The Importance of Facial Massage

For many, one of the favorite aspects of getting a facial is also getting a massage. Facial massage enhances the experience – adding that extra pampering touch – as well as penetrates product into the skin.

Our experts apparently agree that facial massage is important in providing a variety of services; facial massage technique features in many of Aesthetic VideoSource’s instructional DVDs. While facial massage is obviously incorporated in European facials, it can also be provided in facial paraffin treatments, Thai acupressure massage, and stone massage, as well as many other treatments and modalities.

And why not? The benefits of facial massage are many. As with any massage, facial massage provides stress relief and enhances circulation and lymph flow. It can alleviate sinus congestion and migraine headaches. And it firms the skin, makes it radiant, and gives the face muscles lift, minimizing fine lines as it counters the effects of gravity and repetitive muscle usage. In essence, facial massage ultimately provides a younger look (chalk that up to a third reason for getting a facial massage!)

However, the face is sensitive and highly vascular, and incorrect technique can bruise it. Proper technique is required to achieve the above benefits, as well as to cleanse skin and apply product. Precautions should also be taken if there are contraindications, such as severe acne, that massage can aggravate, or dealing with sensitive skin that is typically fair and dry.

In our library, 21 DVD’s demonstrate massage techniques for the face, some including the décolleté and up into the scalp. Here are but a few titles that illustrate the range of possibilities, incorporating facial massage: Men’s Facial Techniques, Paraffin Treatments: Face and Décolleté, The Art and Practice of Stone Massage, The Complete Guide to Full Body Chair Massage, Professional Facial Techniques for Sun-Damaged and Dehydrated Skin, Lymphatic Drainage Massage: Face and Neck, and Thai Acupressure Massage: Feet, Hands & Face. We even consolidated some facial massage excerpts into our Facial Massage: The Definitive Collection.

Lymphatic Drainage Massage Therapy: Face & Neck

lymph drainage DVD | lymphatic drainage classes

Our experts range from CIDESCO diplomats, instructors, and spa professionals to licensed massage therapists. They all have years of experience and bring their own insights, techniques, and tips and tricks to provide the best service possible to clients. Our production crew does the rest, providing close-ups and different views so our clients – professionals in the business – can get the most out of our comprehensive instructional DVDs.

A couple of our DVDs illustrate how our experts, one an aesthetician and the other a massage therapist, teach their facial massage techniques.

In our award-winning European Facials series, Rita Page provides the most comprehensive, detailed instructional DVD ever on how to provide a thorough European facial with detailed massage techniques and a minimal amount of equipment. It’s all hands on. We had so much footage with valuable information, we broke the series down into three volumes. Each averages 1.5 hours.

Massage, an important component of a European facial, is used for application of product as well as a luxurious treatment that completes the spa experience. In addition to all the other techniques provided, Rita demonstrates two detailed facial massages: an extensive cleansing massage on the face, neck, and décolleté, and a product-penetrating facial massage.

When it comes to skin care, Rita Page is a notable aesthetician. She comes with a long list of accomplishments. She has been awarded the top honor of International CIDESCO Diplomat, the most prestigious aesthetic credential in the world. She founded the Paramedical Clinic, where physicians referred patients for treatment to alleviate the effects of postsurgical conditions, deformities, and burns. She also founded ProLight Aesthetics.

As an instructor, she explains every single step in detail. Aestheticians love her videos. And the European Facials series has received many accolades for training.

Great facial massage techniques can also be picked up in our massage videos. One of our most popular massage instructors is Meade Steadman, a licensed massage therapist (LMT). Meade regularly incorporates facial massage into his many videos. A video of interest to aestheticians is The Ultimate Face, Scalp, Neck & Shoulder Massage.

As they say, beauty is more than skin-deep. In the award-winning massage DVD, Meade goes deeper into the muscles to relieve tension, improve posture, and restore natural beauty from the inside out. Seeking that “softening effect,” Meade demonstrates massage techniques — basic and advanced — on the head and shoulders, following the body’s musculature, skeletal structure, and the vascular system. He discusses the underlying foundation of massage work, and you’ll grow your understanding of facial musculature. In addition to the massage demonstration, he also shares some self-massage exercises for clients to maintain the benefits of their massage…until the next one.

In addition to being a practicing LMT, Meade also instructs at the Myotherapy College of Utah and the Myotherapy Institute of Massage. His experience as an instructor makes his step-by-step DVDs accessible and enjoyable.

If you want a sampling of techniques, check out Facial Massage: The Definitive Collection. It features six demonstrated facial massages. Four renowned experts bring their own distinctive facial massages to their treatments, including European facials, stone massage, chair massage, and lymphatic drainage massage.

Rita demonstrates a detailed facial cleansing massage (from European Facials). Meade demonstrates three facial massages: one incorporating hot and cold stones to help stimulate circulation and relax musculature (from The Art and Practice of Stone Massage), one showing how to restore natural beauty from the inside-out by following the musculature and vascular system (from The Ultimate Face, Scalp, Neck, & Shoulder Massage), and a facial massage in the chair (from The Complete Guide to Full Body Chair Massage).

Eva Mileski, aesthetician and LMT, walks you through an extensive facial massage that is part of her facials (from Professional Facial Techniques for Damaged & Dehydrated Skin).  Jennifer Bryant, LMT, instructs how to stimulate lymphatic drainage on the face using massage techniques (from Lymphatic Massage: The Face).

All our videos cover the gamut of instruction, as appropriate, from pre-treatment consultation, preparation, benefits and contraindications, underlying physiology, tools and product, and post-treatment recommendations, in addition to the procedures. So far, we have over 90 DVD’s in our library dedicated to skin care, medical spa treatments, body treatments, massage, makeup, and hair removal.

Our goal at Aesthetic VideoSource is to produce detailed, comprehensive instructional DVDs, so anyone can properly perform the procedures shown. Aesthetic VideoSource is the forerunner in educational media distribution, with award-winning DVDs and an always-expanding list of titles to meet the spa and beauty industry’s needs. We realize in today’s busy world how hard it is to take the time out to attend classes to for continuing education or to expand your menu of offerings. DVD’s (or online streaming) are a great alternative, so you can learn at home, and at a time convenient to you.