FACE MASSAGE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 145, 20 June 1931, Page 20 (Supplement)

FACE MASSAGE.

HINTS THAT MAY BE PRACTISED AT HOME

No beauty cult has so many enemies and followers as facial massage, writes Joeif Ginsburg, M.D., of Hollywood. While one person will hold facial massage responsible for the good condition of a face, still another will accuse the same treatment of impairing and ruining the youthful appearance and contours.

Facial massage, in my opinion, is one of the greatest cosmetic treatments for preservation and partial restoration of beauty: the great difference of opinion is due not so much to any dispute over the intrinsic value of the massage, but rather to the various ways massage is practised professionally.

A properly-given massage is mechanical irritation, beneficial not only to tho superficial parts of the skin, but also to the development of tissues and muscles deep under the skin. Massage is the only cosmetic treatment that benefits the skin in many different ways. It loosens and separates i-he adhering scales of the skin, empties tho pores, increases the blood supply and the temperature of the face. It drives away the retained lymph or tissue juice, making way for a fresher and better quantity. It stimulates the growth of new elastic tissues and revives those that are weakened and relaxed. It also helps to strengthen a weakened muscle as well as to absorb the necessary deposits of fatty tissue.

Furthermore, massage relaxes and roßts a woman, especially after a strenuous afternoon of shopping. Possessing all these qualities, massage will not only improve the complexion and colour of the skin, but will also make it firm, reducing its sagging. It will, to a certain extent, smooth out folds and wrinkles. Facial massage, given in an amateurish fashion, especially when performed with the idea “the stronger the better,” will only stretch the elastic bands, increasing the sagging of skin and ageing the appearance. This is one of the reasons facial massage has enemies as well as enthusiastic adherents.

Facial massage should be taken in regular courses of treatment. Each course should be of three or four weeks* duration. A two or three months’ interval should be allowed between. This makes three or four courses a year. During the courses the facial massage should he performed daily, preferably in the mornings, and should be of ten to fifteen minutes’ duration. Before starting the massage all make-up should be removed. Wash the face with soap and hot water and steam it five or ten minutes. The steaming may be done with Turkish towels dipped in hot water or by holding the face before a teapot or apparatus made especially for this purpose. Care should be taken that the towels be not over hot or that the water in the container does not bo*l too strongly. The face should be greased with a massaging cream. The massage should be performed with the hands, which previously should be washed with soap and hot water, so as to have them clean and not unpleasantly cold. The massage is done with the first three fingers

of each hand. It consists of slow and not too strong strokes, and should be manipulated symmetrically on both sides in the exact direction I have indicated in the drawings accompanying this article. Upward from the nostrils toward the tips of the ears. A small circle on the temples, pressing the fingers away from the eyebrow and toward the hairline at tho commencement of the motion. From the middle of the forehead the motion should be outward toward the temples. The upper lip should start at the corners of the mouth, and the motion should be carried to the centre of the lip. The under eye should be gently massaged toward the bridge of the nose, then around on to the upper eyelid completing the circle. This gives •the under eyelid an inward motion, toward the nose, and the upper eyelid an outward motion, toward the temples again.

Each separate area should be stroked about ten times before new area is started. To disregard directions and stroke the face at random—even with the most expensive creams—will be harmful in the extreme.

Massage of the upper and lower eyelids should ho done carefully, with a light motion. One must not tear or stretch these fine elastic bands, as tho slightest roughness to them makes tli« condition worse.