What Exactly is
Facial Cupping?
What Exactly is Facial Cupping?
Reviewed by: Britta Plug
If you’re familiar with Wildling, you may already know that natural, gentle, and holistic skin-care methods are the name of the game around here.
We center our brand around beauty tools that provide restorative, soothing, and healing benefits as well as naturally & gently garnered results. In fact, in our opinion, ‘beauty tools’ can be a bit of a misnomer -- we prefer to think of our Empress Wand, Empress Stone, and Aura Stone as self-care tools.
The latest arrival to our ‘skincare-as-selfcare’ party is the Lumin Collection, which you may have seen us discussing on instagram, tiktok, or even just the blog post before this one. This brand new line adds a detoxifying, blemish-banishing, and deep-cleansing cupping ritual to the Wildling mix and we couldn’t be more excited about it.
If this is about the time you’re asking: ‘what exactly is facial cupping anyway?', we've got you covered. Read on to find out what it's all about.
Cupping is a therapeutic method that utilizes cone-shaped ‘cups’, suctioned to the skin, to stimulate circulation, cell repair, detoxification, and other regenerative/healing benefits. If you’re familiar with cupping, you may be picturing some serious post-session bruises and feeling a little apprehensive about using this modality on your face. Hey, we get it! But we promise: facial cupping is an entirely different experience. In facial cupping, we glide the cups over the face and neck, or create gentle pump-and-release patterns, to ensure we’re always working lightly.
In fact, it’s very similar to the whole body gua sha versus facial gua sha subject, something we’ve already tackled here: What’s the Difference between Facial Gua Sha and Body Gua Sha?
As in gua sha, when it comes to cupping, it’s appropriate to use firmer pressure, more suction, and perform deeper work on the body - so bruising is actually a good sign here. In TCM teachings, this result points to successfully released stagnation and flowing qi.
For the face, however, we always move gently and never want to bruise or create too much suction. Remember: more pressure isn’t better! You should never be able to see cup marks after a session with your Lumin Collection. For further information on pressure, check out this blog post we wrote on the topic.
Here’s the skinny on all things facial cupping, and some valuable how-tos when it comes to appropriately utilizing this TCM technique:
- Facial ‘cups’ are cone-shaped tools designed for application on the face & neck rather than the body
- Cupping stimulates, clears and detoxifies the skin as well as the layers of fascia found underneath
- Cupping breaks up stagnation & congestion in the tissues and stimulates healthy flow of qi & blood
- Benefits of cupping include activating the lymphatic system and clearing waste from tissues, so it is ideal for breakout-prone skin
- Cupping is a TCM application that dates back thousands of years
- When performing this ritual, always use slip, as you would with our Empress Ritual
- For slip: the Lumin Three-In-One Oil was specifically crafted for facial cupping
- Keep suction light on the face and neck. If using the tiny cup around the eyes, utilize the pump & release method as gently as possible, illustrated in this video.
- Never keep either the larger or the tiny cup in one static place on the face - avoid bruising by keeping it moving!
- Glide the larger cup along the face & neck to promote drainage and alleviate sensitive skin conditions such as inflammation or acne.
For best results, perform facial cupping with our Lumin Cupping Set 2-3x a week (no more), and use in conjunction with the complete Lumin Collection. The Lumin Mushroom can be used on the skin daily to calm, soothe, and cool and the Lumin Three-In-One oil can be used as a daily oil cleanser for all skin types.
Take a peek at the deep dive on our Lumin Collection below to familiarize yourself further.
Happy Cupping!
