Life has a way of showing up on our skin and we need something to bring it back to a healthy balance. Like the muscles in other parts of your body, the ones in your face absorb, and store, a lot of stress and tension and unless you relax and strengthen them, they get stiff and look strained. Thankfully, there is a way.  All it takes is some sleight of hand — gentle flowing strokes along the skin surface. Yes, we’re talking facial massage, to relieve tension, tone skin, give it some lift and boost blood circulation thereby brightening your complexion. As an added benefit -  it works to enhance the penetration and absorption of skincare products.

That massage is therapeutic is ancient news. Facial massage uses the principles of a body massage and applies them to the muscles of the face.

What lies beneath

Your skin is made of layers — the epidermis, dermis and its foundation of subcutaneous, adipose and muscle tissue. When young and strong, these bounce back quickly from facial tension, but as you age, the tissues loosen up and start sagging. To counter this, you need to work deep, applying active and targeted pressure to the muscles of the face to achieve results.

You can massage your face with an oil, serum or concentrate, just enough for your fingers to glide across the face and neck. Warm up the product in your hands to activate its goodness and using firm, but gentle circular strokes, move upward and outward from the center of the face and around the eyes. Make sure to take it a bit easier when you massage the lymph nodes under your ears and along the sides of your neck. This is when/where you should make wide circles using your fingertips to move from under the ears downwards towards the throat, then going back up to the jawline.

Avoid pulling or dragging your skin. Be delicate around the eyes, over the cheekbones and the jawline. Apply just enough pressure to work the muscles lying beneath the surface. And remember - a facial massage is not a deep tissue massage.

A 5-minute facial massage helps stimulate the skin, increase blood flow, and coax oxygen and nutrients into the tissues. Add this practice to your skincare routine two to three times a week and you will have aided collagen and elastin production – which, in turn, helps maintain skin strength and resilience. The result: supple skin and toned facial and neck muscles.