Preparation
Always start your gua sha massage on clean, damp skin.
It’s also important to have a product on the skin before you start scraping with the gua sha in order to prevent damaging the skin. We recommend that you use a face oil or even better our Gua sha facebalm 01. A serum or face cream will absorb too quickly and you won’t have enough moisturizer on your skin during the gua sha massage.
If you have oily skin, don’t worry about using an oil or facebalm. It's just a matter of choosing the right oil or balm for your skin type. If you are in doubt which product is best for your skin - start with our Gua sha facebalm 01 or pure squalane or inca inchi oil. You can read more about our skincare HERE.
Techniques
We have designed and developed several different types of gua shas over the past 6 years. All gua shas have different shapes for different purposes. If you don’t know which gua sha you should choose, you can find the solution HERE.
During a gua sha massage we’ll be working with the 4 organ systems:
- the muscles
- the circulatory system
- the fascia
- the lymphatic system.
For each of these systems, we work with different sides of the gua sha, different pace, different pressure and different directions.
Angle and pressure
Especially the pressure and the angle are crucial for the right gua sha massage results.
90° angle:
Medium/firm pressure:
With this angle and pressure you’ll relax the facial muscles. Imagine that the gua sha is melting into the muscles. The movements are small scrapes back and forth or up and down over the tense area. Pace is medium.
Light pressure:
With this angle and pressure you’ll get the skin glowing. The movement is back and forth, up and down and zigzag. Pace is fast. You need to create a light friction massage on the skin surface.
20-45° angle:
With light/medium pressure in upwards direction - this is the position for face lifting.Pace is slow to medium.
0-15° angle:
With a feather-light pressure in the direction of the lymph, meaning from the center of the face out towards the ears and down the neck - this is how you’ll use the gua sha during the lymphatic drainage. Pace is very slow. Imagine you are pulling a small water balloon under your skin.
The smooth sides of the gua sha
The smooth sides of our gua shas and side 4 on the Sculpt gua sha are used for
- Lymphatic drainage
- Lifting
Lymphatic drainage
We always complete each gua sha treatment with lymphatic drainage e.g. for swelling under the eyes, clogged pores, minor spots etc.
During lymphatic drainage, the angle of the Gua sha should be flat against the skin and the pressure should be feather-light and the pace slow.
Lifting
When working with the lifting gua sha techniques, you are working with the fascia which is located right between the skin surface and the muscles. When lifting we massage the fascia and loose connective tissue. Use a medium pressure. The angle of the gua sha should be as flat as possible - the more contact the gua sha has with the skin, the better it works. Lifting movements are always upwards as you have to counteract gravity. The pace is slow to medium.
Textured sides - glow & skin renewal
The jagged edges stimulate blood circulation.Consider the jagged sides as a kind of eraser that smoothes fine lines and fades scars and pigmentation.
The angle of the gua sha should be at 45-90 degrees on the skin and the pressure light when working with the gua sha.The pace is brisk as you want to create a light friction massage to turn the skin slightly pink (never red!)
The arches / ends - relaxtion of the muscles
Arches / ends are used to work muscles and tensions. The arches / ends are used to relax and de-stress as well as counteract tension wrinkles.
When working with muscles / tensions, the gua sha should be placed at a 90 degree angle on the skin, and the pressure should be firm - but always comfortable - and the movements are small back and forth motions concentrated on the tense area.
You'll find all our gua sha HERE
