What Is Face Cupping and How Does It Benefit Your Face?
Face Cupping is an original and ancient technique practised in several cultures, but most significantly in traditional Chinese medicine, but it is, has now been redeveloped for the face, reinvented for the face and is quickly becoming a darling and a favorite amongst beauty lovers worldwide.
As a way to plump the skin, diminish fine lines and wrinkles, nourish the skin from the inside and give it a glowing and youthful appearance. Through gentle suction of the skin on the face, both muscles and blood circulations are stimulated and worked in a fashion that allows them to release. As a result of this tension, points and aches across the face are instantly relieved. Reduced inflammation, cell repair as well as lymphatic drainage are the essential and wonderful added benefits of face cupping.
Using the face cups is a very simple and easy way to instantly upgrade your skin and self-care routines. We love that it is so effective and in as little as 3-5 minutes daily as part of your evening or morning skincare routine can create an effect on the face. Using the cups can become a part of your daily practice just like brushing your teeth. Similar to the Gua Sha in its use and form, the Face Cups come in two sizes and are equally as effective for creating long-lasting positive effects on the face.
Face cupping works to enhance our natural features by promoting the formation of new blood cells, making the face visibly brighter and firmer. The skin becomes firmer because of the supply of oxygenated and nutrient-rich blood to the surrounding muscles. Through this process, the capillaries are exercised in a gentle matter to keep strong, so they keep a good healthy supply of nutrients, oxygen and hormones in the deep layers of the skin. After a face cupping session, the skin is left feeling immediately refreshed and rejuvenated, with an overall radiance. The common signs of ageing like wrinkles, crows, and frowns become diminished over time with regular use.
The vacuum is bringing in oxygenated blood into the deep layers of the skin, and exercises. The vacuum is not going to break the layers of the skin because the cupping is not strong enough to do that, but it's going to exercise them so they keep strong and that they keep being able to give a healthy supply of oxygenated blood, nutrient-dense blood and hormones, which is in the blood to the skin.
The skin also needs the hormones estrogen to be produced to create healthy collagen in the skin, which again can be stimulated by the use of face cups. The estrogen from the blood into the skin which the collagen needs to reproduce or to create more essential fibroblasts in the skin.
How does face cupping help the fascia?
Without regular exercise, the fascia tends to glue and stick together creating adhesions. Adhesions create areas in the muscle where the blood can't flow or come through, which then affects blood getting into the lymph glands.
This can stretch the fascia, and then what happens in this decompression is that you may get skin stiffness of the face and the fascia. Like an almost drooping, a sense of disconnection between your face and skin, like loose skin on your facial muscles. It feels like the skin is loose.
And also this tension causes wrinkles and creases, which will then make them become more apparent.
When you start to apply the face cupping when the cup pulls on the superficial fascia by pull down the layers into the deeper structures of the face and makes sure that everything, every layer, is well exercised.
Like the fascia itself, the skin itself is exercised. This keeps your skin hydrated, bringing hydration into the fascia - which is very very important.
That is one of the key elements that can cause deeper lines and wrinkles on the face, caused by the skin losing elasticity and becoming 'loose'.
These things are reversed and improved with face cupping because the skin itself, like the fascia itself, is being exercised.
How does face cupping help inflammation?
The reason why this is so important is also that the face cups allow you to 'carry away' inflammatory factors from the deep of the skin.
Whether that is more it's called inflammation caused by skin conditions such as acne, or it's rosacea or whether it is the inflammatory factors that our skin is naturally producing every day when it's like as part of itself turnover When it creates new cells.
Some cells die if they create different factors in their different factors in skin. eight is one example, which is causing subtle inflammation, which causes aging. Inflammation on the face is the kind of inflammation that is so subtle, you don't see it on the face like you wouldn't notice it, but it is there and it is when that is kind of like dormant or laying encapsulated in the skin, It causes a speed up of the aging process. This is a very good reason why you want your fascia to be free of it's decompression, you want it to be exercised and open so that the lymphatic system, doesn't have the lymph fluid stuck in it.
All of these elements need to be able to move around in the depths of the skin, which can only be manipulated by the face cups.
What are the different face cup sizes?
Large Face Cups
We use a larger face cup for the more robust areas of the face, like the cheekbones, chin, jawline and forehead.
Mini Face Cups
The smaller mini cups are used for the delicate areas around the eyes, nose and lips.
What are the benefits of face cupping?
Face cupping helps to beautify the face, and stimulate the energy channels around the face when you praise techniques alongside a professional teacher. The exercises used with the face cups bring about vibrancy & life force to the face and stimulate the blood to the facial muscles, which in turn activates the stimulation of collagen and elastin production on the face.
We know from the vast amount of research in this area, that collagen and elastin are two of the most essential ingredients for keeping skin youthful and healthy, and can also be the two hardest ingredients for our bodies to produce naturally.
Newer research by Shishido in 2022 read here show that one of the main reasons for sagging of the face is dehydration of the SMAS layer, the SMAS layer being a superficial structure and superficial musculoaponeurotic system, which over time becomes dehydrated, stiff and starts to sag. Face cupping is suggested as a solution to bring back flexibility and hydration to the SMAS layer. Thus being a “must do” for anyone who wants to create optimal daily habits for strong skin into old age.
The collagen stimulated by the cupping works hard to keep your skin looking firm, taut and plump, which is why that plus the increase in blood circulation pumping oxygen and nutrients to your skin cells on your face, is why we find our faces looking supple and slowly after a facial cupping session.
Once you become familiar with the exercises and use the cups regularly, you will find a natural inclination to work with the suctioning of your skin with the cups. Different techniques will work with lymph, ease muscle tension and lifting of the fascia on the face. This regular use can help decrease puffiness and you can help tone and lift the skin as well.
Benefits include:
- Encourages lymphatic drainage
- Boosts circulation
- Reduces muscle tension
- Increased circulation
- Lifts and activates the fascia
- Drains excess fluid in the face
- More oxygen in the skin, which gives glowing skin
- Brightens skin
- Decreases puffiness
- Lifts and sculpts your face. I’ve only been practising it for a few weeks
- Fades expression lines faded,
- Sculpted cheekbones and jawline
- Improved skin tone tone
- Regulated oil production
- Improved product penetration and absorption
How do I use the face cups?
Without a doubt, we recommend signing up for the My Face Yoga Gym HERE so you can be guided by professional classes taught by Niki. These classes ensure you are doing the cupping the right way and will get the maximum benefits from your practice.
You can also easily follow a simple routine like the one below:
Step 1: We recommend starting with the Damascus Rose Hydrolate Spray. For beginners, it is key to apply water or a hydrolate mist underneath the oil so that the cup will glide smoothly over the oil This helps to prevent bruising, pinpoint bleeds from occurring, and it helps build up the strength of the skin.
“This is a very important first step, which I have only recently discovered myself through regular use. I am talking about the power of using a hydrolate spray before applying your face oil. This is a powerful beauty upgrade and it leaves a significant difference on the skin!”
I used to just apply a thick layer of oil, but then when I started to do this new first step, it completely changed my practice. It made the face cupping so much easier, and stopped the cup sticking to my face.
I recommend every time you face cup, to either use the Rose Damascus Hydrolate or a light spray of water, dab it across your face and then apply your generous amount of oil.” Niki Face Yoga
Step 2: Apply your good quality face oil, like the Wild Beauty Nourishing Oil on freshly cleansed skin. It’s the same as when you Gua Sha, make sure you have ample on the face for the cups to easily glide across.
Step 3: Squeeze the cup and suction it to the face, then use your free hand to hold the skin taut before sweeping upward with gentle strokes. Doing this helps to prevent you from pulling on your delicate skin whilst your cup. Try a few times to get the pressure of the suction right, and keep the pressure light but firm. Release and repeat for a few strokes before moving to a different area on the face
Step 4: Keep your pace slow but in a steady continuous flow. Be gentle on your skin, and listen to it if it's in pain or something doesn’t feel right. Keep the cup moving in a soft flowing motion. If you keep the cup still it will likely cause a little bruising.
Step 5: When you are finished, wash the cups with gentle soap and water, letting them air dry. You may want to wash your face or reapply a light serum if the oil has come off.
Which cup should I get?
Two Facial Large Cups:
For those who want to double-cup! This is face cupping on the go.
THE DOUBLE LARGE FACIAL CUP SET
One Large Face Cup:
This velour large face cup provides a strong grip and reduces lint accumulating on the cup. This cup is the essential do-it cup.
LARGE FACIAL CUP
The Mini Face Cup:
For serious face cuppers who want to focus on particular areas like the eyes, lips and nose.
MINI VELVET FACE CUP
What makes our face cups different to others?
The OBSIDO SKIN face cups are made from high-quality soft velour and silicone which provides is better grip than other materials. This specially formulated material also reduces lint from accumulating on the cup - which is often a problem with other silicone facial cupping tools. Because of this quality of material, the face cups are made in smaller batch production to retain their high quality and are special. They are not mass-produced.
