Benefits of Facial Massage

As of late I've really been changing up my products but more improtantly adding products to my skin care routine. I'll be 29 next month so I really wanted to be more aggressive with my skin care. Which before was:

In the mornings:
eye cream 
moisuturizer
maybe some rose water spray

At night:
Cleanser w/ Foreo Luna
Antioxidant Soothing Spray/Toner 
Night cream or sleeping facial

Now my morning routine includes:
Cleansing or Bioderma at least
Spray Toner
Vitamin C Serum
Anti Oxidant Oil/Serum
Sunscreen

My night time is:
Foreo Luna with cleanser
Rosewater spray/toner
Lactic Acid lotion
a gentle retinol
antioxidant oil
CoQ10 night cream

I've added in quite a bit and also taken out most things that have "fragrance (parfum)/perfume" listed in the ingredient deck. Now that won't always be the case since I review a lot of skin care for my blog but in general day to day this is how I choose to do my skin care right now.

Also I've added in some different steps that I don't do every night, one being microdermabrasion (at home with the PMD) and the second being facial massage which is why we're here. I wanted to talk about facial massage because I find it quite interesting. 
So facial massage is nothing new it's been around for what seems like ever. It was introduced into the US in the 19th century. Some of you may have heard of it by the term "Face Yoga".

Anyway, facial massage has several benefits. Instant face lift being one of those. If you're applying your moisturizer the way you've been taught or instructed, then you know to always work products into the skin in an upward motion. So you're already doing a form of facial massage right there. We go upwards because gravity naturally makes the skin sag over time and this keeps it lifted for longer or at the very least we aren't helping gravity any by pulling it downward.

I personally like facial massage for the fact that it helps get extra fluid (which is what makes your face look puffy) out. So your face looks slimmer working that extra fluid out of the muscles in the face. So what I mean by that is you have a lot of lymph nodes around the face right under the jaw and chin. They have what is called "lymph fluid" which is a fluid that moves through the muscles and eliminates toxins. Without it the toxins build up. There has to be muscle movement for the "lymph fluid" to travel into the lymph nodes and thus get filtered into the blood stream which then eliminates the toxins in the body. Along with eliminating toxins, regular facial massage brings in oxygen to the muscles which has an anti aging advntage. Along with that, it increases blood flow to those muscles and helps produce collagen and boost your glow. So for those reason's alone it's good enough to convince me.

Along with those major benefits, if you happen to be majorly stressed (who isn't these days) facial massage can not only help the tension and help you relax, but can help smooth lines in your forehead. You know when you get stressed or angry and you furrow your brows and you get those lines. Then the lines decide to become more prominent due to constant stress. Regular facial massage eases the muscles that are tense and tight while also flattening those lines and lessening the appearance of them.

Now before you cut loose on massaging your face there's some points to remember: 

Use an oil or moisturizer to not cause irritation or pulling of the skin.

Don't massage your face if your skin has irriations on it already, just let it rest.

Make sure your hands are clean.

Drink plenty of water.

Depending on your skin type, age and so on you may only need to do facial massage once a month or every 2 weeks. I personally do a little bit everyday when I'm applying my oils at night or moisturizer in the morning. I really like doing it in the morning. I just use massage techniques to work products into the skin and I focus somewhat on the areas that help push out toxins so that my face looks less puffy and slimmer. I do the full sha-bang probably every two weeks which includes the tapping, the temple massage, the forehead and sinus area. Which actually is another great thing, if you have some congestion you can massage the sinus area to hopefully help move some of that congestion out. Of course talk with a doctor as well, since you may need antibiotics if it's a sinus infection. I use a medium to harder pressure when I work on the areas that can eliminate toxins. I don't hurt myself mind you but I make sure to use a pretty decent pressure so I'm really working and kneading those muscles. Also I find that it's the best way to get the most out of my skin care products. I use them during my facial massage so I'm getting the added benefits of the massage and then also making sure my skin care if really being pushed and absorbed into the skin and not just sitting on top of it, feeling heavy and weird.

Now I'm not going to begin to try and explain in words how to massage your face correctly so I'm going to insert some links for tutorials for you to watch that might be helpful. Which is what I done.

This is a cool video of a Celebrity Aesthetician (Nerida Joy) that shows different techniques of facial massage. She has plenty of other videos as well. I like how she explains things and busts some myths. 

I actually go by this detoxing and stimulating DIY at home facial massage (Facial Yoga) video by Annie Jaffrey. She clearly states that she isn't an expert so keep that in mind. but I think she does a really good job and I use her techniques very often. I really like watching her video because it's easier for me to mirror or replicate the same moves she does on her own face, rather than watching it being done to someone who is lying down. If that makes any sense at all.

I'm also going to leave some articles that will tell you more about facial massage if you want to learn more.

InStyle Magazine http://www.instyle.com/beauty/facial-massage-better-skin

Reader's Digest http://www.rd.com/health/beauty/benefits-of-massage/

Livestrong http://www.livestrong.com/article/95793-benefits-facial-massage/