40 New Year, New You Specialist clinics Ancient beauty


Techniques from traditional Chinese medicine have grown in popularity within the skincare industry — we look at how they’re being used today. Words: Mattie Lacey-Davidson


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n recent years, the UK and American skincare industry has been looking to Asia for new trends and treatments.


Korea gave us a 10-step routine leading to ‘glass skin’, while Japan kept things simple with skincare for natural, but plump, ‘mochi’ skin. Now, however, beauty buffs are looking to neighbouring China. With aesthetic clinics closed for


much of 2020 year, many of us turned to DIY facials, and the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) massage techniques of gua sha and cupping continue to grow in popularity. Ada Ooi is a facialist and Chinese


medicine practitioner who has been fusing aesthetics with TCM for 15 years. I spoke to her about the benefits of these techniques and how China’s ancient medicinal traditions are used today.


A beautiful history “Chinese medicine isn’t just about keeping your skin beautiful, it’s all about beauty from within,” Ada tells me. “It’s always been linked to beauty, but in a different way to how it’s viewed in the modern world. Across the Chinese dynasties, all the empresses would have their own secret formula created by their


doctors, who’d look at beauty from a much more holistic perspective.” As well as applying things to the


skin or soaking in a bath with rose and other oils, Ada explains that doctors would give an empress things to ingest, such as a tea or a sweet to suck on, with particular ingredients believed to have certain benefits, like pearl powder. “It would be an inside-out beauty recipe, varied by body type but also the season,” she adds.


Gua sha and cupping From releasing tension to increasing blood flow, facial massage — like anywhere on the body — has an array of benefits, but in TCM there’s more to the story. Fascia is like a cling film that


envelopes our muscles, Ada tells me, and in TCM it’s understood that fascia stores emotional memory. Massage techniques like gua sha and cupping help to relax fascia and so aid the release of negative emotions. In fact, when asked what her top beauty tip was, Ada’s reply was to always find an exit for your emotions. In TCM, it’s believed negative emotions have a huge impact on the body, leading to skin conditions and premature ageing.


Acupuncture PHOTOGRAPH: GETTY


Acupuncture was dubbed ‘natural Botox’ back in 2019 and its popularity is yet to wane. As well as releasing muscle tension in the face and targeting meridian points (thought to connect with organs throughout the body to promote healthy function), the tiny puncture to the skin triggers renewal, causing the body to form new collagen.


Cupping on the face is different to the body. Sometimes referred to as ‘wet cupping’, a slipping agent like an oil should be applied to the skin and then small suction cups should glide over and massage the skin. The moments should always go upwards or outwards on the face (never down).


Gua sha — which translates as scraping sand — uses a flat stone to gently scrape the face (also in an up or outwards direction). Another form of facial massage, it breaks down muscular or fascia tension while increasing blood flow and increasing lymphatic drainage. You can buy gua sha stones from Ada’s skincare brand 001 Skincare (001skincare.com).


Gua sha facial PHOTOGRAPH: GETTY


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