To get my morning skincare glow, I like to do some Gua Sha and use my NuFACE MINI Facial Toning Device, which uses microcurrent technology to lift and tighten the skin, reducing the appearance of wrinkles and giving you a five-minute facelift at home. Gua Sha is an ancient Chinese medicine technique that improves circulation to reduce the puffiness and inflammation that builds up in the face, especially after sleeping.
I start by washing my face with a gentle cleanser, such as the Obagi Nu Derm Step 1. I like to emulsify the cleanser in my hands until it’s nice and foamy before cleansing my face with circular motions, and you never want to neglect your neck, either.
Once my face is clean, I let it air dry and pat off any excess water with a towel. Then I move on to the NuFACE.
The NuFACE MINI Facial Toning Device uses microcurrent technology to lift, tone, firm, and tighten the skin while helping reduce signs of aging such as wrinkles and fine lines. For a more complete set, NuFACE also has a Trinity Starter Kit, which includes the larger toning device and gel primer, and Trinity + Effective Lip & Eye set, which also features an Effective Lip & Eye (ELE) attachment.
Start by applying the included hydrating gel primer, which is a leave-on formula you can rub into your skin once you’re done as part of your skincare. You want to use a decent amount of this primer, almost like a gel mask so the device can glide gently over your skin without pulling or tugging.
I like to do three glides per section of my face, and it will beep for you after each section to know when you’re done. I use it along my jawline, in the smile line/nasolabial fold area, up toward my temples, my undereye and cheek, and the brow, always lifting as I go. I see the most effect from this device in the brow lift and eye lift, and that’s what I love about this device; it’s a five-minute facelift at home.
One of my favorite areas to work on is pulling from the center of the brows where they meet the nose; it’s just such a nice tension relief that always feels great, but it also lifts the forehead to minimize the fine lines and wrinkles and prevent new ones from forming.
You can tell when looking at the two sides of my face that my eye looks more open, my jawline is less puffy, and my brow is lifted as well. This is also helpful with lymphatic drainage in the morning by depuffing your face and reducing the inflammation that builds up.
Lastly, I do my neck where I move the toning device outward to the sides. Then the device will beep again to say the five minutes are up. That’s when I take any excess gel and massage it into my face, letting it act as a foundation for the rest of my skincare.
The most important step after using your NuFACE device, or using any microcurrent technology, is to follow up with a vitamin C serum. This will brighten any dark spots, even your tone, and give you a nice, glowing complexion, which is why it’s a must-have for me every single day. Let that dry as much as possible, then it’s time to move on to Gua Sha.
I use two Gua Sha stones; one basic elongated heart-shaped stone and one with little ridges. These are great for breaking up fascia, which is what kind of connects your muscles and tissues.
After doing this even for just a week, you will see huge results. I highly recommend trying it and starting, and even if you don’t do it every day, it’s okay; doing it a couple of times a week is going to make a huge difference in puffiness and inflammation while also sculpting and training your muscles to sit how you want them to sit on your face.
For Gua Sha, you’re going to need a good facial oil. I like to use Eminence Organic Skin Care’s Facial Recovery Oil because it’s organic and biodynamic with calming, hydrating, rejuvenating, and oil-production balancing ingredients like ylang ylang, sage leaf extract, clary sage oil, and olive oil.
You’re going to apply a generous amount of oil so that when you’re dragging the stone across your face, you’re not pulling the skin. It’s important to make sure your other skincare dries before you apply the next step—in this case, the hydrating gel from the NuFACE, the vitamin C serum, and now with the oil on top—because if you don’t let it dry, it would start peeling. There is probably not a more frustrating feeling than expensive skin care peeling off your face, so take it from me and don’t learn the hard way.
Before you get started, you’re going to want to activate your lymph nodes so they can drain any inflammation and puffiness out of the face. You can do this both with a Gua Sha or with your fingers by pressing in, massaging, and getting everything warmed up and moving.
As you run your Gua Sha stone across your skin, you’re going to drag it down the sides and away into the lymph nodes where your neck meets your shoulder, mimicking how we used the NuFACE device. I like to do three to five swipes per section, and again, this is another massage that feels so good as you’re rubbing a cool stone along your face. Some people even like to put their Gua Sha stones in the refrigerator or freezer to really get that cold stimulation for depuffing the undereye.
I like to use the flat side of the stone for my forehead, and I go in with the wavy edge perpendicular to my smile line to break up that connective tissue and smooth it out.
There’s a lot more Gua Sha you can do besides your face; you have lymph nodes all over your body, so you can smooth over the breast and drain into the armpit. You can also use a Gua Sha to tone your abdomen and legs to reduce the appearance of cellulite. I love how many wonderful things you can do with this ancient Chinese medicine healing technique.
Another favorite technique of mine that is very similar to Gua Sha is a body dry brush, which I will do a video on another time, but it’s another great circulation boosting, lymphatic draining, Cellulite reducing, almost toning effect. Also, obviously, it’s great for exfoliation.
After you do any Gua Sha, you’re going to want to follow up with a hyaluronic acid serum to plump the skin. I like to use the SkinCeuticals HA Hyaluronic Acid Intensifier.
Next, apply your eye cream. I switch back and forth between a few different ones, but I’m used the Eminence Organic Bearberry Eye Repair Cream. There are so many ways you can apply your eye creams, but the key is to get the blood flowing; I use little tapping motions and circulation-boosting movements.
Then I apply the Elemis Pro-collagen Marine Cream, which I love for its lightweight and silky formula. It also layers perfectly on top of the rest of my skincare, and it’s anti-aging and anti-wrinkle.
To top everything off, you want to make sure you are healing, protecting, and rebuilding your skin barrier. I used a sample of Epionce’s Medical Barrier Cream, which I have been loving. It seals in moisture and protects the skin from any environmental pollutants and factors, and it gives the skin a really nice glow.
That is the end of this full morning glow skincare routine. It will not only lift your face, but also aid in lymphatic drainage, getting the circulation going, reducing puffiness, and giving yourself that bright-eyed, bushy-tailed look that’ll leave you looking like a glazed doughnut.
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