Don’t call it a comeback: Gua Sha has been here for years. This ancient Chinese healing technique—pronounced “gwa sa”—has gained traction in the beauty and wellness scene in the U.S. over the past few years, and because it’s effective, easy to DIY, and blends beauty and good self Health care, it seems that scraping will take root here.
What is Gua Sha?
This is a massage that incorporates a small stone scraper or plate to help drain the lymph out of the body and increase circulation. The idea is that the rubbing technique can clear stagnant energy (also known as “qi” in Chinese medicine) and promote lymphatic drainage, resulting in firmer, more radiant skin. While the term refers broadly to overall bodywork exercises—some professional body massages can be so intense that they cause bruising—gua sha facials are much gentler and have become more popular because they purportedly help create “natural” face-lift effect.
How to use Gua Sha Stone for Face Massage.
The technique breaks down by focusing on specific areas of the face. Here’s what we recommend, starting on the right:
- Along the neck: Start at the outer corner of the chin, near the earlobe. Swipe down to the depression above the middle of your right clavicle. Repeat 3 to 5 times.
- Under the chin: Sweep 3 to 5 times from the middle of the underside of the soft chin (where a double chin occurs) to the bottom of the earlobe.
- Chin: From the middle of the chin, below the lower lip, sweep out to the earlobe 3 to 5 times.
- Cheeks: Sweep outward from the corner of the nose to the middle ear 3 to 5 times.
- Under the Eyes: Be extra light and slow here, sweep over the under-eye area where the “bags under the eyes” will appear, then to the temples, all the way to the hairline 3 to 5 times.
- Under the eyebrow: Avoid putting any pressure on the eye or the eyelid itself and keep it on the brow bone. Sweep outward from the inner corner to the temple again 3 to 5 times.
- Third Eye: From the center of the eyebrow to the hairline. This one is especially relaxing for the nervous system and great for insomnia, so if it’s talking to you, give it a few more hits! 3 to 10 times.
- Lower forehead: Stroke 3 to 5 times from the center of the forehead above the eyebrows to the temples.
- Clean up. Here we bring everything we moved to the outer edge of the face all the way to the end, where the clavicle depression is between the center of the neck and the shoulders. Start in the center of the upper forehead, work your way down the hairline, over the temples, then bend behind the ears, down the side of the neck to the end 3 to 5 times.
- Repeat the entire procedure on the second side!
Benefit.
Research shows that regular facial massage can really help improve skin quality. For example, one study showed that just 5 minutes a day of facial rolling (which is similar to gua sha) improves blood flow in the face. In another case, a patient claimed to feel firmer and softer after regular massage. (In terms of overall health, research does show that massage can also lower cortisol levels.) While we know that scraping can help reduce inflammation and promote lymphatic drainage, the practice may have surprising other health benefits. Several studies have emerged, including helping relieve perimenopausal symptoms, neck pain, and even migraines.
What is the Best Gua Sha Tool and Which One is Right for You?
One reason for the popularity of gua sha is that these gua sha boards are fascinating in their own right, and they complement the wellness world’s ongoing obsession with gemstones. The two most popular scraping stones are rose quartz and jade (the former represents its successful commercial renewal in the West; the latter is a more traditional material used in traditional Chinese medicine). While we have no peer-reviewed research to back up this claim, there are many in the overall community who believe in the healing powers of certain stones, and yes, they look beautiful. What’s the difference between them:
Rose Quartz Gua Sha: You’ll see these everywhere—even in the facial rollers that pop up in the beauty aisle of your local drugstore—because it’s associated with opening the heart chakra. It can help wake up the skin.
Jade Gua Sha: In traditional Chinese medicine, jade is called the heavenly stone, representing health, wealth, longevity and prosperity, and is believed to absorb negative energy. This is a healthy and beautiful stone that has been used by practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years. Interestingly, many also claim that it is good for inflammation and reducing redness.
Bian Stone Gua Sha: These stones come from a mountain in China that was struck by a meteor and are therefore considered to have remarkable super-powers. Bian stone contains more than 40 kinds of minerals and trace elements. It produces negative ions, so it also has antioxidant properties.
