Give Your Face a Lift

You've met your deadline, fought the rush hour traffic, fed the kids and put them to bed. Time for a lift. Time for a facial massage.

Giving yourself a facial massage on a regular basis can make more than your skin glow. The simple act works away stress and relaxes your whole body. At the same time, you feel rejuvenated as the gentle pressure stimulates blood flow.

Facial massages:

• help to release toxins by causing the skin to sweat and help the lymphatic system sweep impurities away
• prevent wrinkles by smoothing the skin and toning the muscles
• make your skin radiant by increasing oxygen to skin cells and optimizing cell turnover
• release tense muscles, relieving headaches, eye strain and neck pain.

Facial Massage at Home

First, light some candles, put on mood music and scent the air with aromatherapy. Find your favourite comfy spot to recline.

Start with a clean face and neck. Apply a moisturizing cream or oil blend, avoiding the eyes, to help your fingers glide over your skin. Using your index and middle fingers, gently press in slow, circular movements matched to the rhythm of your breathing. You can close your eyes.

Forehead: Starting at the centre of your forehead, massage across the brow out to your temples. Finish by gently pressing the temples at the slight indent between the bones for three seconds.

Cheeks: Starting from your chin, massage along your jawline to your earlobes. From the corners of your mouth, ease out the fine lines and then apply circular motions up to the middle of your ears. From the nostrils massage to the temples, pressing the temples at the end. Repeat three times.

Neck: Gently stroke upward from the collarbone to the base of the chin, covering the entire neck. Upward stroking on the neck stimulates the thyroid glands.

Our face reflects our inner self. Set aside 15 minutes once a week and you'll be ready to face the world again.

Massage Oils for Your Skin Type

It's easy to personalize an oil blend to suit your skin type. Mix one teaspoon (5 ml) of carrier oil sweet almond, grape seed, jojoba, peach kernel or apricot seed with one to three drops of essential oils. You can also blend vitamin E oil with your carrier oil for extra skin nourishment.

For normal skin: blend carrier oil with essential oils of lavender, geranium and bergamot.

For oily skin: blend carrier oil with essential oils of lemon, cypress and basil.

For blemished skin: blend carrier oil with tea tree, lemon and geranium.

For dry skin: blend carrier oil with essential oils of rose, frankincense and sandalwood.