Before launching into the realms of facial treatments and beauty rituals, the starting point for any journey to achieve healthy, smooth and youthful-looking facial skin is to establish a solid foundation of facial hygiene.
Throughout the day, our skin accumulates dirt, pollutants, and unpleasant though it may sound, – bacteria. Cleansing your face helps to eliminate these impurities, preventing pore blockages and potential breakouts. By removing barriers such as dead skin cells and dirt, facial cleansing and exfoliation allows your selected skincare products to penetrate more effectively and improve your skin’s hydration and nourishment. Proper cleansing with products and techniques customised for your individual skin type also helps to maintain your skin’s natural pH balance, giving you a healthier complexion and preventing irritation from the world around us.
To maintain a beautiful and healthy skin, massage is a fundamental step with multiple benefits. Massage not only helps to relax the muscles but also promotes drainage, circulating the lymph and releasing facial toxins in addition to having an almost immediate lifting effect. There are various different types of massage 3 of which, Kobido, Gua Sha and Sculptural facial massage, are often combined to great effect.
Originating from Japan, Kobido facial massage is a time-honoured technique that stimulates acupressure points and improves blood circulation, resulting in a rejuvenated and youthful appearance. This traditional massage not only relaxes your facial muscles but as a very welcome bonus also helps reduce wrinkles, puffiness, and dark circles.
Gua Sha facial massage technique hails from ancient Chinese medicine. By gently scraping a smooth jade or rose quartz tool across the face, this massage promotes lymphatic drainage, reduces puffiness, and increases circulation. Stimulating, invigorating, and detoxifying Gua Sha also helps release muscle tension and promotes a healthy glow.
Sculptural facial massage is a modern approach that combines various techniques like lymphatic drainage, myofascial release, and deep tissue massage to lift and sculpt the facial muscles. This transformative massage technique targets sagging skin, tightens facial contours, and reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
We all know that yoga is good for our bodies and mind, but did you know it can also work miracles for your face? In the same way yoga exercises are targeted to promote strength, flexibility, and balance for the body, the exercises of facial yoga target specific muscles of the face and neck to tone and strengthen. By targeting areas such as the cheeks, forehead, jawline, and neck, facial yoga exercises can help lift sagging skin, reduce the appearance of wrinkles, and improve facial muscle tone. The exercises used in facial yoga also stimulate blood flow to the face increasing circulation. The increased circulation helps deliver additional oxygen and nutrients to the skin cells, promoting a healthy and radiant complexion.
Like any exercise routine, consistency is key to facial yoga. Don’t be put off by names like “The Fish Face” (pursing your lips and sucking in your cheeks), “The V” (smiling widely to form a V shape with your upper and lower lips), or “The Lion’s Breath” (inhaling deeply, opening your mouth wide, sticking out your tongue, and exhaling forcefully) with some initial expert guidance you can easily incorporate facial yoga into your regular routine. One such expert is Eva Grau from our partner Nutrireset, who has developed ‘The Art of Skincare’ to help you discover the art of feeling and looking beautiful. The programme is an in-depth experiential programme that is tailored specifically for you, your life and your facial skin. Under the guiding hands of Eva Grau, you’ll discover ways to highlight your natural beauty with makeup, undergo a facial cleansing, a range of massages and a platinum infused age defying mask. Over years of professional practice Eva has acquired a wide range of techniques in order to create bespoke skin treatments based on a holistic and personalised approach to skincare. Depending on the type and needs of her clients’ skin, Eva adapts and customises each protocol to individual needs.
The journey of self-care and well-being is a transformative path that allows us to reconnect with ourselves, restore our inner glow, and embrace our true face to the world. By embracing the principles of mindfulness, minimalism, and self-discovery, we can enhance our beauty both inside and out. Whether it’s through nourishing our skin, adopting healthier lifestyle choices, or finding balance in our daily routines, the intimate story of our skincare becomes a powerful tool for self-expression and self-care.
