Allow me to clarify before we begin — nobody really needs face massages or expensive tools. You can have perfect skin even if you don’t use a $100 cream. The reason we indulge is because we love the luxury. The joy of using our fingers to manipulate the skin, the feel of a cool instrument that fills you with hope.
For the longest time I was very anti-tool, anti-massage when it came to beauty. Just using great skincare was good enough, I supposed. But I find that as I grow older, my needs have changed. These days I’m a massage fiend. That goes for tools as well: give me anything that vibrates and I’m a happy woman (beauty-wise, obviously).
Still, when I first started using tools I was a bit disappointed. It was about five years back, during the era of the Clarisonic. Seeing all the marketing hype, I got the Clarisonic Mia, but I realised in a couple of uses that the brush was a bit too abrasive for me. It could also be that I, enthusiastically, used a little too much pressure on my face when using the device. Either way, it made my skin sensitive and raw, plus the brush just felt too unhygienic after a point.
Recently though I’ve discovered the Foreo, gifted to me by the brand. It is completely different from the Clarisonic, mainly because it’s made of medical grade silicon (used in breast implants), which makes it easy to clean and use. Once you charge the batteries they last for about six months. And no brushes to be replaced either.
So what does it do, really? Well for one, there is perceptible difference in the texture of your skin. Even though it doesn’t technically exfoliate the skin, it still makes it feel smoother. In terms of appearance, the pores look tighter, which makes the skin look less textured. But do you really, really need it? Well, no. Obviously it’s no substitute for clean eating and great skincare.
But obviously it’s up to you to choose: the mild abrasiveness of the Clarisonic, the ultralight stokes of the Foreo, or an old fashioned hot cloth for the perfect cleanse. While I’m talking of hot cloths, it would be remiss not to mention The Body Shop’s Luxury Face Flannel. My mother and I buy at least four at one time because you won’t find anything like this. The flannel is sort of rubbery and does a great job of sponging off cleansing oils and balms. But here the real USP: It quickly dries hard as cardboard. This means that it carries no germs because it doesn’t become damp, and can be carried easily in your makeup bag.
Because I like face massages, I also give other tools a go. A lot of them are pretty useless in my opinion (I’m looking at you, jade roller), but there’s one that I have fallen in love with recently. The kansa wand is a wooden stick topped with a dome of the ancient kansa metal, which can be traced back to the Harappan times. It’s made of three different elements — copper, tin and zinc. When rubbed on the skin, these metals are supposed to pull out heat and acidity from the skin, making it more alkaline and less prone to breakouts. In just a few uses, I could see the difference. In the long term, it does make your skin smoother, more radiant and less prone to acne. However, it does seem like a bit of a chore to do this every single day.
These days social media is full of face massaging tools, whether it’s the Nu Face Trinity or the traditional rose quartz gua sha. But what I’ve had my eye on for months is Sarah Chapman’s The Facialift — a torturous-looking tool, which looks like a cross between a pair of tweezers and hot wheels. It’s almost always out of stock, which makes me believe that this could well be the holy grail to firmness and elasticity. And at £28 (approximately ₹2,700), it’s quite inexpensive. Because ultimately, luxury isn’t about how much it costs but how it makes you feel.
A column to remind you about all things skin deep.
