Skin & hair · 5 min
A five-minute face massage
Clean hands, a little plain cream, slow strokes from the middle of the face outwards: five minutes that soften the jaw and the day.
The face holds more tension than we notice: a clenched jaw, a furrowed brow, tightness around the eyes after a day of screens or worry. A short massage with a little cream is a small, inexpensive piece of beauty care that also happens to feel like rest.
The steps
Four small steps,in your own time.
Wash your hands and your face, and warm a small amount of plain moisturiser or a light oil between your palms.
Starting at the chin, use the pads of your fingers to make slow, gentle strokes along the jaw towards the ears, then from the nose across the cheeks towards the temples.
Press lightly along the brow from the middle outwards, then make small slow circles at the temples and where the jaw hinges, letting the teeth part a little.
Finish with both palms resting over your closed eyes for three slow breaths, then smooth whatever cream is left down the neck.
The reason
Why it helps
Gentle pressure and warmth ease tight facial muscles, especially the jaw and brow, which many people clench without knowing. Slow, repeated strokes have a calming effect of their own, and the cream goes on more thoroughly than a quick dab. It is also a few minutes of care that asks nothing of anyone else.
A gentle variation
If creams irritate your skin, do the same strokes dry with clean hands, or over a warm, damp cloth laid on the face. If your hands are stiff, use the flat of your fingers or the heel of your hand and fewer, longer strokes.
WE · TRIBE
Try itwith someone.
Offering a face massage to someone you care for, with their agreement, can be a calm moment that is not about care tasks: a warm cloth first, then slow strokes while you talk or sit quietly. Ask them to tell you if anything is too firm.
Try it today
Tonight, after washing your face, spend five minutes massaging a little plain moisturiser in with slow, outward strokes.
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