ease puffiness in the short term.
If you’re struggling with dark under-eye circles, Gua Sha could help reduce their appearance. As Gua Sha helps soften fine lines and stimulates natural collagen, the technique could temporarily reduce dark circles and tighten the skin.
Not only is it an effective aesthetic technique for the skin, but it also aids in deep facial relaxation and helps reduce headaches and neck pain if done regularly.
It’s important to add that while Gua Sha is a great non-invasive technique, it cannot always be combined with other procedures. For example, if you have had facial Botox or injectables within the past three to four weeks, you’ll need to wait at least four weeks from your most recent injection before beginning a Gua Sha routine. Last but not least, while Gua Sha can offer rewarding results, most of the visible benefits are temporary. So, it’s important to incorporate it into your weekly routine if you wish to maintain the benefits.
How to use Gua Sha at home:
- Use with a light facial oil or squalene, something non-comedogenic with a nice spread ability like Jojoba, rose hip seed oil, or sweet almond oil.
- Use a gentle scraping movement from the inside of the face outward. You don’t need to apply much pressure to reap the benefits.
- Always scrape upwards, never downwards on the face.
- Scrape downwards only on the neck for lymphatic drainage.
- Drink plenty of water after your Gua Sha massage; you want all those toxins to be removed from your body.
