Sarah’s Health Notes: Facial massage to take years off your face – and mind
Using the right techniques, facial massage can rejuvenate your face and calm your mind
What’s the best thing you can do to make your face look brighter, smoother, more even-toned – and younger? Of course creams, serums, masks, lots of water, sleep and the rest will help. But there’s something else that can transform dull, droopy, sad skin – facial massage. However, aesthetic experts warn that it must be done in the right way; as Dr. Sophie Shotter of Illuminate Skin Clinics says, ‘over aggressive pulling/pushing/pummelling can do more harm than good’.
As lockdown continues to loom over us, my recommendation for getting visible and lovely results is to book into an online class with Beata Aleksandrowicz (above and below), the fairy godmother of facial massage. (Indeed all types of massage as she’s the founder of her eponymous Pure Massage protocol for spas.)
It’s no exaggeration to say Beata’s healing hands are a legend in the beauty world but since having her hands on your face is currently impossible, her weekly live-stream classes are a wonderful alternative. They’re marvellously affordable at £10 per 30-45 minute class and I’d hazard a bet they will still be fully booked when life returns to ‘normal’. (In the ‘After’, as we call it.)
As Beata says, the magic of her ‘Face Massage with Beata’ technique isn’t about “fixing” your face but about softening tension lines, boosting radiance and refining your natural facial structure. After joining her for a 35-minute Face Revival class on a recent Thursday lunchtime, I can vouch for those results and also that my ‘screen eyes’ looked and felt calmer and brighter, with less under eye puffiness. My skin was rosier, perkier, more even toned and it really did take years off my face.
Beata’s adamant that the aim is to stroke your face lovingly – not attack it. ‘We want to keep it happy,’ she insists in her soft Polish accent, still evident after her many years in England. The effect on my face lasted a couple of days easily, and made me determined to book in again and practise the techniques on my own. Some of her online clients say they’ve cancelled their Botox injections.
Part of the Beata effect is her enchanting personality. Her enthusiasm and passion to make everyone feel as well as look better positively shines through the screen. She explains about the power of therapeutic touch to send oxytocin - the ‘love’ hormone associated with warm, fuzzy feelings - scudding round your body and the effect it has on your mind. Beat’s facial massage routines are as much about wellbeing as about appearance: putting the two together is a stroke of genius.
So join in with a Face Massage with Beata online class via Zoom and find your happy face. Each class costs £10 and the options are:
Thursday
Face Revival with Beata 12.30 GMT (35 minutes)
Thursday
Face Workout with Beata 20.30 GMT (30 minutes)
Sunday
Face Spa with Beata 20.30 GMT (45 minutes)
More details and to register here
