Why Use Facial Massage?
If you think you do not need to start a course of facial massage, think about this. When you go into the bathroom first thing in the morning, are you scared? Who is that pale creature with lines and a certain puffiness that is staring back? Don’t panic, all is not lost, help is at hand, your hands actually as you can kick start your system with a facial massage. Firstly, apart from your normal lines, the big crease have probably come from you pillow and will soon disappear. As for the rest, well it is quite natural and it is just the way the body works. At night, while you sleep, the body goes into tick over mode, the heart rate drops leading to a slowing down of the blood circulation. This has a twofold effect, first there is less oxygen getting to the skin and secondly, the lymph glands are not removing as many toxins from the skin, hence the pale. puffy look. There are other factors at work as well. Pollution, lack of exercise, shallow breathing and poor nutrition can all slow down the circulation, leading to a build up of toxins.
Doing facial exercises will be able to kick start your circulation, and bring a glow to your face which indicates that the blood is now flowing at a good rate, which in turn allows your lymphatic system to start getting rid of those nasty toxins. This will improve your immune system giving you a much healthier complexion. As approximately half of all lymph glands are sited in your neck area, it is really important to get the facial tissues’ blood flow working properly.
To understand the ageing process you need to know a little about the skin. It is built from three layers which are called the epidermis, dermis and hyhypodermis. The dermis is the layer we all see, its role is to protect and allow water evaporation to cool us down. Under this lies the dermis, the work horse of the skin. It is packed with collagen and elastin to give the skin its structure and stretch and it houses the tiny blood vessels and nerve endings. It also has the tops of the sweat and sebaceous glands and it is this layer that regulates the bodys’ temperature. The final layer is the hypodermis which consists of fatty tissue and water and has the bottom of the sweat and sebaceous glands in it. It is from this layer that the fatty deposits leave as you get older, giving the skin its flattish look. Even though the skin is the same construction all over the body, it has different variations in specific parts. The finger tips, for instance have a higher number of nerve endings to assist the sense of touch. Facial skin is connected to a larger number of muscles than anywhere else in the body to facilitate non verbal communication. It is also quite sensitive and is important for monitoring the ambient temperature and humidity.
Skin will age in several different ways, depending on each of the three levels. When we are young, our skin cells last almost twice as long but as we grow older, elastin disappears which disrupts the collagen and tends to flatten the skin. Added to this, the hypodermis will lose moisture and the fatty tissues head south due to gravity making the skin lose tone and elasticity. With a life time of frowning, smiling, scowling and all the other faces we pull, lines begin to develop. Not only that but the action of the sun, poor diet, smoking and other pollutants, stress and even the chemicals in make up add to the ageing process. Which means the sooner you start your facial massage, the sooner you can maybe put the brakes on the ageing process.
You will get a good idea of what is happening when you give yourself a facial massage if you just squeeze or press an area of skin. Notice how it gets red? This is the increased blood flow surging into the area, bringing life giving oxygen to the skin and then removing the harmful toxins. Of course your facial massage will be gentler, but the effects will be the same. It will promote blood flow and stimulate the lymph glands to give your skin that healthy glow.
Although massaging your face will have some effect, if you do it too hard it will be a detrimental one, a more systematic approach will give the skin a real boost. We have all heard about acupuncture, that Eastern traditional medical practice of inserting needles to restore ones health. Well a facial massage that incorporates these points will give a real boost to the effects on your skin. It is called Acupoint facial massage and you only need to gently rub on these points to get the effect needed. These points are connected to the meridians of the body where the energy or Qi flows. Massaging will stimulate these points and, as well as improving the blood flow, will unblock and stimulate the Qi as well.
To compliment your acupoint facial massage, essential oils can be used to help repair and nourish the skin. These should not be used neat but mixed with vegetable based carrier oils that will also be beneficial to the skin. There are a wide range of these, such as grape seed, olive, wheat germ and almond, and you can find the right one to compliment your personal skin type. You do not need to add a lot of essential oils to them, ten drops at the most, and you can combine different essential oils for a variety of different skin conditions. Although these are perfectly safe, they are not advised to be used by pregnant women, particularly in the early stages of development.
In order to be able to massage the correct areas, you will need a diagram of the face explaining the different points. A good example is Facelift At Your Fingertips by Pierre Jean Cousin which not only has excellent illustrations but also has a lot of information in the use of essential oils. Incorporating a good acupoint facial massage into your usual beauty routine will repay your effort tenfold. Now all you have to worry about is the jealous looks of your girl friends.
Tags: Skin
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