Public Goods' pure jade Gua Sha tool was designed with inspiration from the fishbone cactus, giving it a unique and functional shape. Learn how to use each part of the Gua Sha for specific facial features to reduce puffiness, increase circulation, and promote lymphatic drainage.

Maybe you haven’t heard of it, or maybe you’re already pondering its smooth, stony surface, but learning how to use a Gua Sha stone will unlock the next salvation in skincare! We reveal all of its secrets below. As more and more options become available to skincare enthusiasts, the more complicated things seem to be. Supermarket aisles are brimming with pharmaceuticals, most of which have active ingredients that are hard to pronounce. But what if the answer to banishing puffiness, wrinkles, and more was sitting right under our noses for centuries? That answer is the traditional Chinese practice of Gua Sha. If you have seen your favorite celebrity or influencer take on this healing skincare ritual but don’t know how to Gua Sha yourself, keep reading. In this blog, we take a look at what Gua Sha is, how you can benefit, and how to use a Gua Sha stone at home. Ready to become a Gua Sha guru? Let’s get into it.

What Is Gua Sha?

Gua Sha is a natural facial massage therapy that can increase blood flow and relax muscle tissue for little additional time or effort in your daily skincare routine. The user scrapes a smooth, flat tool across lightly oiled skin repetitiously to realize the many benefits of Gua Sha. Although it has recently broken into Western mainstream skincare routines, Gua Sha dates back to ancient China where it has been used for centuries to bring balance to Qi, or the energy of life. According to beliefs rooted in traditional Chinese medicine, health problems occur where Qi has become stagnant. Rubbing the skin through Gua Sha is said to break apart these blockages, reduce inflammation, and allow for better healing.

What is a Gua Sha Stone

A Gua Sha stone is the smooth, flat, unusually-shaped tool used to scrape the skin during Gua Sha. Made from semi-precious stone, it takes many forms, including hearts, rounded-off rectangles, crescent moons, comb-toothed slabs, and even rollers. Though they may seem perplexing, even daunting, these unique shapes are designed to perfectly fit the contours of your face and body, each one specializing in certain areas. But don’t worry too much about which one you get—they’re all gentle and won’t damage the skin when you know how to Gua Sha properly. The main goal is to find one that is easy to clean regularly and that you feel comfortable using.

Gua Sha tools also come in a variety of stone types. In traditional Chinese medicine, each is believed to carry its own energetic properties for moving Qi throughout the body. If that's your thing, here are some of the most commonly cited materials and the traditional beliefs associated with them. 

• Amethyst - Traditionally associated with cleansing, protection, and inspiration, amethyst is said in these practices to sharpen intuition while calming the mind and spirit.
• Black Obsidian - This striking opaque stone is traditionally linked to the elements of water, fire, and earth, and is said to have a purifying, strengthening quality in these practices.
• Jade - Aside from its alluring seafoam green shade, jade is a popular choice in traditional practice for its association with balance and calm.
• Rose Quartz - Often considered in tradition to be the stone of compassion and love, rose quartz is associated with self-care rituals in these practices.

What Are the Benefits of Gua Sha?

Gua Sha is a traditional facial massage practice that many people incorporate into their skincare routine as a relaxing, mindful ritual. As you apply gentle pressure to the skin with the tool, here's what practitioners of Gua Sha traditionally attribute to the practice:

• Supports lymphatic flow - Gua Sha is traditionally used to support the movement of lymphatic fluid and to help ease tension in the shoulders, back, and neck.
• A relaxing massage ritual - Many people find the scraping motion of Gua Sha soothing, similar to other forms of facial massage, and use it as part of a calming self-care routine.
• A mindful skincare ritual - For many, the consistent, repetitive motion of Gua Sha becomes a grounding part of their morning or nighttime routine, offering a moment of intentional self-care.
• A complement to your skincare routine - Used alongside a facial oil or serum, Gua Sha can be a pleasant way to help product glide across the skin as part of your regular routine.

How to Use a Gua Sha Stone

To see the benefits listed above, it is recommended to practice facial Gua Sha three or more times per week. But before using your stone at all, make sure it is completely clean. The last thing you want is to rub bacteria into the pores of your skin. Wash your tool thoroughly with soap and water and allow to air dry or pat dry with a clean towel. You also want to start the process with a clean and lubricated face, so consider incorporating Gua Sha into your morning or nighttime routine. We show you exactly how to prepare yourself for Gua Sha below.

How to Prepare Your Face For Gua Sha

We recommend holding your hair back as it will make it easier to wash your face as well as massage it during Gua Sha itself. First, cleanse with a foaming facial cleanser or a creme cleanser. Next, apply a facial oil or serum to lubricate your skin and help the Gua Sha stone glide as effortlessly as possible. While you want to create pressure with the tool, friction is not your friend. You can use any oil, cream, or lotion that is already part of your morning or nighttime routine, but we suggest a delicate Vitamin C serum for even better skin brightening results. It also won’t leave behind a tacky or greasy feel like some heavier oils can. To use, simply apply a few drops directly onto your face and gently press into the skin. If your eyes are a focus area for your Gua Sha practice, consider using a lightweight eye cream with a non-greasy texture. In addition to lubricating the skin, it will energize and brighten it, making it the perfect compliment to Gua Sha. Pro Tip: For an extra soothing and cooling effect, leave your cleaned Gua Sha stone in the fridge while going about the above skincare routine for up to three hours.

Basic Gua Sha Technique

Knowing generally how to Gua Sha is half the battle. Whether you want to use Gua Sha to depuff your eyes, sculpt your jawline, or take muscle knots out of your neck, the basic technique is the same. Follow this procedure for a successful, rejuvenating experience. Hold the tool firmly and in the correct orientation. Generally, the gentle sloping curve is used for flat areas like the cheek or neck and the tighter cleft or divot is used to follow bones like the jaw or under the eye. A comb-toothed edge can stimulate the forehead to aggressively target fine lines and wrinkles. Keep a solid grasp on the tool and angle it at 30-45 degrees from the skin in the direction you scrape. Scrape in one direction. Always scrape in one direction, following the lymphatic flow, such as from the bottom of the neck up to the base of the jaw. Never scraping back and forth, which could risk injury. Apply the right amount of pressure. Keep a consistent, gentle pressure that isn’t too soft but doesn’t make you uncomfortable either. Use long, sweeping strokes across the bulk of the area (around six to seven inches), switching to acute pressing motions over areas of increased tension. Change areas periodically. Too much repetitive stimulation in a single area can cause irritation. If the area has less tension and puffiness, scrape up to five times and proceed to the next area in your routine. You can spend longer on problematic areas, but listen to your skin! If you feel more irritation than relief, give that area a break.

How To Gua Sha Specific Areas

While the above advice applies to Gua Sha for any area of the body, the technique changes subtly for different areas of the face, neck, and back. Knowing how to use a Gua Sha stone on each afflicted area can help you squeeze the most benefit out of the practice.

• Jaw - Hold the Gua Sha stone so that one of the smaller divots is exposed. Our Gua Sha has three sizes of clefts, so use the one that feels best for you. Start at the chin and sweep up toward the ear, repeating the sequence before swapping to the other side.
• Cheeks - Use the flattest part of the stone and scrape your cheek from the corner of your mouth to your temple. Follow the contours of your cheekbones for each stroke and repeat for the other cheek.
• Under eyes - Start at the inside corner of your under-eye and scrape out toward the temple. Be extra careful of how much pressure you use as your skin is especially delicate near your eyes. Switch sides and repeat.
• Forehead - Stroke from the eyebrows straight up to the hairline, using the flattest part of the stone. Do one half of the forehead first, then move to the other side.
• Throat - Using the concave portion of the Gua Sha stone, sweep up the neck from the collar bone to the base of the jaw. Separate your throat into four vertical sections (or however many is needed based on the width of your Gua Sha tool), and repeat for each section of skin.
• Neck (back) - For the back of the neck, use a smaller cleft (such as the “top” of a heart-shaped Gua Sha tool) to cradle your spine. Starting at the bottom, drag it up toward the base of the skull. Repeat several times.

How to Clean and Store a Gua Sha Stone

When you’re done, you’ll be left with relaxed and invigorated skin and a Gua Sha stone in need of cleaning. If you don’t clean your tool after every use, you could introduce bacteria and soil back into your skin leading to bacteria, oiliness, and other problems. To clean your stone, simply wash it in warm water and soap and pat it completely dry with a soft cloth. Handle your Gua Sha tool with extreme care during this process, as the semi-precious stone is prone to cracking. You can store your stone in a cool, dry place, like the original packaging it came in. Or keep it in the refrigerator for an incredibly soothing cooling effect next time you use it. Just make sure it does not come into contact with any perishable goods. To be sure, always clean your Gua Sha stone before and after use.