Bringing Joy and Motion into your Routine

For many of us, the last nine months have felt stagnant and isolated. As we enter the final stretch of 2020 and welcome 2021, we’re focused on restoring movement and flow back into our lives. At Max + Jane, this means moving our bodies daily through hiking, cycling, and yoga, and creating new daily routines. One of these daily routines is the introduction of body and facial massage to improve circulation and lymphatic drainage.  

Today, we’re launching two new products that help with personal facial massage, the Black Obsidian Gua Sha and the Black Obsidian Facial Roller. They’re available for purchase on their own to use with your favorite Max + Jane product or in our holiday gift sets.  

Join us in this daily practice to welcome flow back into your life and give the gift of movement to your loved ones this holiday season. 

Gua Sha

The Black Obsidian Gua Sha tool is a flat, heart-shaped stone that comes from an ancient Chinese practice to stimulate energy flow and circulation. The tool can be used on the whole body, from scalp to toes, and it’s traditionally thought of as a scraping practice that’s quite vigorous. Using it on the face and jaw can relieve muscle tension and reduce inflammation. 

Obsidian is a stone formed from rapidly cooling lava, where the element of silica is high in the surrounding soil. Silica is important in skincare as it’s required to produce collagen and has anti-inflammatory properties. Energetically, Black Obsidian is thought to draw out negativity and stress from our bodies. This is important as stress can cause premature signs of aging, dark circles, breakouts, and flare-ups of other skin conditions. 

Right now, many people are craving a more holistic concept of beauty. Using the Gua Sha to stimulate energy flow helps us find balance in a modern world that can be too yin or too yang. This practice is considered to be more than skin deep, it helps us understand that to be healthy is to be beautiful. 

Use: After cleansing and toning, apply your favorite Max + Jane oil to your face and neck. Place the convex edge of the gua sha in the center of your forehead and move towards your temples in smooth downward strokes. Repeat on both sides. Then, place the concave edge of the gua sha at the center of your face where your cheek meets your nose and move the gua sha to the outside of your face in upward strokes. Repeat this motion in three horizontal strokes moving from the top of your cheek down to your chin and jaw bone, then repeat on the other side. This method may result in temporary redness from increased stimulation. 

 

Each side of the tool will yield different results so we encourage you to experiment. The benefits are increased circulation and muscle relaxation. 

 

Care: Handle your gua sha tool with care. Gently clean it after each use with soap and water or rubbing alcohol. 

Facial Roller

We love the Gua Sha, it’s versatility, and the very intentional self-care practice that it’s helped s create. For the moments when we have less time to dedicate to our skincare routines, we use the Black Obsidian Facial Roller. Like the Gua Sha, this tool helps stimulate the healthy flow of blood and lymph to reduce puffiness and tension in the facial muscles. We love using this over Transilience Calming Cleanser for a quick and refreshing addition to our morning routine.  

 

Stone facial rollers feel cool to the touch although Black Obsidian also has warming properties. In addition to its benefits mentioned above, we love to use Black Obsidian in or morning routine as it’s also thought to reduce anxiety, promote balance and inner peace, and boost confidence. Obsidian is known as an ultimate protection stone, acting as a shield for our psyche, and increasing grounding.

Use: After cleansing and toning, apply your favorite Max + Jane oil to your face and neck. Starting in the center of your face, move the large end of the obsidian roller in outward strokes across your cheeks, chin, and jawline and in upward strokes on your neck. This gently opens up pathways that move lymph fluids and reduces puffiness and inflammation. 

 

Using the small end of the obsidian roller, gently roll from the inner corner of your eyebrow to the outermost corner and from the center of your face to your temple across your cheekbone. Then, use the roller vertically on your forehead and between your brows as if you were smoothing out fine lines with a rolling pin. 

Additional attention can be given to any areas where there is tension, such as the jaw. 

Care: Handle your roller with care. Gently clean it after each use with soap and water or rubbing alcohol. 

 

We would love to hear how you're bringing motion into your daily routine. Send us a note at info@maxandjane.com!