The Secret to Puffy Skin Relief: Everything You Need to Know About Gua Sha
Look to any social feed, and you'll probably run into someone preaching about the skincare wonder that is gua sha. The longtime form of Traditional Chinese medicine has made its way into the hands of, well, everyone—and for good reasons. With promises to increase blood circulation, depuff and tighten skin, it's no wonder everyone is excited to get their hands on this tool.
But while it may look simple in a 30-second TikTok video, the history, benefits, and skills needed to get the most out of your facial tools needs a little more explaining, which is why we reached out to four skincare experts: Founders of YINA, Dr. Ervina Wu and Angela Chau Gray, CEO and Co-Founder of Pink Moon, Lin Chen, and celebrity aesthetician and dermatological nurse Natalie Aguilar for answers on all things gua sha. From how to use your gua sha, to what tools to avoid, it's all here. Here's what to know:
The soothing skincare practice has a centuries-old past. The form of traditional Chinese medicine has been used for over 4,000 years, Chen tells ELLE.com.
As for where it got its name in Chinese, gua means 'to scrape,' and sha means 'petechiae,' which are tiny, flat, red or purple spots on the skin. 'It's commonly used in Chinese medicine to scrape the skin—commonly on the upper back,' explains Wu and Gray. This technique helps 'invigorate blood flow, release heat-toxins, stimulate lymphatic drainage, activate various points of the body, and stimulate an immune response bringing beneficial cells to the area.' In other words: you're actively pressuring your skin to get rid of the unwanted toxins and liquids hiding underneath your skin.
The traditional Chinese medicine practice can benefit you in a lot of ways, externally and internally as well. Some of its impressive results include:
While gua sha is generally considered safe, potential side effects can include soreness, bruising, and light discoloration. These side effects can happen if you're applying too much pressure to the skin or your skin is dehydrated.
Wu and Grey highly recommend seeking out advice and learning the proper techniques from a qualified practitioner to avoid any side effects.
Chen's step-by-step routine for gua sha is as follows:
And if you're a visual learner, check out YouTuber Gothamista's video on her facial gua sha routine. In the video, she shares the routine and tips her TCM practitioner taught her–and it's incredibly calming to watch.
When selecting a gua sha tool, all four experts recommending choose one based on preference to your lifestyle and skill set, but just make sure your tool is made from quality stone like bian, jade, or amethyst. The idea is that the better you like the tool, the more you'll look forward to using it in your skincare routine.
But if we want to get technical, when choosing a gua sha tool, the shape is often more important than the type of stone being used. 'Ideally, the tool should be flat, thin, blunt with curved edges,' says Wu and Grey.
If you're looking for a beginner's option, we recommend something that's heart-shaped. Its design easily glides over the contours of the face and neck, it's easy to hold, and it won't take up too much room in your makeup bag when traveling. 'Ultimately, you want to find the one that feels comfortable and fits nicely in your hand,' says Aguilar. 'It shouldn't feel awkward or intimidating.'
To avoid unwanted friction against your skin when using your gua sha, a hydrating facial oil is key, explains Aguilar.
'When using a gua sha, it's important to find a really nice facial oil, but note that sometimes one may not have a reaction to the gua sha but the oil used,' warns Aguilar. 'Using oils that have too many ingredients, fragrance, or are heavy can cause irritation and breakouts.'
Technically, no. This question goes back to the relationship with you and your skin. 'Gua sha can be performed whenever the facial skin feels dull, lackluster, puffy, or tired,' explains Aguilar.
If your skin tends to lean more on the sensitive side, the experts recommend not doing it more than three to four times a week. On the other end of the spectrum, if your skin is like mine and doesn't tend to flare up easily, you're safe to do it twice a day or whenever you see fit.
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He refused, and a group of staff repeatedly came back to demand it. Another resident in Guangdong revealed in a video post on Aug. 10 that his community office staff came at 10 p.m. to draw their blood for chikungunya PCR testing. Mainland Chinese media outlets reported that in the early morning hours of Aug. 4, community office officials in Guangdong's Zhanjiang City forcibly drew blood from two minors in the absence of their parents, sparking public outrage. 'Chinese government officials taking advantage of parents' absences to draw blood from children is a serious violation of medical ethics,' Sean Lin, assistant professor in the Biomedical Science Department at Feitian College and former U.S. Army microbiologist, told NTD, the sister media outlet of The Epoch Times, on Aug. 10. 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Mosquito Lab Breeding Program Sparks Concerns Chinese state media reported in early August that China's largest mosquito breeding facility in Huangpu District of Guangzhou city, Wolbaki, was running at full capacity and releasing 5 million specially treated male mosquitoes per week, in the hopes of them mating with the wild female mosquito population to produce unviable eggs in a population control technique known as Wolbachia transinfection—where the reproductive compatibility of male mosquitoes is altered by an infection with the common naturally occurring Wolbachia bacterium. Wolbaki's founder was the former director of the Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Diseases, another mosquito breeding facility, at Guangzhou's Sun Yat-sen University, in partnership with Michigan State University, where Xi is a professor of microbiology, genetics, and immunology. 'When the [infected] male mosquitoes carrying the Wolbachia bacterium mate with wild female mosquitoes that do not carry the bacteria, the eggs produced cannot develop normally due to cytoplasmic incompatibility and cannot hatch into mosquito larvae,' Gong Juntao, the head researcher at Guangdong's Wolbaki company that produces the mosquitoes, told Chinese media. However, the method has loopholes, as if infected lab females are not separated and instead released into the wild, they can continue to successfully breed and spread disease. The company claims to have developed an automated technology to efficiently separate male from female lab-bred mosquito pupae, with an error rate of less than 0.5 percent. But Lin said that given the huge number of mosquitoes released, an error rate of 0.5 percent 'means there are still about 25,000 female mosquitoes that can transmit diseases being released every week.' In May, Chinese media reported that China's biggest mosquito breeding facility in Huangpu District of Guangzhou, which it referred to as only the China mosquito research center, was running a pilot study to produce 30 million Wolbachia-infected male mosquitoes—sustained on sheep's blood—to release every month as part of the authorities' disease-prevention efforts targeting the mosquito-borne dengue, Zika, and chikungunya viruses. Two months later, China saw its biggest chikungunya outbreak on record. China's efforts to curb the reproduction of wild mosquitoes through mass-produced lab males infected with Wolbachia 'has failed two rounds,' the Chinese doctor told The Epoch Times. He predicted that in southern and north-central China, the number of mosquitoes carrying the chikungunya virus will rapidly increase before winter.
