So excited to share my best skincare tools and devices post! This has been in the works for a while. I knew I wanted to bring Sarah in from Whoorl since she’s tried so many facial tools herself and specifically ones I’ve never tried! Plus, her reviews are always spot on. So go and checkout her full post here on her best skincare tools and devices. Hint: there are ones I haven’t tried so you’ll want to read.
So I wanted to give you some options, who doesn’t love options?! I’ll be sharing budget friendly options and options that might cost you a little more but are totally worth it if you have the extra cash laying around. There are options for everyone!
Facial tools can really transform your skin. Products can only do so much, but when you combine a good facial tool it can make all the difference. People are really starting to see the power in facial movement and manipulation. Plus, who doesn’t want a little help in aging gracefully and looking our best? Count me in!
Below are a list of the best skincare tools and devices I’ve used that have helped my skin in some way. From Gua Sha, Jade Rollers, Red Light Therapy, and Lasers. I’m sharing all my faves and how they’ve impacted my skin.
Best Skincare Tools And Devices
Gua Sha is a quick way to see results in your skincare routine!
Gua Sha
This is an Ancient Chinese massage practice that involves scraping or moving the skin. It’s often performed using a jade stone or rose quartz. It originally started on the body, but since has been adapted for the face using more gentle massage strokes. It helps to increase circulation, help drain lymphatic drainage, tone the skin, and give an overall lift to the skin. As you glide the stone across your skin, you are de-puffing it and bringing new blood into your skin. When new blood is present, cell regeneration happens more quickly, which makes it easier for your skin to repair itself. It also helps to remove toxins from your skin which can cause acne or dull skin. Our body has the heart to pump the blood throughout for our circulatory system however, our lymphatic system doesn’t have a pump. Our lymphatic system is twice the size of our circulatory system and needs to be moved. So our skin needs to be manually massaged to get it moving! Another reason dry brushing is so good for your body. This is my favorite dry brush here. Also, check out my full Gua Sha Tutorial here on my Instagram! It’s an IGTV video.
It’s a simple practice that can really change how your face looks overall. It might seem silly to think a little tool can produce such an effect but as I say, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it! My best piece of advice is to take a before and after picture. Also, perform the massage techniques on one side and then take a picture before finishing up with the other side. You will be amazed at the difference you see.
I notice an increase in brightness and a glow when I do it. I also notice less puffiness and an overall face lift- it’s the cheapest face lift you’ll find! When performing a Gua Sha treatment you want to do it on cleansed skin, that’s been well hydrated with a hydrosol, then apply an oil beforehand. This helps to prep your skin and give the Gua Sha tool some slip as you’re moving it over your face. You don’t want to use hard pressure but light fluid movements. Also, you always want to be moving the stone in and upwards or outwards motion. This helps to remove congestion and de-puff the skin. I always recommend cleaning your tool afterwards with some warm water and mild soap.
The whole routine takes an easy 5 minutes and makes a huge difference. I’ve found it to be very relaxing and a great way to end or start my day. It also is so inexpensive! You can purchase a Gua Sha for $30 and have it forever.
Here is my favorite Gua Sha Tool. I also love using this oil beforehand.
Here’s a before and after picture of me performing Gua Sha.
Before and after a Gua Sha treatment.
Jade rolling is a little aerobic workout for your skin!
Jade Rolling
Now you might have heard of jade rolling. It’s been on the rise the last couple of years. I often get asked what the difference is between jade rolling and Gua Sha- allow me to explain. Jade rolling is a more simplified and a quick approach to Gua Sha. It doesn’t take as much skill. It’s more for someone who doesn’t have quite as much time too. Gua Sha hugs the skin more and has different edges that help contour your face more. It takes a little more time too than Gua Sha. How are the ends results? Similar but you’re definitely going to get more out of a Gua Sha session than a jade rolling session. It just depends on how much time you want to take and the results you want.
Jade Rolling is also an ancient Chinese skin ritual. It involves rolling the jade or other stone over your skin to improve circulation, de-puff, brighten and help with lymphatic drainage. One end of the tool includes a larger stone for rolling over the skin and the other is smaller, for under eyes or around the nose. You move in upward and outward strokes just as you would when performing Gua Sha. Jade rolling helps serums and oils absorb better as it pushes them into the skin. When practicing jade rolling you can notice an overall facial lift and more blood flow similar to Gua Sha. You can perform it at night or in the morning. I’ve noticed I see a bigger difference when I do it first thing in the morning. I like to think of it as a little aerobic workout for my face. It also softens fine lines and wrinkles the more you use it.
An authentic jade roller should feel cool to the touch and not be filled with toxins. Many companies sell imitation jade rollers that are not made of real jade. You want to perform jade rolling on clean skin. I like to mist my skin with a hydrosol, apply my serums and oils and then start jade rolling. You want to do each movement 3-5 times. Jade rolling is also a really inexpensive tool that you can purchase for around $30.
Here are my favorite Jade Rollers. I also love using this oil beforehand.
Follow the chart below when using a jade roller.
This photo is helpful when using a jade roller.
Who knew a light could make such a difference in your skin!
Red Light Therapy
I was so excited when I first started reading about red light therapy! From how it fades scars, stimulates low thyroid, lowers inflammation, helps improve sleep quality and duration, helps with seasonal effective disorder, hair growth, weight loss and red light therapy for skin alignments. From psoriasis, eczema, hyperpigmentation, wounds, and ant-aging benefits. I mean what doesn’t it do!? I was specifically excited for red light therapy for the skin. Several studies have shown people having increased collagen and clearer skin when using a red light device. There also haven’t been any adverse side effects from using red light therapy either.
After using the red light therapy for a couple weeks, I felt I could see a difference in my skin. Less hyperpigmentation, and an overall clearer complexion. My skin just looked brighter too. I saw my sister and she asked what I was doing different with my skin. I said nothing. Then realized the only thing I had started to incorporate into my skincare routine was red light therapy. Bingo! Needless to say my sister now uses red light therapy everyday too!
I have the Joov Go red light therapy device. I love how easy it is to take with me anywhere. It’s great for travel. It’s about the size of a large male hand. Great for targeting specific areas of the body like your face. My routine is to do it first thing in the morning. I just sit it on my bathroom counter and sit on the toilet and zone out for 10 minutes. If you only have 5 minutes just do 5 minutes. I’ve even done it while I’m pumping breastmilk- multitasking like a mom boss. It feels slightly warm on the skin but not anything uncomfortable. It actually feels nice. You want to close your eyes when using it. Make sure and read Sarah’s experience with it- pretty amazing!
I know one of the best ways to combat aging quicker and to age gracefully is to take care of the skin you’re in. Red light therapy does just that! It is a little more spendy upfront- The Joov Mini is $695, but worth the investment for years to come.
BBL Laser Therapy
I knew I had to add this into the best skincare tools and devices post! The world of lasers is definitely vast and can seem overwhelming when trying to figure out which laser you want to use. I like lasers because the downtime is virtually nothing and they’re not invasive like so many procedures you can do for the face. Lasers aren’t something you’re going to do at home but a more costly service you would have done at a dermatologists office, or med spa. Not all lasers are the same. You want to choose your laser based on the results you want. I’ve had a laser treatment done before and interviewed a nurse practitioner on what to look for when shopping for a laser treatment. She gave me all the deets and more!
What Is BBL?
BBL stands for broadband light laser. Many people also refer to it as a photo facial or photo rejuvenation. This laser is specifically great at targeting hyperpigmentation, brown spots, sun damage, redness(broken capillaries), rosacea, active acne, collagen rejuvenation and better overall skin tone. It’s not going to help with acne retexturing as much as the redness that acne brings. IPL is similar to BBL but BBL is stronger than IPL. The nurse said having 3 IPL treatments is similar to having 1 BBL.
You want to have someone with years of experience the nurse said and quality lasers. The lasers can wear out and you need to make sure you are using a top notch laser. The lasers lose their power and aren’t as powerful and effective. Some good questions to ask the person performing the procedure is what are their credentials. You either need to be a nurse or a medical esthetician. Also, ask how long they’ve been performing the service. Ideally you would want someone who’s been doing it for a couple years. Also, ask how old their laser is. If it’s more than 10 years old, it’s too old.
How Many Treatments?
Typically a person will probably get 2-4 treatments depending on their desired results. I only received one treatment and noticed a difference, but I do want to go back and get another one. I really wanted to get it done to counteract the redness in my skin, specifically in my t-zone where I have some broken capillaries. Also, I had a little hyperpigmentation on the left side of my face. If you want to keep up on minimizing pigments, broken capillaries, sun damage etc, then you would want to go back maybe once a year or every other year for a couple treatments. However, she said if you want to really help with anti-aging she recommended coming in once a year to help regenerate your natural collagen production.
How It Works-
They apply a gel on your skin. This helps the light of the laser get absorbed into your skin. It feels like a rubber band snap on your skin. I didn’t find it too bad. It hurt worst the closer she got to my eye area. Which makes sense because the skin gets thinner there. She tested out the strength of the laser at first with one pulse to see if I could handle it. It was fine for me. So she left it at a higher strength. However, if I had said it was too much she could lower it. A good tip to know when you’re going in for a treatment if your pain tolerance is low. She did my face in sections. And would tell me how many pulses she was going to do in each section. She also wrote down what she did so that way she would know for the next time what to focus on. I did smell some burning, but it’s just the laser zapping the hair. My skin did feel warm as she was doing the treatment, but not too hot. She said you wouldn’t want it to feel curling iron hot- that’s a bad sign. She also applied some eye protection before the procedure. My treatment was a little less than 30 minutes. But it can be shorter. Don’t show up with makeup on. Takes so much time to get off and then you’re sacrificing your time getting the laser treatment done.
Post Treatment-
Some of the freckles and sun damage may look worst before they get better. The laser often brings out sun damage that you might not even see. Your face may also appear swollen for several days. Mine was swollen but it wasn’t too bad. I found it got worst the second day, and then started to get better. You can see in my before and after pics what it looked life post treatment. I asked what my skin was on a scale of 1-10 for redness and hyperpigmentation, she said a 3- not bad. I was shocked because I would have said much worst! I was red only a few hours, but it wasn’t too bad. More splotchy. There’s no social downtime for this treatment really, as long as you don’t mind a little swelling. She does apply a post treatment gel that helps to calm the skin and start the healing process. You might feel warm for up to 4 hours after treatment.
This is before having the BBL procedure done.
Results-
I noticed my skin looked smoother, and less red overall. I did have some freckles and sun spots come to the surface and appear darker at first. By a week my skin was back to normal and looked more vibrant! It didn’t have as many broken capillaries and redness. I highly recommend if you’re wanting to combat first signs of aging and stimulate collagen and help to minimize redness and hyperpigmentation. The nurse said to wait 3 weeks at the earliest between laser sessions. You really want to give it 3 weeks to see full results. Also, hydrate a lot afterwards. Skin feels a little drier than normal.
This is two weeks after the procedure.
Cost-
It was $550 for one treatment. Mine was a birthday present! But after the first treatment it would be $50 less. Also, you can buy packages too to save some money at some clinics.
I hope that helps to give you a good grasp on what kinds of facial tools are out there! Check out my friend Sarah’s post for all of her must have facial tools here.
What are some of your best skincare tools and devices you can’t live without?
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