These days, we’re bombarded with beauty claims from every direction: social media, television, product labels, our friends and family. But some of these so-called facts just don’t add up. In our new series, Science or Suspect, we set the record straight on what’s true and backed by science—and what claims are just plain suspicious.
Can a crystal change your life? Sure, maybe. Mainstream media has all but accepted rose quartz as the stone of self-love (thanks for the tip, Miranda Kerr), amethyst as a stress-reliever, and citrine as a beacon of financial success.
But can a crystal change your face?
The answer, at first, seems like it should be a clear and not-so-subtly condescending “Uh, no.” But the lasting power and unrelenting popularity of jade rollers, gua sha stones, and all manner of crystal-carved facial massagers—which originated centuries ago as part of traditional Chinese medicine and are currently experiencing something of a renaissance—are enough to make even the most skeptical injectable enthusiasts curious. Brands and beauty bloggers claim these tools can smooth, sculpt, depuff, and destress; they’re marketed as “uplifters” and “revitalizers,” as “anti-agers” and “collagen-boosters.” Massage-focused “face workouts” are everywhere (see: FaceGym, Skin Gym) and Harper’s Bazaar has declared gua sha massage “a natural alternative to the injectable neurotoxin” more commonly known as Botox. See? I bet you’re reconsidering your stance on jade rollers already.
Unfortunately, it’s not that simple—and experts agree that facial massage is categorically not comparable to Botox. But for proponents of facial massage, that’s precisely the point.
First things first: facial massage does actually deliver some impressive beauty benefits.
Dermatologists agree that massagers have their place in the skin-care space. Dr. Michele Green, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City, acknowledges they can be “good for improving overall skin tone and texture,” and studies show that massage facilitates lymphatic drainage. Gua sha, in particular, can boost blood flow, which is known to stimulate a whole host of benefits—from a temporary “glow” to a decrease in inflammation. This brings up an important point: not all tools are created equal.
“A jade roller is like the gateway stone,” says Britta Plug, a holistic aesthetician in New York City and cofounder of Wildling, a plant-based beauty line that includes stone facial tools. “It’s very simple to use and gives you nice, gentle lymphatic drainage.” The same goes for any roll-y, sticklike thing, really. The effect is subtle and mostly has to do with the release of excess fluid from the face. You appear less puffy and maybe more “sculpted.”
To understand how this works, you need to understand the lymphatic system.
I personally like to refer to this internal system as “the body’s garbage collector.” (Glamorous, eh?) Lymphatic fluid is meant to course through the body, collecting cellular waste and toxins and leaving nutrients and health-boosting white blood cells behind. Meant to being the key words.
Lots of little factors can interrupt the flow of lymph—not drinking enough water, not getting enough exercise, consuming too much sodium, lying down for too long. When this happens (which, let’s be honest, is probably pretty often), lymphatic fluid and the waste it carries can build up in the lymph nodes. (Here’s a handy little anatomical drawing for visualization.) Most nodes live under the jaw and cheekbones; that’s why stagnant lymphatic fluid can lead to puffiness. It can also impede the flow of nutrients to the face, making skin appear dull. Give those nodes a nudge with a jade roller, and voilà: you’re less puffy, more “sculpted,” more glowy.
Jade rollers aren’t powerful enough to relax wrinkles or facial muscles—but other massage tools might be?
“If you really want to get in there and sculpt and contour, you need pressure,” says Elizabeth Carter, a California-based aesthetician who specializes in facial massage and who trained under a plastic surgeon before pivoting into holistic beauty. Enter Japanese Harisienne massage, buccal massage (Meghan Markle is a fan), gua sha (a flattened crystal used to sculpt and “scrape”), and even self-massage with your own fingers (Carter’s favorite).
These all offer the aforementioned lymphatic drainage benefits and go deep enough to release muscle tension. Think about it this way: “If someone [has] a lot of shoulder tension, which so many of us do, you can actually get these bulked-up muscles on the tops of your shoulders,” Plug explains. Similarly, “chronic jaw tension really gets in the way of a sculpted face, because the jaw can actually become overdeveloped.” Techniques like the above (theoretically) “coax” tension out of the facial muscles, (theoretically) allowing your natural bone structure to shine. “Suddenly your cheekbone and your jawbone are going to become more prominent,” the aesthetician says. It (theoretically) works the same way for the facial muscles that cause wrinkles, like those underneath your “elevens” and frown lines.
Plug wouldn’t necessarily liken facial massage to a “workout,” though. (Sorry, FaceGym.) “You’re not doing facial strengthening,” she says; massage is more along the lines of facial relaxing. And tempting though it may be to call bullsh-t, there’s reason to believe all this relaxing could also relax your wrinkles—at least, those related to chronic furrowing and frowning.
The muscles in your face are the only ones in the body that are attached to the skin above rather than the bone below—which is how brow-furrowing leads to lines in the first place. (Mom was right: your face does get stuck that way.) If constantly contracting your muscles contracts your skin, then constantly smoothing your muscles might smooth your skin, no?
Anecdotal evidence abounds. “After seeing Britta, [my skin] cleared up and I could still move my face. The fine lines are only there with dynamic movement,” Danielle O’Brien, one of Plug’s regular clients, recently revealed in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar. “I’ve noticed such a difference, specifically over my eyebrows,” said another interviewee.
But the cold, hard research isn’t there. At all.
The reason for all the parenthetical “theoretically”s? There are zero peer-reviewed studies to support the anti-aging effects of facial massage. “You can only really trust objective, measured studies to determine if some of these treatments are worthwhile,” says Dr. Christian Subbio, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Philadelphia. “And unfortunately, they’re usually lacking.”
There’s a good explanation for that: Studies are expensive. Really expensive. Allergan, the maker of Botox, has poured billions into research because there are billions upon billions more to be made on Botox. “Alternative therapies just don’t have the research and science to back them up, because they don’t have a big pharmaceutical company [behind them],” Plug says. After all, who’s going to pay to prove the efficacy of a massage you can do with your own fingers for free?
Despite the lack of studies, consumers are curious about natural alternatives to injectables.
As the wellness-as-beauty movement grows stronger, “I think women are really starting to question what they’re putting on and in their skin, especially neurotoxins,” says Carter. Plug sees this in her practice too. Many of her clients are former injectable junkies looking for a “healthier” approach to aging well, for either personal or medical reasons. “People are questioning. ‘Is this safe? Is this something I want to be doing? Is this in alignment with my lifestyle?’’”
According to Carter and Plug, a serious concern for these consumers is the lack of data around the extended use of Botox. It appears that the longest case study on the drug looked at just one patient over the span of 13 years. Botox has been approved for cosmetic use for nearly 20 years though—meaning, we’ve passed the point at which we know for certain that consistent Botox injections are safe.
For this reason, many facial massage converts are fine with the fact that massage isn’t supported by scientific studies. In their minds, Botox hasn’t been sufficiently studied either—and gua sha seems like the safer bet.
Still, there is some managing of expectations to be done, especially for those who are used to the line-smoothing effects of neuromodulators. As Plug says, the benefits of Botox and gua sha are like “apples and oranges.” Not that that’s a bad thing.
“Injections of Botox, or botulinum toxin, work by temporarily inhibiting the nerve cells that are responsible for sending specific signals to muscles and causing them to contract,” Dr. Green explains. “This will weaken facial movements that are responsible for causing fine lines and wrinkles.” This approach, obviously, is very effective when it comes to getting rid of wrinkles.
Massage, on the other hand, does not weaken facial movement—and Plug says that’s kind of the point. “Movement stimulates circulation and makes space for all of that fresh blood supply to come in, bringing fresh nutrients,” the aesthetician explains. (And blood flow equals “glow.”) Sure, that means gua sha is not nearly as effective as Botox in the face-freezing department, but it does bring other youth-boosting benefits to the table.
Related: 7 Changes That Happen to Your Skin in Your 40s (And How to Address Them)
Risk vs. reward: the side effects of Botox can be more serious than facial massage.
The long “Important Safety Information” section that accompanies Botox and other drug advertising is there for a reason—there are plenty of possible health complications, including fatigue, headaches, vision problems, difficulty swallowing, and allergic reactions. Despite this, Botox is generally considered safe. Dr. Subbio says that the real risk is a poor cosmetic result. Common issues include what he calls “Spock brows,” heavy brows, and droopy eyelids; all of them take a few months to wear off.
For particularly anxious patients who are opting out of neurotoxins and into crystal massagers. there’s no guaranteed reward of wrinkle-free skin—but there are also no serious risks to worry about.
Botox Cosmetic has one job: to paralyze muscle movement. Gua sha offers different benefits.
Botox is a paralytic agent, and it does the whole muscle-paralyzing thing really well. Gua sha massage can’t do that—but it can encourage lymphatic drainage (so you’re less puffy) and increase blood flow to gently decrease inflammation and boost your glow.
In terms of aesthetics, the former all but guarantees a baby-smooth look—so if that’s what you’re going for, go for Botox. But if your goal is the natural-looking, “you but slightly better” vibe, maybe give facial massage a go.
Neuromodulator injections can cost upwards of $200–$500 every few months and require an in-office visit; facial massage can be performed by an aesthetician for $200–$300 per session, facilitated by an at-home tool for under $100, or even done with your fingers for free.
To be clear, even though Dr. Subbio acknowledges that massage tools support lymphatic drainage and offer “very subtle” skin-care benefits, he is not a fan, mostly due to the cost. “Many of these devices cost upwards of $80, $90, or $100,” he says. “They sell like hotcakes—people are getting rich off these things, so customers need to at least consider the possibility that these things are not all they’re trumped up to be.”
He’s not wrong; Wildling’s gua sha stone costs $65, Nurse Jamie’s is around $70, others can go for hundreds. Are beauty brands “getting rich off these things”? Maybe. But are the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture neurotoxins—and the dermatologists and surgeons who offer them—getting rich off injectables? Most definitely. (Allergan was recently acquired for $63 billion; the average salary of a cosmetic dermatologist is as much as $300,000 a year.)
If the inflated cost of crystal massage tools—and the sometimes-misleading marketing that accompanies it—is your main issue, consider the fact that they can be used over and over again after a one-time investment, while Botox wears off after a few months and can cost more than $1,000 per year in upkeep. There’s also no rule that says you can’t do both, although Plug warns the increased blood flow from facial massage may cause your body to metabolize Botox more quickly.
Related: Your Guide to Navigating the Latest Customized Skin-Care Brands
Benefits from both facial massage and Botox are temporary. That being said, facial massage requires almost daily effort, while Botox is a “set it and forget it” type of deal.
“If we’re going down the holistic road, we also have to take other holistic aspects into account—that means the whole being,” Plug says. Gua sha (or any kind of facial massage) works best as part of a full mind, body, and soul approach to wellness. “If you’re not drinking enough water, if you have a very toxic lifestyle, if you’re not sleeping or exercising, it might be that this isn’t going to work,” the aesthetician explains.
On top of that, massage requires maintenance. The ideal amount of upkeep will vary from person to person, but “a blanket statement would be a minimum of three times a week, 15 minutes per session,” Plug estimates. Plus there’s no exact timeline for when you might notice a difference in your skin. “For a client who is already in their 60s and has expression lines that are deeply etched, it’s going to take a little bit longer than if someone is in their 30s and the expression lines are newer,” she says.
Plug maintains that the results of gua sha massage are “cumulative”—she compares it to a consistent yoga practice—but says that massage works only if you actually, you know, massage. Once you stop, so does the gua sha glow.
In contrast, neurotoxins last for three to six months (although athletes and those with a high metabolism may need injections more often, since their bodies metabolize Botox faster). And sadly, you can’t just inject enough Botox to last you all year at once or overlap injections for efficiency—best results are seen when doctors use a light touch.
Even if you do see results from facial massage, it might just be a placebo effect, says Dr. Subbio.
Full disclosure: I practice gua sha daily, have never done Botox and, at 30, have a very smooth forehead, if I do say so myself. I felt compelled to bring this up during my conversation with Dr. Subbio. Didn’t my own anecdotal evidence—as well as the incredible before-and-after images I’ve seen all over Instagram—mean something?
Well… not really. “We are so easily convinced of something, either due to the placebo effect or due to the lighting or due to the time of day that a photo was taken or how far away the camera is,” the plastic surgeon says. “There is so much nuance that goes into not only before and after treatments but even looking in the mirror. You may look in the mirror and think, ‘Oh wow, my skin’s glowing, I look uplifted.’ Consider that you know your face has been manipulated for the past half hour, with hot stones or whatever you rubbed on it. Also, the blood flow is increased when you’re immediately assessing this, so your skin is going to look flushed and plump. And, you know, you’re going to feel relaxed.”
I get the point he’s trying to make, but I can’t help but wonder: Even if it is a placebo effect, does that matter? If you think you look good, if you feel relaxed and radiant, if you imagine amazing results, isn’t that enough?
I’m not alone in my thinking. Injectors report that consumers are increasingly asking for “natural” treatments that barely register on others’ radars—“tweak”-ments, if you will. “While the outside world might not notice that you look different after your treatment, you might feel different, and to me, that’s the power of wellness, through and through,” one Well + Good journalist wrote.
If that’s the case—if your goal is to boost your confidence, to feel different even if you don’t look different—might I suggest a self-soothing, anxiety-reducing, crystal-charged facial massage first? The only thing you have to lose is your muscle tension. And a little lymphatic fluid. And OK, fine, about $65.
