Last February, we started a brand new series on STYLE Canada: #BeautyFind Friday, otherwise known as your new #BFF. Every other Friday, STYLE editor Anastasia Barbuzzi will present you with a #BeautyFind to help you enjoy a weekend of self-love and care like no other. She’s all over the green beauty scene and on #BeautyFind Fridays, she’ll be giving you the inside scoop on products and brands that are changing the space, and one’s you’ve just gotta try. Full permission to begin daydreaming about your next *Add to Cart* item.
Though I’ve had jade rollers and gua sha tools in my possession for years, I’ve only recently started using them consistently. Over time, facial massage (also referred to as fascia manipulation and lymphatic drainage) has become a mainstay in my morning skin care routine, and not only because it feels nice.
I love how a bit of facial massage (especially along the jawline) can decrease puffiness and eliminate face bloat, not to mention, get the blood moving under the skin for a more radiant looking complexion. Basically, facial manipulation can really wake you – and your tired eyes – up.
While the feeling of a cool jade roller on the skin is quite pleasing, gemstone never stays cold for long enough, and trust me: the sub-zero sensation is something you want to maintain throughout your entire massage (think: the old ice cubes under the eyes trick).
But, since discovering SACHEU Beauty’s stainless steel Gua Sha + Roller kit, I haven’t had to worry about lukewarm temperatures and man, do I know what it feels like to be alive bright and early!
If you’ve been interested in trying skin care tools but have questioned their effectiveness, I recommend that you read my full, honest review of SACHEU Beauty below.
@sacheubeauty via Instagram
First impressions: Upon first glance at my SACHEU Beauty mailer, my immediate thoughts were about how much attention was paid to the little details, like personal messages from founder Sarah Cheung, and how the colour scheme gave off the most perfect #SummerVibes. Overall, SACHEU Beauty’s packaging is sleek and cohesive, and in contrast to the mirrored stainless steel facial tools inside, it just hits… different.
The specifics: For centuries, gua sha tools have been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to promote tissue healing, as SACHEU explains on her website. From the time that gemstone rollers and gua sha tools were adopted into modern skin care, most were made with jade, as TCM believes that jade carries healing and balancing energies.
However, jade quickly adapts to the temperature of the skin, whereas stainless is self-cooling. As opposed to jade and rose quartz, stainless steel is extremely durable (won’t break easily when dropped or knocked off the counter) and non-porous, which prevents bacteria build-up that can transfer to your skin.
“Jade and other precious stones were the most common material for face rollers in the East as well as the West, but as we learned more about the drawbacks of the use of porous materials in skincare, we decided to opt for stainless steel for a safer, cleaner, and more effective experience,” Sarah told me over our email exchange.
While cooling is not always necessary for all forms of facial massage, Sarah says that if you’re looking to de-puff and brighten your skin, coolness and manual massage can reduce redness and inflammation (even inflamed acne!).
“The same reason why a stainless steel fork stays cold for a long time after you leave it in the fridge, stainless steel retains its temperature longer than stones which makes it great for de-puffing,” she recounted.
BONUS: Both the roller and gua sha tools from SACHEU Beauty are 100 per cent recyclable. Each comes with its own custom carrying pouch too.
The experience: Whether you use the tools in The Ultimate SACHEU Beauty Kit together or on their own, you’re bound to see and feel the benefits, especially when applying the Thick Skin Serum. Using proprietary bio-fermentation techniques, Thick Skin replenishes your skin’s lipid barrier (the outermost layer) with plant-derived glyco-ceramides and sphingolipids.
The Thick Skin Serum is also infused with vegan squalane, which mimics natural sebum and protects against transepidermal water loss. If you have oily or blemish prone skin, you may already be hesitant to try Thick Skin at the mention of oil. But, guess what? This fragrance-free slip agent drys completely matte once massaged in. It also has a unique texture that feels like a cross between a gel and an oil, but there will be nothing left on your hands when you’re done applying.
Thick Skin is perfect for people who despise heavy, greasy textures. My fiancé is one of those people, and even he was surprised by the weightless feel. In disbelief over how long the gua sha and roller tools stayed cold for, I also forced him to test them out. He was impressed by the temperature hold, to say the least.
The verdict: Sarah Cheung may have converted me to stainless steel facial tools once and for all. One of my favourite ways to use the facial roller is along my jawline (where a pesky wisdom tooth is growing in and where I hold tension). I also love the feeling of it under my eyes first thing in the morning. Thankfully, it’s s-t-u-r-d-y and the movable parts stay attached, unlike the one’s on fragile gemstone rollers.
Interestingly, the gua sha tool removes a ton of dead skin off my face too (which I don’t mind in the least bit). Depending on whether or not you’re one for dimethicone, the Thick Skin Serum leaves a super smooth base behind for makeup as well. So, if you’re looking to…
- Repair skin by increasing oxygen and nutrient delivery
- Reduce inflammation caused by irritating products
- Moves stagnant fluids collected from laying horizontally during sleep
- De-puff your face
- Enhance your natural contour
- Relieve tension from furrowed brows and a clenched jaw
…Then I recommend you treat yourself to a SACHEU Beauty Kit, stat. Especially for the fact that a portion of all SACHEU Beauty’s profits goes to Futures Without Violence, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women and children escape abuse, bullying and sexual assault.
Tap or click here to watch The Ultimate SACHEU Beauty Kit in action!
