Jade Rolling - How to Jade Roll, What to Use & How to Clean Your Roller

Although we’ve only been seeing jade stone everywhere in the last few years, probably thanks to Gwyneth Paltrow, it’s been used in Chinese medicine since ancient times and is often used in feng shui. In the respect of alternative healing, it is believed to be a pure, nourishing healing energy with harmonious and balancing properties. We don’t know about you, but we could use a bit of that in our lives.

How does jade rolling benefit your skin?

Jade is a smooth, green stone that feels phenomenally cool on the skin. This is essentially what makes it effective, as it will have a mild vaso-constricting effect (especially if you pop it in the fridge), meaning that blood vessels will narrow, reducing swelling.

The rolling motion of the jade stone improves lymphatic drainage and blood circulation. In non-nerd speak, less puffiness and brighter skin.

There are other techniques that assist with lymphatic drainage and circulation, such as facial massage, however, facial massage can actually be overstimulating for those who are touch-sensitive and is arguably slightly more technical than jade rolling which is kind of a roll-and-go situation.

Many believe that physical manipulation and the increased blood circulation that comes with it actually increases the penetration of your skincare products too. We-freakin’-hoo!

Jade rollers usually are two-sided, one side having a larger head for larger areas and the other side, a smaller more bead-like head for smaller contours like around the eyes.

Jade rolling and self-care

Jade rolling brings a ritual, self-care element to your skincare regime. If you are a highly results-driven person who doesn’t have time for “that type of thing”, you may not initially see the benefit of this, but believe us, there is something indescribably soul-soothing about the feeling of cool, genuine jade stone gliding across your face, morning and evening.

It makes a moment for you out of your skin health geared routine, and in the hustle and bustle of being a 21st century hooman, we at Nerd HQ find it invaluable.

Jade rolling: how to 

Jade rolling is incredibly simple and easy, so long as you have the right equipment.

You need…

• A genuine jade stone roller, such as the Afterspa Jade Facial Roller (€18.00)  
• Optional: An oil for slippage - anything will do but we’ll go into our favourites a little later on

Step 1: Double cleanse, baby

Start as you mean to go on - by this we mean, properly! Double cleanse in the way advised by your Nerd or Nerdette so that you have a clean, prepped canvas to work from.

Step 2: Get yo’ slip on

Don’t apply your serums until after you’ve rolled. For now, we’re going to pop our oil on so that our jade roller can slip-slide away without any friction. Warm a few drops of your oil between the palms of your hands and press your hands to your face and neck, making sure to cover them in a coating of the oil. 

The oil step is optional - you can absolutely jade roll neat, sans oil! 

Step 3: Roll with your homies

Grab your jade roller, small head first, and start with your under-eye. Gently hold the small jade head to the inner corner of your under-eye area, below your tear duct. Take care to stay only on skin, we don’t want eye infections.

Gently roll outwards and downwards, following the shape of your eye, towards your temples and repeat 3 to 5 times. Using the small head again, work along the sides of your nose, from the centre out, moving downwards as you go.

Flip it around, as it is time to use the larger jade head. Place the jade roller at the top of your forehead in the centre and roll outwards and downwards towards one of your temples. It’s up to you which one, but if you’ve got a favourite already, you’ve got an advantage. Repeat on the other side of your forehead, ending again at the temple.

Next, roll from the centre of your face, where your cheeks are closest to your nose, outwards and downwards towards your earlobes. Use the smaller head on your upper lip region, once again, you’ve guessed it, from the centre, outwards and downwards, and switch back to the larger head to move from the centre of the chin out along the jawline.

Now, you’re going to want to glide the roller down to just above your collarbone (clavicle, for the nerds), as you’ve got a whole blimmin’ bunch of lymph nodes around this area.

Congratulations, you’re all rolled out! Feel free to roll more of yourself, but we know that many do not have that type of time to dedicate to rolling alone.

Our favourite oils for slippage

You can use any carrier oil for added slippage, such as a pure rosehip oil, jojoba oil or even coconut oil if it doesn’t break you out. However, we like to use one with added skin benefits just because the more benefits, the better, innit?

REN Bio-Retinoid Anti-Wrinkle Concentrate Oil (€50.00)

 

Oils we recommend skipping

A pre-cleansing oil won’t be great for this if you aren’t going to cleanse again after, as they usually create a coating on the skin which would stop your following products from penetrating.

Body oils can be too heavy on the face and cause spots in those who are spot-prone. Some also find that using products that are “too heavy” for them can lead to the formation of milia.

We hope this goes without saying, but baby oil should not be going on your face (nor your body, in the nerdie opinion).

Your highly-active oils, such as the Environ Sebu-ACE Oil or A, C & E Oil, are best used alone and not with a jade roller, as we want as much of them to get into the skin as possible and not be left on our roller.

Cleaning your jade roller

Like anything that is going on your face, you should be cleaning it before every use. In Team Nerd, we rate a quick little rinse with an anti-bacterial cleanser such as IMAGE Clear Cell Cleanser or Environ Sebu-Wash, or a spritz of the Ella & Jo Squeaky Clean Brush Cleanser (€20.00).

Honestly, you could also use a regular antibacterial hand soap so long as you rinse it and dry it thoroughly after!

We hope you’ve found this nerdie guide helpful. If you do have any other questions or queries, you can always get in contact by email at consult@theskinnerd.com or +353 1 5649362.