Gua Sha is the name of a skincare trend from Chinese medicine. We'll tell you what that brings and whether we need it here.
Gua Sha is the name of a "new" skincare trend (okay, it's been around for a bit longer) from Asia. Gua … what? GUA SHA! We'll tell you what's behind it and whether it's really something that we all need in our routine.
Gua Sha – anti-aging through massage
Gua Sha is a massage stone and it originally comes from Chinese medicine. Here it is used for a kind of stimulus therapy in which the skin is treated with the massage stone. Literally "Gua" means something like press or stroke and "Sha" means rash or redness. So we cancel our rash in the method? Yes and no!
Gua Sha stones are usually flat, have different shapes and consist of different stones such as jade, amethyst or rose quartz. We stroke them over the skin to naturally lift and calm it and to stimulate the skin's collagen production. It's like a lymphatic drainage on the face.
Of course, with Gua Sha Facial there are rules that we should follow. Simply stroking your face wildly is not the ideal option. It's best to use this method two to three times a week – and this is how it works:
- Preparation is the be-all and end-all. Never use the stone on dry skin, rather prepare the cleansed skin with a skin oil or serum.
- If you like, you start with your neck. Move the Gua Sha down from your chin to your neck. This stimulates the lymph flow.
- Place the gua sha in the middle of your face and pull it with light pressure along your jaw towards your ears. Work your way up over your cheeks to the area around your eyes. Most stones have a smaller side or indentation for the eye area. On the forehead, place the gua sha in the middle and pull it outwards towards the temples and the hairline.
- Important: Always pull the stone in one direction and DO NOT move it back and forth. This irritates the skin unnecessarily.
The Gua Sha massage is carried out relatively gently, so please do not press too hard! It is not suitable for couperose (vasodilatation), injuries or acne.