The Art of Gua-Sha: The 5-Step Evening Ritual

In short

Gua-Sha relaxes the muscles of the face, activates microcirculation and encourages lymphatic drainage. Practised in the evening, on skin nourished with oil, it redefines the contours, brightens the complexion and turns a routine into a true moment. Two principles make all the difference: never work on dry skin, and respect the right direction for every movement.

A two-thousand-year-old ritual

The word Gua-Sha comes from Chinese: Gua means "to scrape", and Sha refers to the redness — those toxins the skin brings to the surface when stimulated. More than two thousand years ago, traditional Chinese medicine practised this gesture on the back and shoulders to relieve chronic pain and revive a circulation grown sluggish. The face, at the time, was not part of the picture.

It took the stone passing into the hands of estheticians across Asia for the gesture to soften, the pressure to lighten, and facial Gua-Sha as we know it today to be born: a firm caress, carried at a shallow angle over prepared skin. From the ancient tradition, it keeps the essential — the conviction, since confirmed by modern cosmetology, that skin also heals through movement.

What remains is to understand what that movement sets in motion.

What happens beneath the stone: the benefits of Gua-Sha

The first time you glide a Gua-Sha along your jawline, a surprise awaits almost everyone: you discover just how much you were clenching. The muscles of the face — jaw, temples, forehead — contract all day long without our knowing, and the stone releases them one by one. It is the ritual's most immediate effect, and often its most addictive.

The second effect shows in the mirror. Under the stone's gentle pressure, blood flows toward the surface and the complexion takes on that living colour we usually credit to a walk in the open air. It is no optical illusion: the skin has genuinely just been better irrigated — and with it the fibroblasts, the cells that manufacture collagen and elastin.

The third effect works in silence. The lymphatic system, tasked with clearing away water and cellular waste, has no pump of its own: it depends entirely on movement to circulate. A few minutes of Gua-Sha are enough to awaken that flow — it is what deflates morning faces and softens under-eye puffiness.

And then there is what only regularity reveals: skin that is firmer, more elastic, like a fabric regularly worked that keeps its spring. Nothing magical about it — simply the mechanics of a gesture done well, and repeated.

Done well: everything rests on those two words.

One rule, but an absolute one: never on dry skin

A stone drawn across dry skin catches, pulls and irritates. It can even leave micro-lesions, invisible to the naked eye but very real. It is the most widespread misstep — and the one that, on its own, turns a treatment into an aggression.

Gua-Sha demands that the stone glide, without ever adhering. It therefore needs an oil, and an oil designed for the task: rich enough to nourish the skin, fine enough not to smother it.

At Laboratoire Dr Renaud, that oil is called Huile Soyeuse, and its record speaks before it does: winner of the ELLE Québec & Canada 2024 Beauty Grand Prix. Seven precious oils are blended within it, chosen to firm, regenerate and soften the skin while the stone works. One to two droppers over the face and neck are enough — and the treatment begins before the Gua-Sha even touches the skin. In the deluxe set, a 17 ml format accompanies the stone.

The skin is cleansed, the oil is on. All that remains is to learn the movement.

Huile Soyeuse, winner of the ELLE 2024 Beauty Grand Prix, and the Laboratoire Dr Renaud Gua-Sha

The evening ritual, in five movements

Choose the evening — the moment when the face has the most to let go of. On perfectly cleansed skin, after your usual skincare routine, apply one to two droppers of Huile Soyeuse over the face and neck. Hold the stone almost flat, at an angle of fifteen to thirty degrees, never perpendicular. And remember the rule that governs everything else: start from the bottom, always move up and outward.

The neck, first. Many skip it, yet it is what opens the ritual. Long, firm strokes from the collarbone toward the jaw, three to five passes on each side. The neck is the gateway of the lymphatic system: as long as it stays closed, the face's drainage has nowhere to go.

The jaw, next. Glide from the chin toward the earlobe, following the line of the bone. This is where the most deeply rooted tensions live — those of screen-filled days and clenched nights. Let the stone linger there, without ever forcing.

The cheeks. From the side of the nose toward the temple, in three parallel passes that climb progressively. The stone's curve hugs the cheekbone: it is the most sculpting movement of the ritual, the one that redraws.

The eye contour and upper eyelids. The thinnest skin on the face calls for the stone's gentlest edge and the lightest pressure. From the inner corner of the eye toward the temple, as if the stone were barely grazing.

The forehead, to finish. From the centre toward the temples, then from the brows toward the hairline. These final passes undo what the day had gathered up there — and often, you can feel the release travel all the way down into the shoulders.

The whole takes five to ten minutes, three to five passes per zone. 

Always from bottom to top, from the centre outward

What to avoid

We want to do it well, so we press — and that is precisely the mistake. Gua-Sha works at the surface, under light pressure; a heavy hand causes redness, sometimes bruising. If the skin flushes sharply, the answer is simple: ease off.

Second pitfall: moving down instead of up. Gravity already handles that direction all day long; in the evening, every movement climbs, with the sole exception of the initial drainage from the neck toward the collarbone.

Third omission, the most frequent: neglecting the neck. Without that opening, the rest of the ritual circles in a closed room.

And the last is not a movement but a habit: bringing out the stone only on the good evenings. Like every ritual, this one reveals itself through repetition — three to five times a week, without obligation or performance.

How long it takes

Some effects don't wait: from the very first session, the complexion warms, the features relax, the jaw lets go. Others ask for patience — allow three to four weeks of regular practice to see the contours sharpen and the skin gain firmness. It may be Gua-Sha's finest lesson: consistency always accomplishes more than intensity.

Frequently asked questions

How often should you use a Gua-Sha?

Three to five times a week, at the end of the day, for five to ten minutes. Regularity matters more than the length of each session.

Can you use a Gua-Sha without oil?

No. On dry skin, the stone creates friction that irritates and can cause micro-lesions. A treatment oil such as Huile Soyeuse is essential to the movement.

Is Gua-Sha suitable for all skin types?

For most, yes. Skin prone to rosacea, inflammatory acne or pronounced broken capillaries calls for caution, however: vascular stimulation can worsen redness. When in doubt, an esthetician will know how to guide you.

How long do the effects last?

The immediate effect lasts a few hours; the cumulative effect holds as long as the practice stays regular. Gua-Sha is not a one-off treatment, but a ritual that works over time.

Stone or metal — which to choose?

Both work. Stone — jade, rose quartz, obsidian — offers the traditional feel and a natural coolness. Metal, like that of the Laboratoire Dr Renaud Gua-Sha, endures without altering, cleans perfectly, and its precise curves fit every zone of the face.

To discover the Gua-Sha and Huile Soyeuse duo — or to learn the ritual in the hands of a professional — book an appointment with a Laboratoire Dr Renaud esthetician.