Korean Facial Massage Can Transform Your Features – Here’s How

“In Asia, massage is pretty much included in everything, and women will massage themselves every day,” explains Iris Maglanoc, who offers Korean-style facials from her London clinic. “The main focus is on improving the circulation (blood and lymph); it’s where there’s no circulation that you find blockages, and that’s when inflammation starts, and your skin begins to look lackluster, dull and puffy.” However, unlike the typical face massage, Korean massage is performed everywhere – from the armpits up to the hair and scalp. “It’s all connected, so I like to start with a double cleanse and do the massage with a balmy cleanser. Alternatively, you can use an oil or whatever you prefer,” says Maglanoc.

Pleasingly fast and simple to do (“each move only takes around 10 seconds”), the technique is quite different to the classic knuckling and pummeling of Western-style massage. Instead, this technique uses the flats of the fingers, not the fingertips, explains Maglanoc. “In fact, when you smooth the length of the fingers over the face, the fingertips slightly lift off the skin. We don’t use the knuckles – just the flats of the fingers and sometimes the palm to work smoothly, gliding over the skin. However, before working on the face, you have to clear blockages by gently squeezing under the arms, working the flats of the hands outwards over the chest and then inwards, just in the hollow above the collarbone.” You can feel little clicks and bumps from lymph nodes, fascia and muscles, and it may be uncomfortable at first – like working out a knot in a back massage, “but this is clearing blockages so the lymph can properly drain when you work on the face. Finally, smooth flat fingers up either side of the neck, around the ear and at the back of the neck – if you do this regularly, it makes the neck look more slender over time. You can use do this with a gua sha if easier [or a roller]. I use mine daily just to clear everything and keep the skin in good condition,” she adds.

“We all have a dominant side when we chew, and this move brings more symmetry to the face – it’s also good for teeth grinders and alleviating headaches. Using the flat side of the thumb (not the tip), work from behind your ear down to the jawline to find any bumps or knots, then, when you have released those, start working upwards, moving directly over the teeth. Many facial massages work just diagonally up and outwards, but if you look at a diagram of the face muscles, they’re not just running diagonally up the face. To lift the jowls, I use the flats of the index and middle fingers, working directly up from the jaw, parallel to the side of the mouth and nose.”

“I start with a gentle touch, using the flat of my hands to cup the cheeks, with my thumb lightly hooked under the jawline before pressing down my palms, and sliding up and outwards. You only need do each move for 10 seconds, so it can be quick to do. After working over the cheeks, perform the same smoothing movement down over the sides of the neck to drain the fluid away.”

“Press firmly just under inner ends of the brows, then work the flat of the index finder along the brow bone to the outer end of the eye area. Do this a few times and you will see the eye get bigger and the brow lift – you don’t need fancy movements to make a difference.”

“Use one hand flat to ‘anchor’ the skin at the side of the face, then use the flat of the other thumb to work under the eye, slowly smoothing it outwards before repeating several times.”

“I tell my clients to brush their hair every night; when they used to say, ‘Brush your hair 100 times’, it was very good for lymph drainage. Taking sections of your hair at the root and gently lifting and pulling each one up and back is also good if you have a headache or trouble sleeping. When you treat the face, you need to treat everywhere, as if one part is blocked then everything is affected – and we have a lot of lymph nodes in the scalp. A heavy forehead can be the result of a fluid blockage, so you need to work up to the forehead, but also back through the hair to the crown of the head to move it and create lift.”

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