‘Toning’ your face with massage and lymphatic drainage: what is it, what are the benefits and how to do it. Some people praise this technique as their holy grail to fight ageing. You’ll often read tempting claims as sculpting, tightening, rejuvenating about the massaging technique. It sounds like music to the ears of a skin fanatic.
Implementing a facial massage in your daily beauty routine is believed to give you a moment of wellness and reduce sagging (omg!) and swelling of the skin. Some like to use face cream while massaging, while others prefer a bare face. Some may use extra tools (e.g. Gua Sha, Jade Roller) but some just like to use their hands.
For our Nomige blog readers, we dug into some research to answer these questions in today’s blog on facial massage.
WHY SHOULD I DO A FACIAL MASSAGE?
In 2014, a reviewof different studies on the efficacy of facial massage was made by Van Borsel et al. in Ghent, Belgium. Some of the perceived effects in these studies were:
Reduction of wrinkles
Reduction of expression marks
Reduction of facial skin sagging
Improved facial symmetry
Improved feeling of well-being
Improved feeling of relief and relaxation
Overall, it was found to reduce signs of ageing and provide a relaxing feeling. But, the quality and the amount of evidence was not really great at the time. It still isn’t the most studied field in the world of dermatology and cosmetics. For the critics among us, there are some new studies that give more confirmation to these claimed effects.
INCREASED BLOW FLOW
Some benefits of facial massages are mostly granted to the increased blood flow that improves oxygen and nutrient supply to our cells. In 2018, a Japanese study showed that a 5 min facial massage with roller did, in fact, lead to the widening of blood vessels, making blood flow easier. That effect even persisted 10 min after the massage ended.
They also stated that it didn’t really matter how much pressure is put on the skin or how many times they went over the skin with the roller as long as the minimum of 5 min facial massaging activity is respected. They also observed that the longer the massage was carried out, the more this increased blood flow response was stimulated.
LYMPHATIC DRAINAGE
Lymphatic drainage massage is a gentle kind of massage that focusses on the lymph node and is generally known for detoxification (getting rid of rubbish in your body). These lymph nodes are crucial for controlling our body’s immune system to eliminate pathogens such as bacteria and viruses.
Lymphatic drainage massage can be done on both face and body and aims to:
Improve lymphatic flow and increase tissue detoxification
Help with poor lymph flow circulation
Reduce swelling
Relieve issues with allergy and sinus
Improve sleep
Two types of lymphatic drainage massage exist namely manual lymphatic drainage (requires professional staff) and simple lymphatic drainage massage (can be done at home). These are different from the classical therapeutic massages as it used other types of movements. Harper’s Bazaar mentions in an article that particular stroke patterns are employed to achieve the listed results.
But in these modern times, it is not surprising that it is taken up a notch by developing technology to do the job such as Lymphatic Enhancement Technology or LET which is carried out by trained staff in a beauty institution.
Scientific evidence to prove the efficacy of lymphatic drainage massage is still very scarce. However, there is some information on the benefits of lymphatic drainage massage for the treatment of lymphoedema. and the ability to reduce fat mass in women coping with cellulite.
LIFTING EFFECT
In 2017, the L’Oréal Research and Innovation department did some research on the effect of a trilling device and the anti-ageing effect. They made the interesting observation that by using this device in combination with anti-ageing creams, (1) not only the anti-ageing results were strengthened but (2) also a significant reduction in sagging of the skin was observed. This last effect was not perceived when creams were used on their own. The consumers also noticed a healthier, smoother and more lifting effect on the skin compared to using the cream alone.
REDUCE STRESS & ANXIETY
A remarkable observation was made in another Japanese study, where they found out that a 45-min facial massage can relieve feelings of psychological stress and anxiety.
CONCLUSION
This popular technique has sparked a lot of creativity in the beauty industry. Nowadays, massaging tools come in all different shapes and sizes. We’ve seen that scientific evidence to prove their efficiency is still very scarce, but there has been some confirmation of the benefits and there’s more research to come in the future.
If you enjoy experimenting with beauty and enjoy a moment of self-care, don’t let it stop you from trying it out! Below, we’ve mentioned our favorite & easy to use massaging tools.
Gua Sha stone:The meaning behind the name is “Gua” means scrape and “Sha” means sand. You can get this item for 25€.
Jade roller:This extremely popular roller is made from a jade stone and is available for 35€.
NEWA : With the 3DEEP technology, this device will stimulate collagen production to increase skin firmness. The NEWA bundle has now a price tag of 299€.
Stay tuned for upcoming blogs, where we’ll give you some easy steps to do a facial massage at home.
Want to know more about skin aging?
Skin aging is a very complex process that is influenced by both internal factors (your DNA) and external factors (such as the sun, pollution, weather conditions, smoking...). Every skin is unique and the same can be said of the ageing process.
