How to 'Boost' with Elsie
BYBI's Co-Founder, Elsie, talks through and demos how to use the Boosters with your beauty tools.
"I am a massive fan of beauty tools and my latest obsession is Gua Sha, having discovered it from Katja Koko on a trip to Finland last year. Katja is a Gua Sha queen and has the most insane skin - toned, clear and glowing. One look at her and I would have been up for trying anything she suggested to be honest, but she’s adamant that Gua Sha has been the key to keeping her skin healthy so I decided to give it a go. I’m now hooked and used my Gua Sha religiously in the run up to my wedding.
Gua Sha derives from ancient Chinese medicine and literally translates as “scraping redness”. It’s a smooth, flat, shiny tool that’s mostly made from jade. Traditionally the tool is scraped along the skin to help reduce inflammation, treat pain, create energy and heal illness. More recently it’s been picked up by the western beauty world as an excellent way to tone and sculpt the face, reducing inflammation and helping with lymphatic drainage (which many believe helps to rid your skin of toxins, helps with skin texture and reduce puffiness).
There’s also some research to suggest that Gua Sha helps your beauty products absorb faster and delivers essential nutrients to your skin more effectively. I therefore love to Gua Sha with my punchiest, most potent products - Bakuchiol Booster and Supercharge Serum.
The video below shows my favourite 4 Gua Sha moves, but I’d suggest checking out Katja’s highlight reel for a full demo (it is mostly in Finnish but some in English so you get the gist) - you can Gua Sha your neck, head and chest too! It’s worth doing some research into the best moves to make sure you’re doing it right. I use Katja’s own brand tool, but FeelUnique also have a good one.
I’ve sped things up for the sake of the video, I would normally spend about 5-10 mins doing this every day, usually before bed but it’s also a nice way to reduce morning puffiness. I honestly see SUCH a difference in the tone and texture of my skin after a week or so of doing it, plus the feeling of the smooth jade on my skin is just dreamy. It’s a really nice daily beauty ritual.
The Boosters are the perfect skincare product to use with your Gua Sha as they are rich and nutrient-dense, plus being oils (or actives housed in oils) they allow the Gua Sha to glide smoothly along the skin without friction. You can use any of our Boosters with your Gua Sha, but my personal favourite is a combination of Bakuchiol and Supercharge Serum. Both are highly potent; Bakuchiol is the natural retinol alternative and able to boost collagen production and Supercharge Serum is antioxidant rich and helps to increase skin cell turnover.
I mix about 3 drops of Bakuchiol to 5-6 drops of Supercharge Serum. They’re both super light so once you’ve Gua Sha’d, your skin doesn’t feel greasy. Just smooth, toned and glowy!"