Here's What Buccal Massage, Meghan Markle's Favourite Facial, Actually Is - Women's Health

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Raising in popularity thanks to the likes of Meghan Markle, J. Lo, and Kate Moss, buccal massage is usually a one-hour treatment that promises smoother skin, increased contour of the mouth, jaw, and cheekbones and an increase in the production of collagen.

And while you may think that having someone put their hands inside your mouth might not sound nice, turns out it’s actually a super relaxing process. To find out more, we spoke to Founder of The Dermal Diary Isabella Loneragan - one of the few Aussie skin therapists trained in the art of Buccal Massage.

What is buccal facial massage?


"The ‘buccal’ component of The Dermal Diary’s results-driven ‘Intrinsic Facial’ involves gloved hands massaging the nasal labial folds, the jaw muscles, the cheeks and lips, bringing blood circulation to the skin. This blood circulation results in increased oxygen and nutrition to the dermal layers of the skin, resulting in lifted, stimulated and oxygenated overall appearance to the face. It also offers an intense release of tension in the facial muscles, leaving the cheekbone and jaw line looking more pronounced."

What are the benefits?


The advanced sculpting facial massage helps give immediate visible results - think ironed out stress lines, glowing skin, re-sculpted features with a (good!) Botox-like lift. The buccal massage technique also helps with the release of stubborn knots in the jaw and the occurrence of tension related headaches.

One surprising benefit of the massage technique is the release of emotional tension. When you’re stressed, you often clench, often not even realising it, this builds up causes discomfort even when you’re not actively clenching the jaw. When the tension is released, this results in relief - an emotional response that can leave the client feeling a sense of lightness and calm.

Can face massage change face shape?


Yes - this technique has been specifically designed to manipulate the muscles in a highly directed way that results in a reformation of them. By strategically massaging areas of the face, the technique stimulates lymph drainage, muscle tension release and improves facial fitness - all of which helps with a lifting effect to the face.

Does facial massage cause wrinkles?


No… quite the opposite! Facial massage stimulates blood and lymphatic circulation, increasing the supply of nutrients to the skin. It also stretches out muscles like crows feet that don’t usually get manipulated in that way, helping to tighten the skin and reduce expression lines and wrinkles.