Throughout history, cupping has been used for a broad range of treatments and applications, each culture having slightly different techniques. Cupping is an ancient therapy that still has relevant applications in our modern world. You may have seen the distinct marks that cupping has left on someone’s body – large bruises in the shape of circles, typically on the back. If you watched the swimming events during the most recent summer Olympics, the evidence of cupping was hard to miss. Although the marks the cups leave are alarming, cupping actually helps to reduce pain and stress and has many healing benefits, including stimulating blood flow, improving circulation and pulling toxins from the body.
What is Facial Cupping?
Facial cupping for youth maintenance is one cupping technique that has been utilized by women for hundreds of years. Now you’re thinking, “If cupping leaves those ugly marks on the skin, why in the world would l perform a treatment on a client’s face?” The good news is that facial cupping is a gentle, safe and natural way to smoother, firmer, younger looking skin without any of the telltale marks that body cupping leaves; only a youthful and radiant glow is left behind!
Facial cupping is a manual, non-invasive procedure that uses specially designed small glass cups, which create mild suction that gently opens up space between the skin, allowing the old wastes to drain out and new blood and oxygen to come in and nourish the area. The result is firmer, softer skin with fewer fine lines and less noticeable wrinkles. Facial cupping is painless, safe and natural. It can be used to treat the whole face and décolletage area and is gentle enough for the delicate areas around the eyes and lips. You can treat the whole face or isolate an area, like around the eyes. Facial cupping does an excellent job at addressing the area around the eye, which may lack other treatment options. Results are noticed immediately, but a series of treatments is recommended.
Pre-Treatment Assessment
Before starting any type of face treatment, always ask the client what they like about their face and what areas they would like to see improved. This is an important step in the process for both the client and the practitioner to know how the client sees themself, and it helps to set realistic expectations.
A quick visual assessment of the face can reveal a lot about the person’s health and can help you decide on how to proceed with facial cupping. Pay close attention to the color of the cheeks and the area around the eyes and mouth. Are the cheeks pinker than the rest of the face, or do they appear to have a petechia? This may reveal an imbalance in hormones and a lighter touch when cupping is recommended. Around the eyes, check the texture of the skin as well as for dark circles or bags under the eyes.
Facial cupping can address the bags, crepey texture and wrinkles. It can even help with some lifting and toning of the brows and lids. Look for some of the same aspects around the mouth.
Technique
There are two basic ways to work the cups. he first is called kissing, where you place the cup on a single point, allowing the cup to pull up a small amount of skin and then release the suction, never moving the cup from the point where you started. The second technique is sliding, where you place the cup on a starting point, usually close to the midline of the face, create the suction with the cup and while the suction is still holding a small amount of tissue, you then move or slide the cup, following the contour of the face, releasing the suction at a point near the ear or hairline.
Always start with a clean face and apply facial oil, which will not only reduce friction but also help nourish the skin during the treatment. Because the goal is to lift the face, start at the neck and work up the face.
It works well to divide the face into sections to make sure you treat each part equally.
In each section, you will start with the kissing technique, working over the area in overlapping lines, then sliding over the same area, doing both techniques three to four times to cover the entire section. Control the suction strength for each area. Stronger suction can be used on jaw line, cheeks and forehead where lighter suction should be used around eyes.
“Always start with a clean face and apply facial oil, which will not only reduce friction but also help nourish the skin during the treatment.”
Step 1:
Draining Begin with the largest cup, kissing the skin along the SCM down the neck and then across the bottom of the clavicle to open and drain deposits to the lymph system. Only do the kissing technique, never sliding, down the SCM due to the carotid artery that lies in the area. You will repeat this draining process after each section of face is completed.
Step 2:
Section 1 Jaw line, chin and cheek Starting at the midline under the jaw, work your way up the face, using the kissing then the sliding technique, in order to cover the whole section of the face. As you are working, you will see the shift in color and texture of the skin.
Step 3:
Section 2 – Around eye Ask the client to keep eyes closed. You will begin with the kissing technique. Place the cup under the eye, starting in the inside corner near the nose and release the ball to allow suction. Control the suction so that it is gentle, watching closely so that you only take up a small amount of the tissue. This area is delicate and can bruise easily if not careful. Release and move laterally about ½ the diameter of the cup and repeat until you have covered the area under the eye from the nose to the hairline at the temple. Complete the kissing, then the sliding.
Step 4:
Section 3 – Forehead Start at the glabella arc up and out on the forehead toward the hairline, again using the kissing and then sliding techniques as described above.
Step 5:
Around and over lips After finishing the second side of the face, come back to the area around the mouth and lips to work the area a little more. Starting at one corner of the mouth, use the kissing technique and work your way around the entire mouth. When you get back to your starting point, go around again, moving a little further away from the mouth and then the third time onto the lips. Circle the mouth in this way two to four times, making sure you overlap the lips, which will plump them naturally. Then switch to the sliding technique to do a small amount of draining away from the mouth, from the midline toward each ear. Avoid sliding over the lips directly, as this would be uncomfortable.
The above steps can all be done together for a complete treatment, which takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. Or, you can just focus on one area, like around the eyes.
Benefits are noticed after a single treatment and continued treatments are cumulative. A series of treatments is going to produce the best results. Eight to 12 treatments, done weekly, is the recommended starting point. Depending on the market, a facial cupping session might range between $60-$100, even up to $150. If you are going to offer facial cupping just around the eyes or mouth, price that service for $25 – $50 for an area.
