You don’t have to pay huge sums of money for a facial massage that will enliven your complexion, tone and condition your skin, relax your facial muscles, improve circulation, break down fatty deposits, release toxins, reduce wrinkles, and leave your skin feeling smoother and more vibrant. All it takes is a tiny bit of know-how.
These simple massage techniques are all-n/atural, as well as non-toxic and non-invasive, and they feel absolutely wonderful. The do-it-yourself way to healthier, more beautiful skin, right here:
Use a simple all-natural lotion or oil to facilitate the movement of your fingers on your skin (olive oil will do beautifully). Be sure to do this massage with clean hands and face, and leave your face damp before you begin. Pull your hair away from your face and have a small bowl of your lotion or oil at hand.
The 3 Basic Techniques:
1. Use the tips of the index, middle, and ring fingers together to exert a deep, local pressure in a tiny circular movement. You should be able to feel the skin rubbing against the small muscles of the face. Lift the fingers and reposition them to travel across the skin.
2. Use the flat pads of the index, middle, and ring fingers together or simply the thumb to travel across the skin–either in a slow, spiraling action, or by simply sliding upward, downward, or outward. For the most part, keep the remainder of your hand resting lightly on your face.
3. Pinching: Use your finger and thumb lightly but with enough strength to stimulate the circulation and cause as light change of skin color. Beware of bruising–pinch lightly on the eyebrows and upper face, more heavily along the jaw.
Basic Massage:
Warm-Up Starting on either side of your nose, pinch along each eyebrow and as far as possible along the temples toward the tops of the ears. Then pinch from the chin, working slowly along the jaw line and up to the base of the ears.
1. Dip the pads of your fingers in the oil and rub your palms together to spread it evenly. Place your fingertips on your jawbone and with light pressure, make a large, sweeping circle from the jaw line up either side of your nose to the center of the forehead, out along the hairline, and down the temples to meet at the jawbone. This gently stimulates energy and spreads the oil.
2. Using Technique 1, start at the chin and travel along the jaw line and then up from the angles of the jaw to the temples.
3. Using Technique 2, begin on each side of the nose, close to the base of the nostrils, moving first under the cheekbones and then up toward the tops of the ears.
4. Placing the tips of the middle fingers at the inner corners of the eyes, slide your fingers upward, pushing against the orbital bone, and then outward, just above the eyebrows, towards the ears.
5. Use Technique 2 to massage the forehead, starting just above the top of the nose, moving up toward the hairline, and then outward until you reach the temples.
6. Using Technique 2, position the pads of all three fingers at the base of the central frown line, just above the top of the nose, and slide them toward the temples.
7. Massage your scalp firmly, as if you were shampooing your hair. Begin at the temples and work downward, behind the ears and towards the base of the skull.
8. Resting your palms on your ears so that the thumbs point downward, massage from your throat to the nape of the neck in a broad, spiraling version of Technique 2.
9. Place one hand, palm down, on each side of your nose. Your fingertips should rest slightly above your eyebrows. With firm, even pressure, slide your hands outward toward the ears.
10. Bring the sequence to an end by repeating the sweeping movement described in step 1.
