The Gentle Revolution: Ancient Skincare Techniques Meet Modern Skincare

Dermatologists are constantly studying new trends in skin care and identifying what is best for maintaining healthy, glowing skin. The face is the most visible part of one's being and the most communicative, as we express emotion and feelings through facial expressions. The need for scientifically supported facial care transcends beauty in the modern age. It’s not just looking pretty for the camera. It's part of your identity!

Whether you came here today to seek out the best methods for anti-aging, advice for how to keep your skin smooth, or are just looking for a killer facial massage routine, you'll find what you need here. We’ll talk about facial exfoliation, anti-aging, and massage routines to set you up for success. 

The Structure of Skin

Before we get into the nitty gritty, we must understand what we are working with. Facial skin is an entirely different type of skin than what you have on the rest of your body; It is thinner, yet has a proportional number of sebaceous glands and environmental irritants as compared to other swaths of your skin. 

Regardless if you are looking at your elbow or your face, there are three basic layers to all human skin. These layers are:

 ●       Epidermis: The protective, top layer which works as a barrier against trans-epidermal water loss. Hydration and projection are its main purposes.

●       Dermis: The layer below the epidermis, which is the thickest layer, composed of collagen, which gives skin structure and elasticity

●       Hypodermis: The lowest layer, which is comprised of fat and connective tissue

These layers help create resilient skin. They also benefit from various types of intervention and upkeep.

Daily Beauty Secrets for Radiant Skin

Now that we know the three layers of skin, we need to learn how to care for them effectively. Here are the daily basics. Following this simple daily routine should clear up any problem areas and begin to offset the creation of fine lines and wrinkles.

Morning Cleanse

Starting the day out with an effective morning cleanse is more important than you think. You might assume your face is clean after a night spent sleeping, but sebum, oils and mites can build up pretty quickly even while you’re laying still. 

The morning cleanse should remove excess sebum from the evening but not be too stripping for the surface barrier of the skin. A pH balanced cleanser (5.5) means that the skin acid mantle, a surface layer that protects white skin against bacteria and external invasion, will remain.

Sensitive and mature skin requires an oil or cream-based cleanser. This is because mature or sensitive skin is lipid deficient, meaning no lipids are extracted from their corresponding parts. A gel-based cleanser for oily skin is also effective as it takes away excess dirt; gel penetrates deeper without stripping too much away.

Hydration

After the cleanse we hydrate, or lotion. Dehydration is the root cause of almost all skin issues, from premature aging skin to impaired barrier function. Keeping your skin hydrated is essential to maintaining your skin tone, tighten pores, reduce inflammation, and leave your skin soft.

Seek out these types of hydrating products:

1. Water hydration: Humectants such as hyaluronic acid, glycerin, and aloe vera draw moisture into the skin.

2. Fatty reinforcement: Ceramides, squalane, and fatty acids keep moisture from escaping.

3. Occlusives: Thin agents that shield use from transepidermal water loss.

Always apply products on freshly damp skin (at least after washing off daily grime and perspiration). Start by appling the lightest weight texture to the heaviest. Remember, hydration is subjective and changes seasonally, hormonally, and through environmental exposure.

Let’s not forget that the best way to hydrate your skin on a regular basis is from within. If you are experiencing dehydration or dull skin in spite or cleansing thoroughly, triple your water intake and make sure your water is not loaded with sugar, salt, and/or caffeine. Flavored additives or caffeinated beverages can be more dehydrating than drinking actual water. 

Morning Toning and Lifting

After cleansing your hair and applying your products grab your jade roller or a RAD Face Roller and massage your face. Results are best when using soft, intentional strokes from the center of the face outward toward the lymph nodes beneath the jawline, at the sides of the neck, and the nape. All efforts should be gentle since lymphatic vessels are just a hair just below the skin and do not need tremendous pressure for proper stimulation.

Sunscreen

Baz Luhrmann told us all what we need to do: Wear Sunscreen! Every day before leaving the house put on an SPF that is made for the face. 

The number one factor in premature aging is sun exposure; studies say 90% of the aging changes we see in skin occur over time due to repeated sun exposure. Sunscreen is essential broad-spectrum sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher for every man, woman, and child every day, sun shining or not, inside or outside.

Besides sunscreen, antioxidants like vitamin C, niacinamide, or astaxanthin are incredibly beneficial as they combat free radicals from pollution, blue light, and so many other outside stressors. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and these natural ingredients can do wonders for maintaining skin over the long haul and keeping it together and healthy.

Night Time Beauty Rituals - Two-Step Cleanse

Your evening skincare routine is even more important than your morning ritual because not only does sebum need to be removed, but grime, makeup, and sunscreen is now sitting on the top layers of your skin. We recommend using a two-step process to ensure an effective cleanse without damaging the skin barriers cleansing oil followed by a water-based cleanser. To properly double cleanse: 

1. Oil cleanse applied to dry skin and massaged for 60-90 seconds

2. Water applied to emulsify, then rinsed

3. Once clean of oil cleanse apply a light water-based cleanser

4. Pat (don't rub) dry with clean towel

Recommended Active Ingredients for Night Lotion

The right active ingredients can target your problem areas:

 ●       Fine lines and wrinkles: Retinoids encourage increased cell turnover, aka, shedding skin, and increase collagen production from stimulated growth of new skin. Generally relied upon for it's anti aging properties.

●       Uneven texture: Alpha and beta hydroxy acids lightly exfoliate and assist with intercellular communication

●       Dark Spots: tranexamic acid, kojic acid, and niacinamide regulate melanin production

●       Redness/Sensitivity: centella asiatica, beta-glucan, and madecassoside soothe inflammation

●       Repair: Peptides, ceramides, and botanical essential oils, are great for this in the evening. Since skin is busy at work overnight repairing, you can assist the process.

As long as you layer these active ingredients correctly you’ll see results within 2-6 weeks. Some last recommendations: don't go overboard (1-2 times per week MAX, beautiful), allow your skin to acclimate to new ingredients by doing test areas, and don't mix anything that might be reactive without extensive research first.

The use of basically anything with a facial massage enables absorption due to increased circulation, a simple technique to apply a formula to its fullest extent.

Evening Toning and Lifting

We recommend doing a facial massage with your skincare products and routine. The use of any cream, lotion, or serum in tandem with a facial massage enhances the effectiveness of the former. The tool tugs and gently stretches and lifts skin, opening pores to receive product, and manipulating tissues below the surface.

By massaging the face you are also increasing circulation to the area which increases healing and recovery factor. Our faces are also made to move in specific ways, with our expressions and with gravity. Toning with a facial massage tool works the skin in directions it might not naturally move, increasing elasticity and offsetting the set of wrinkles and fine lines. 

Gua Sha: Ancient Skin Care Practice

Simply put, Gua Sha is the use of a smooth-edged tool to manipulate and massage. Ancient Chinese practitioners would use a tool made of jade, horn, or bone, and scrape across a person's skin to bring blood to the surface. It was believed that by rendering "sha," meaning toxins/heat that bring about disease, that people would feel better. Gua Sha tools have been found in archeological digs dating back to unnamed communities that are tens of thousands of years old! The practice has been found in use in ancient Greece, ancient Egypt, ancient China, and various other ancient civilizations.

When gua sha is used on the body the approach is generally more aggressive. When used on the face, a lighter hand is used, scraping just enough to maintain skin integrity yet render therapeutic benefits.

Building off this long history of scraping and mobilizing with a flat-edged tool, RAD has designed the Face Roller. It perfectly blends the elements of jade rolling, gua sha and scraping, all the while elevating the experience with an ergonomic design, and enhanced functionality. Unlike a gua sha blade or jade roller, every surface of the RAD Face Roller is a usable surface, made to contour the planes and angles of the face, and fit nicely into a human hand without causing cramping. You can get in close to the corner of the eye or nose, massage the decolletage, neck, forearms, collar bone, as well as the face.

Benefits of Face Rolling: Fine Lines and Wrinkles

Human faces are expressive, and the skin is thin, made to move. With age, the wrinkles we get from smiling, laughing and squinting set deeper. Age also is accompanied by diminishing collagen production, which furthers the set of wrinkles. Aging is inevitable, but in the modern world it doesn’t have to be barreling towards you.

Research suggests that sustained the natural method of soft manipulation of the face promotes greater elasticity over time due to the stimulation of fibroblasts (the collagen-generating cells found naturally in the body). This is when compared to any kind of chemical or surgical intervention.

Finding the right tool is important. The RAD Face Roller has clinically positioned pressure points on the roller for the mouth's expression lines, the forehead/brow, and eyes to help massage and manipulate the fine skin layers to maintain a youthful appearance and beautiful skin. 

Benefits of Face Rolling: Lymphatic Drainage

The lymphatic system, while it contributes to cellular waste removal from the system as well as fluid homeostasis, does not have a 'pump' of its own to facilitate flow, but relies on muscle contractions and other forms of exogenous pressure. If you're getting up (or experiencing during the day more frequently) with puffy cheeks more by worry, your lymphatic system was not flowing as it should have while you were sleeping. RAD Face Roller sessions for lymphatic drainage include:

●       Wake up less puffy

●       Better nutrient exchange in tissues

●       Better internal detoxing function

●       Better absorption of products

Results are best when using soft, intentional strokes from the center of the face outward toward the lymph nodes beneath pale skin at the jawline, at the sides of the neck, and the nape. All efforts should be gentle since lymphatic vessels are just below the skin and do not need tremendous pressure for proper stimulation.

Benefits of Face Rolling: Releasing Facial Tension

Facial tension causes wrinkles and additionally leads to headaches, TMJ, and jaw dysfunction. Many do not realize how much tension they're keeping in their facial muscles. A lot of the stress in our body manifests in the neck, back, and face, further aging us.

●       TMJ Pain: Can be achieved with a soft release of the masseter muscle

●       Headaches: Can be achieved with a deactivation of the temporalis and frontal muscles

The RAD Face Roller especially powerful because it contours to the actual shape of the jawline and temple. There are two surfaces to choose from as well, silky smooth for product application, or textured for collagen production and turning over skin cells. 

When we talk about sculpting the face, we don't mean filler and botox. As we age, we lose fat in some places and gain in others, we lose muscle tone, and we lose skin elasticity. So why battle mother nature with a needle when a proper facial can do the following:

1. Activate dormant facial muscles for improved sculpting

2. Encourage lymphatic drainage to relieve swelling

3. Soothe tension patterns

4. Enhance blood flow

Employing a facial massage tool like RAD's Face Roller consistently allows for these incremental, yet effective, adjustments to facial anatomy over time. Especially the jaw and cheekbones. 

Internal Factors that can Improve Facial Skin Health

Natural Ingredients and Foods That Nourish From Within

Healthy skin starts from within. What we consume lends to skin composition, hydration, and inflammation levels. Your diet can have more of an effect on the quality of your skin than anything you to do the exterior layers.

●       Collagen-stimulating options: bone broth, shellfish, fish, eggs, vitamin C-containing citruses

●       Antioxidant-containing options: berries, kale, and other colorful vegetables

●       Healthy fat options: avocados, honey and olive oil,, and fatty fish with omega-3s for cellular membranes

●       Hydration: fruits and vegetables with a high percentage of water content plump the skin.

Interestingly, the protein-dense Mediterranean diet (known for it's anti-inflammatory properties) has been especially linked with positive skin health. 

What to Avoid: Inflammatory Instigators

Foods that cause inflammation will lead to red irritated skin, increased signs of aging, and failure of skin barrier function: 

1. Processed sugars: Glycation occurs, which breaks down collagen fibers

2. Processed fats/oils: Causes inflammation from the inside out

3. Excessive alcohol: Dehydrates skin while flushing out micronutrients

4. Excess sodium: Causes puffiness and bloating

Those with an intolerance to dairy, eggs, gluten, etc can also see inflammation in the body (i.e. redness, swelling, reactivity). A food log is a great tool for narrowing down what you are eating and how it is affecting you. 

Conclusion

Whether it's for anti-aging purposes, reducing TMJ discomfort, or you’re merely looking to keep up the health and appearance of your facial skin, a strategic, knowledgeable application of the RAD Face Roller and the right products for your skin type will make all the difference. Just five to ten minutes of skin care and toning massage a day will have long lasting effects. Contact us for more information.