We Tried Facial Massaging For a Month and Here’s What Happened

As beauty editors, it’s our job to try any and all beauty tricks, tips and techniques — I mean, how else are we supposed to know if they actually work? Our latest venture has been the technique of facial massaging. Ahead, one beauty editor took her love of facial massaging one step further and practiced the relaxing skin care technique every day for an entire month.

When it comes to giving myself — and my skin — a little at-home R&R, I can’t help but draw inspiration from some of my favorite spa experiences. Case in point: facial massaging. Also known as “face yoga,” this spa-like skin-care technique can help to relax you as you go through your skin care routine. One of the reasons why I love facial massaging so much — aside from all of the above — is because it can also help release some of that built-up tension in your face muscles. Facial massages can even leave your complexion with a refreshing, youthful-looking glow … and who doesn’t want that?!

Last month, I decided to take my love of facial massaging one step further by challenging myself to practice the beauty technique every night with a facial massager for five minutes for a month straight. Here’s what happened.

Week 1: 

At the beginning of my month-long facial massage journey, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I had read some reviews online about some of the possible skin-care benefits of frequent facial massaging, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up about visible results just yet. Regardless of my skepticism, I was definitely looking forward to practicing one of my favorite skin-care techniques on the regular.

After cleansing my complexion with both an oil cleanser and water-based cleanser — I’m all about that double-cleanse life! — toning, and applying my dry skin go-to: a combination of moisturizer and neroli oil-infused serum, I was ready to get my facial massage on.

Within just a few days of practicing a nightly facial massage routine, I started noticing that my surface of my skin was absorbing the moisturizer and facial oil quicker than usual. By the end of the week, facial massaging had become the highlight of my nighttime skin-care routine. Not only was I starting to see small results, the tension in my face muscles began to melt away and my complexion appeared — and felt — less stressed and more relaxed, too. 

Week 2:

In order to make facial massaging a habitual activity in my daily routine, I set an alarm (you may also try leaving a sticky note on your vanity mirror) at the same time every day to remind myself that I need to pencil in a facial massage after my evening regimen. However, by the second week, I was practically counting down the seconds until it was time for my little massage sesh.

At the beginning of week two, I noticed a couple of changes to the appearance of my skin. One: my complexion had a subtle-looking glow to it. And two: My dry skin looked and felt softer and smoother than usual. By the end of the week, I noticed that the puffiness around my eyes appeared to be less noticeable. The results may take their sweet time, but, boy are they worth it!

Week 3: 

For week three, I decided to switch things up product-wise and give pure facial oil a try (as opposed to the moisturizer and facial oil mixture I was using before). What I loved about using only facial oil was how easy it was to glide the facial massager over my complexion and how comforted and nourished my skin felt afterwards.

By the end of the week, I noticed a natural-looking glow on the surface of my skin and the puffy, tired-looking skin around my eyes appeared less noticeable. In addition, my face muscles were starting to feel less tense than they had the weeks before and my skin seemed more supple and smooth looking.

Editor’s Note: Don’t already have a facial oil that you love? We share a roundup of some of our favorites, here.

Week 4:

Week four may have been the last week in my skin-care experiment, but it was definitely not the last week in my facial massaging journey — by the time week four rolled around, I couldn’t imagine life my beauty routine without it!

As far as results go, the difference between my skin when I first started regular facial massages and my skin at the end of the four weeks was promising. The healthy-looking glow that I first saw in week two remained intact, and my skin looked and felt softer, smoother and more supple, and the puffy-looking bags under my eyes were less noticeable — minus a few days when I didn’t get enough shut-eye — they don’t call it beauty sleep for nothing!

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