Beauty experts and influencers alike have incorporated the Gua Sha into their daily skincare routines, and for good reason. From sculpting your cheekbones and jawline to engaging the lymphatic system, Gua Sha has various skincare and wellness benefits that will only leave you asking – why didn’t you start doing it sooner?

Read on to discover all about Gua Sha from what it is, the history of the routine, right through to the beauty benefits that come from it.

What exactly is Gua Sha?

Gua Sha is a traditional Chinese healing method that uses a tool to scrape the skin, generally with an oil or serum, to promote blood flow, relax muscles, and reduce pain and inflammation. Gua Sha can also help improve the skin’s overall appearance and provide an instant skin lift, which makes it an incredible addition to any skincare routine.

A Gua Sha facial sculpting tool can be made from various materials, including jade, rose quartz, bian stone, stainless steel, ceramic, and even crystal. More traditional tools were made of water buffalo horns, coins, and even spoons. The Gua Sha tool often has both flat and rounded edges to fit the contours of the face and neck, and to ensure it can glide easily over the skin.

The principle of Gua Sha is to scrape the skin to invigorate blood flow, release heat-toxins, stimulate lymphatic drainage, and bring helpful cells to the area by activating an immune response.

The history of Gua Sha

Although its rise in popularity has exploded over the past few years, Gua Sha has roots tracing right back to the Stone Age, where it is thought to have evolved from practices like stone needle therapy, acupuncture, and massage, and was used for heat therapy and bloodletting.

In more recent times, its popularity can in part be attributed to a rise in immigrants from Asian countries, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s. During this time, awareness of the practice rose due to the Western world’s growing interest in traditional Chinese medicine. This, alongside Gua Sha’s practicality and ease of treatment, made it an appealing practice indeed.

The benefits of Gua Sha

Gua Sha is a great treatment that can easily be incorporated into your skincare routine. It offers many benefits for the skin, including promoting smoother, firmer, and healthier skin, as well as other improvements, including:

• Increased blood flow: Gua Sha helps promote blood flow, which results in a healthy glow. Increasing blood flow can also help even out uneven skin tone, make the skin appear more plump, and improve poor circulation to remove stagnant blood that may cause dark shadows under the skin.
• Lymphatic drainage: A proper Gua Sha massage can help promote the drainage of toxins and lymph fluid in the skin. Many of the lymph channels that drain fluid, waste, and toxins are in the face, head, and neck, making the Gua Sha technique very effective.
• Lifts and tones: Just like a facelift, a Gua Sha can help provide an instant lift in the skin and improve its muscle tone throughout the neck, chin, eyebrows, and cheeks. The smoothing and lifting massage movements can also reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, leaving behind a smoother and softer surface.
• Relaxes: A body massage can boost the parasympathetic nervous system, which allows our body to rest and relax, and a facial massage is no different. Using Gua Sha can be very relaxing to help relieve stress, anxiety, and tension, which can result in improved mood and energy levels.

How to use a Gua Sha tool

Gua Sha is relatively simple to execute, which is part of its appeal. You should follow the instructions that came with your Gua Sha tool; however, there are some basic guidelines you can always follow:

• Cleanse the skin: Start with a clean base and cleanse your skin.
• Activate your lymph nodes: Activating the lymph nodes is essential to encourage lymphatic drainage and detoxification. Using your fingers, you can massage each of the following areas for 5-10 seconds to activate: behind and in front of your ears, above your clavicle, armpits, and the bridge of your nose (both sides).
• Apply a facial oil: Applying an oil will help the Gua Sha glide smoothly across your skin.
• Hold the Gua Sha at a right angle: Hold your Gua Sha tool at a 15-45 degree angle to your skin to ensure you are using the edge of the tool.
• Apply light to medium pressure: Light to medium pressure is the key to achieving a slight reddening of the skin (which indicates improved blood circulation) while avoiding bruising, discolouration, and facial muscle soreness.
• Start applying gentle strokes: Gentle, upward strokes should be applied to the skin. Start by stroking upward from the neck, then back down into the slope of the shoulder. Then move from the base of the neck upwards towards the jawline. Follow the natural curve of the chin and work upwards to the ear, then work the cheekbones from the nose outward towards the ears. Finally, move the tool from the top of the brow bone towards the hairline.
• Repeat: Combining the use of both short and long strokes, follow the same path three to five times before moving onto the next section. If you are unsure of how to get started, many YouTube videos from beauty bloggers and influencers can help provide a visual guide on what to do.

Gua sha can be done relatively frequently, depending on how firmly you use the tool. The stronger the pressure you use, the more visible appearance of red marks may be, which can take several days to resolve. If you are using Gua Sha in this manner, weekly treatments are most advisable; however, if you are taking a more gentle approach, every couple of days will work a treat.