Sharper Features and Tighter Skin Without Invasive Procedures? Exploring the World of Facial Massage with LUMI!

One of the year’s hottest topics has to be facial massage. It seems almost impossible to open a beauty magazine or scroll through social media in 2024 without coming across this intriguing, and sometimes divisive, skincare trend.

With the amount of attention facial massage is getting at the moment, you could be forgiven for thinking that it’s a recent invention. The truth, however, is that humans have been massaging their faces for thousands of years, unlocking a host of benefits that are sometimes so remarkable they need to be seen to be believed!

The positive effects of massage on our mental wellbeing are already well known, as are its abilities to assist muscle recovery after exercise and reduce pain. Facial massage’s recent surge in popularity, however, has largely been fueled by its ability to improve skin condition, as well as tone and shape the contours of the face. 

But does the science back up this newfound stardom? Do techniques such as gua sha really deserve their sudden rise to global household names?

Here at LUMI, we love nothing more than diving into a pile of research and separating skincare fact from fiction! So, today, we delve into the world of facial massage, assessing whether popular techniques are backed by science, and showing how LUMI can help you maximise your facial massage results!

Let’s get started!

An Ancient Discipline

Humanity’s relationship with massage is incredibly long-standing. There’s plenty of evidence of massage therapy being used as far back as 3000BCE, with some scholars believing (thanks to cave paintings) that humans may have been using some form of therapeutic touch as early as seventeen thousand years ago! 

It should come as no surprise, then, that massaging the face also has a history stretching back potentially as far as the Stone Age. Facial massage was utilised throughout antiquity, all around the world and throughout the ages, including being employed in Ancient Greece, Rome, and Bronze Age India, to name but a few.

When most of us think of facial massage and ancient history, however, two words are likely to appear in our mind – gua and sha! 

Gua sha has taken the world by storm in the last couple of years, largely due to trends on TikTok and other social media, but has always been a popular form of therapy and relaxation throughout large parts of Asia.

The modern use of the term gua sha in the west tends to refer solely to facial massage: specifically, a kind of scraping of the face performed to relax the mind and body, improve lymphatic circulation, and increase blood flow. Gua sha is usually performed with either the fingers, or ideally, a specially designed scraping tool, often made from polished stone.

In China, however, both historically and now, gua sha most often refers to a full-body discipline focused around the creation of ‘sha’, or petechiae, which are red marks on the skin caused by the severing of capillaries. 

The effects of traditional body gua sha depend on the intensity, and can range from small reddish patches to quite severe red markings across large areas of skin, such as the back. We’re just focusing on facial gua sha today, though, so we’ll have to explore that another time!

Over time, the popularity of facial massage spread across the entire globe, with new schools of technique popping up to complement the ways of old. In Europe, styles such as French and Swedish massage became popular, building on thousands of years of expertise and tradition. 

Just like their ancient counterparts, these newer styles also claim to prevent signs of ageing and stimulate the circulatory and lymphatic systems. Hundreds of millions of people each day perform a variety of facial massage techniques hoping for just those effects!

Okay, okay, we hear you say, it’s all very well that humans have been massaging faces forever and feeling as if it’s doing something, but where’s the evidence? Does facial massage really change our faces and facial skin at all?

A Modern Marvel?

Happily for us curious types, a lot of scientists have been asking these very same questions, and there’s now an ever-growing research base to help us assess such claims.

A 2022 study in Japan used CT scanning (an imaging technology that’s commonly used in hospitals) to scientifically measure the results of facial massage on volunteers. The methods used were focused on improving blood circulation and lymphatic flow. 

The results were clear – after just two weeks, the participants’ faces showed measurable and significant improvements in terms of both lifting and tightening. In general, the malar, the top portion of the cheek, moved higher and further away from the participants’ nose, and fatty cheek skin became thinner and tighter. Not bad for a fortnight’s work!

It’s a similar story for massage tools such as rollers and gua sha stones. A 2018 study found that regular massage using a roller had beneficial short- and long-term effects. The massages increased skin blood flow, which helps improve skin condition by allowing more oxygen and nutrients to be supplied to cells, as well as helping to remove metabolic waste. 

Gua sha’s enduring popularity in East Asia, and now globally, has prompted much scientific attention. Researchers have found that gua sha can boost immune response, decrease inflammation, and even alleviate pain in the massage area and other parts of the body, though the mechanisms behind this relief are not fully understood.

A study found that gua sha caused a four-times increase in microcirculation (the circulation of blood through the smallest vessels in the body, found in tissue) during the massage period and for a short while afterward. Interestingly, the effect was much more pronounced in women than in men! It’s a similar story for increased lymphatic drainage, which has been demonstrated in studies and in collected expert testimonials. 

The evidence base for facial massage might be small at the moment, but it’s certainly pointing in the right direction and growing every day. It seems as if the benefits of facial massage are indeed scientifically provable, despite much skepticism from western medicine about techniques rooted in eastern tradition. Hopefully success stories like these will help things improve on that front in the future!

How to Get the Most From Facial Massage With LUMI!

So, we’ve looked at the fascinating history of facial massage, and we’ve explored the science behind its ability to tighten skin, lift facial features, minimise wrinkles, and improve complexions.

If you’re anything like this author, dear reader, then your next question will be a simple one: how can I start doing this myself?

Fortunately, LUMI have been busy at work over the last couple of years cooking up a range of products that will not only help you begin your facial massage journey, but will help you get better results from it than you could possibly have imagined!

Some of the techniques we’ve mentioned today are designed to be undertaken without lubricating skin beforehand. Others, however, work best when skin is suitably oiled. For those techniques, we recommend Superbloom Vitamin-C Night Serum! 

Not only is this oil-based serum the perfect consistency for facial massage, but it’s packed full of specially chosen ingredients that will have your skin looking great and feeling even better! Superbloom Night Serum uses neurocosmetics to neutralise stress hormones and prevent aging, as well as boosting collagen, evening and brightening complexion, and relieving acne and rosacea. It’s called Super-bloom for a reason!

Skin Gym – New Horizons for Facial Massage!

Look, we love ancient techniques and storied traditions more than most, but there’s something we here at LUMI love even more – scientific breakthroughs! We’ve always got our eyes on the latest research, hoping to find out about discoveries we can use to make our products even better.

That’s why when we heard about Baolift™, the latest plant stem cell active from our genius friends at Vytrus Biotech in Barcelona, we knew we had to get involved. Baolift™ harnesses the body’s natural power by replicating exerkines (exercise factors produced by the body and sent to cells after exercise) to stimulate post-workout processes, even whilst sitting on the couch!

We’ve created Skin Gym, an entirely new product series that gets the most out of Baolift™, complementing its incredible biohacking effects with some other ingredients that are just as clever.

In our Skin Gym Facial Training Formula Face Serum, we’ve added an oxytocin-creating, neurocosmetic wellbeing driver to the mix, whilst our Skin Gym Body Serum adds a fat-burning, skin-trimming plant stem cell active that’s perfect for better defining your body’s natural curves!

And whilst Skin Gym works fantastically well on its own, you can achieve even better results by incorporating fascial massage into your daily routine alongside it. Fascial massage is focused around manipulating the skin, fascia, and muscles through a variety of exercises that have been shown to tighten skin, lift the appearance of the cheeks, and better define the contours of your face – all without invasive procedures!

The results have to be seen to be believed! We were so impressed by the combination of fascial massage and Skin Gym that we’ve set up a series of special workshops to explain exactly how you can replicate the effects yourself. Keep your eyes peeled on our socials for more information on those, or if you can’t make one, check out our website for helpful links to some of the best techniques.

Skin Gym and fascial massage – your skin’s very own personal trainer!

References:

1. BBC, (2022). The revival of ancient beauty rituals. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20220408-the-revival-of-ancient-beauty-rituals

2. Chen, T., Liu, N., Liu, J., Zhang, X., Huang, Z., Zang, Y., Chen, J., Dong, L., Zhang, J., & Ding, Z. (2016). Gua Sha, a press-stroke treatment of the skin, boosts the immune response to intradermal vaccination. PeerJ, 4, e2451. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2451

3. Chu, E. C. P., Wong, A. Y. L., Sim, P., & Krüger, F. (2021). Exploring scraping therapy: Contemporary views on an ancient healing – A review. Journal of family medicine and primary care, 10(8), 2757–2762. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_360_21

4. Dakić, M., Toskić, L., Ilić, V., Đurić, S., Dopsaj, M., & Šimenko, J. (2023). The Effects of Massage Therapy on Sport and Exercise Performance: A Systematic Review. Sports (Basel, Switzerland), 11(6), 110. https://doi.org/10.3390/sports11060110

5. Hamp, A., Anderson, J., Laughter, M. R., Anderson, J. B., Presley, C. L., Rundle, C. W., & Dellavalle, R. P. (2023). Gua-sha, Jade Roller, and Facial Massage: Are there benefits within dermatology?. Journal of cosmetic dermatology, 22(2), 700–703. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocd.15421

6. Miyaji, A., Sugimori, K., & Hayashi, N. (2018). Short- and long-term effects of using a facial massage roller on facial skin blood flow and vascular reactivity. Complementary therapies in medicine, 41, 271–276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2018.09.009