BLOG 29: TRY IT: THE 8-MINUTE FACE LIFTING MASSAGE

One of the best ways to keep your skin looking its most radiant is by performing routine face massages. Nothing too extensive or invasive––just a slight recharge. By taking 8 minutes out of your day to perform these few simple techniques, you can keep your muscles engaged, lower tension, aid in lymphatic drainage and alleviate stressors. Best of all, by using a moisturising, plant-based serum during your massage, you can also take the enriching, nourishing ingredients down to deeper levels of the skin’s surface, areas that aren’t typically reached with topical moisturisers alone.  

Here are some of the simple exercises you can use to give yourself an 8-minute face liftingmassage every day:

Before you get into a comfortable position, removing yourself from any potential distractions (like a ringing telephone or television), you’ll want to prepare the area for your face massage. Tie your hair back, put on a shirt or jumper with a loose-fitting neck and thoroughly wash your hands and face. Clean skin is the best surface on which to perform a revitalizing face lifting massage. And, as always, be sure to check with your doctor if you suffer from any medical or skin conditions beforehand. 

Now that you’ve prepared your skin’s surface, you’ll want to use a small amount of plant-based serum to help aid with the massage. Adding a serum, like Fusion by Danielle Collins Pro Lift Facial Moisturising Serum, to this routine is one of the best things you can do to help ensure your skin is supple and hydrated throughout your massage. Apply a few drops of your serum to the palm of your hands, blend together and then gently pat all over your face––around the eyes, forehead and neck. Make sure that you’ve got a little bit of glide on the skin, but not so much that the surface feels heavy or greasy. 

First, using your two index fingers, begin by smoothing the area vertically between the eyebrows. Imagine you are pushing the skin just above your nose and lifting it up into your forehead with gentle movements. Continue lifting in a vertical pattern before taking your strides slightly to the left, and then to the right––same area, just spreading out the lift across the forehead. After a while, take your finger swipes from vertical to a more arched position…as if you were using your fingers to draw exaggerated eyebrows across your forehead, working the massage across the lines. Always stop if anything feels uncomfortable. 

This process is not only great for muscle stimulation, but you are also helping to penetrate those essential, high-performing seed oils and minerals from the serum down deeper into the middle dermis of the skin (where all the collagen and elastin live). 

Next, ball your hands into fists and, using the knuckles, draw them horizontally across the forehead. This helps to relax the often stiff and overused frontalis muscle underneath, which accounts for many of those common stress-related lines. Now that you’re in the area, take your index and middle fingers and begin to rub the temples in a circular––then semicircular––motion to activate this important acupressure point in charge of regulating stress. By now, you should start to feel quite revitalised and awakened. Pause for a second to savour the sensation, while still experiencing the delicate glide from the serum on the skin, before moving on to the eye area. 

Take your index fingers and, with a gentle, feather-light touch, trace the circular region around each eye, going above the brow all the way around until you are just above the cheekbone––if you tend to be a little heavy-handed, by all means, use your ring fingers to perform as the skin under the eyes is incredibly delicate and should not be dragged. Gradually make the circles smaller so that you are eventually tracing directly under the eyes, around the face’s lymphatic drainage area (which helps in transporting all of the built-up waste under the skin). This is an ideal exercise particularly for those with dark circles or heavy bags. 

Once you’ve completed your circling, take both index fingers and place them in between the eyes right at the root of the nose. With each finger firmly in place, take a deep breath in, followed by a deep breath out. This is another important acupressure point to touch on as this one can help with anxiety and trouble sleeping.

After that, try doing some little V-shaped lifts with your index and middle fingers, starting at the base of each cheek (above the jawline), pushing upwards––your middle finger moving towards the eye and the index finger moving outwards towards the ear. Another move to try is one that stimulates the surface skin with some light pinching. Using your thumb, index and middle finger, pinch the skin around the cheek, pulling it slightly out with a little twist. This will cause a little bit of redness, as well as some warmth––this move should never be painful. Break up this move by pushing the index and middle fingers upwards from the chin alongside the nose (massaging the nasal labial folds) to alleviate any underlying tension. And finish by using the same pinching method (two fingers and the thumb) to climb the length of the jawline, only this time you won’t be lifting the skin away but rather gently tamping it down.

Speaking of tension, if you tend to carry a lot of stress in your jaw (or if you suffer from TMJ disorder or night-time teeth grinding), you’ll want to try this method of relaxation: place your index finger in the area just underneath your ear in the spot where the jawline ends and simply massage using circular, and alternate semicircular, motions.

You’ll want to finish your face massage with the all-important neck area. Simply take the palms of each hand and swipe upwards along the front of the trachea, pushing outward at the base of the chin. Follow that straight-up motion by fanning outward along the base of the entire neck, repeating until all areas have been stimulated. This encourages the muscles in the neck to lift while also working on that top layer of skin. 

Some other exercises that are great for stimulating the muscles in the neck involve taking the backs of your fingers (picture yourself trying to clap with one hand) and gently slapping upwards against the skin along the jawline. Then, try taking all of your fingertips and gently tapping them around the neck, extending the motion to also cover the entire cheek area, the chin, lower mouth, temples and finishing up with the entire width of the forehead. 

Lastly, rub your hands together to create a comfortable level of heat and then cup them around the entire surface of the face: take a deep breath in, feel all of your face muscles relaxing, release all of the tension and exhale. Sit for a few moments before gently pulling your hands away and opening your eyes. The sensation will be energizing, as well as incredibly calming. 

There you have it. A few simple techniques that you can use to give yourself an effective face massage – each and every day.   

If you would love to learn to share these techniques with others, add to your current skill set or start a new business, you can become one of our certified Face Yoga teachers.