The Cost of getting Stone-faced

I’m talking about Chinese gua sha (and please don’t ask me to pronounce that because I haven’t the foggiest) facial massage and the use of “facial sculpting stones” here; apparently the New Black in keeping your face looking honed, toned and youthful, and the go-to tools for “face sculpting”, which could be the other New Black.  or just the New Word for “facial”.

Whatever, face-sculpting stones are all the go at present and never have rocks had more of a make-over. There are also sculpting tools, some made from crystals or metals if you want to move up from the basic rocks and naturally, the cost goes up too, depending on the gadget.

The basic rocks begin at around $30 each and you need at least two of them and it goes from there, all the way up to the  glossy gold-coloured solar-powered micro-current version which will hit you up for around $298. The basic stones are designed to be used in conjunction with a facial oil, but the roller and other versions may not be, I’m not really sure. There are also vibrating ones and then there’s the Flash Facial gadget which uses LED light, thermo and cryo therapies, as well as T-sonic pulses (whatever they are) and claims  to give you a salon worthy facial in just ninety seconds. Neat! And that one will only set you back $395!

And I have to say, all of these face sculpting tools are attractive. The basic stones are smooth, shiny and come in a variety of pastel bathroom-y colours and will glide over your face with the help of a quality face oil. Which all sounds lovely. Some of the rollers, vibrators and squeezers (did I mention them?) are also quite attractive in their metal finishes.

And then there’s fingertips. While not qualifying as quite as luxe as gua sha facial sculpting stones (and the other thingies), the advantages of just using your fingertips is a) you already have eight of them (thumbs don’t figure here so I haven’t counted them), b) you can’t drop them like you just may drop an oil-smeared stone and c) nothing knows your facial contours like your own fingers.

On the downside though, while fingertips come in a vast array of lovely natural skin tones, they don’t come in pastel shades of rose, blue, green, yellow or mauve.  They aren’t plated in 18 carat gold (like the ergonomic gold set at just $200). You can’t leave your fingertips in an expensive little dish on the bathroom vanity for other women to see and get all envious over and…well…they just aren’t gua sha!

But they work. Incredibly well! So why would you want to fork out for a fad when you already have the tools to hone, tone and massage your face literally at your fingertips? I suppose if I really wanted to, I could nick down to my local beach and pick up two sea-polished stones, use them, and then lie about where they came from should any female visitors spot them, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable with pulling a swifty like that and would eventually have to fess up. But beach stones could easily moonlight as gua sha stones, I suppose. They’d be a lot less expensive for a start (think free) and come in really nice natural hues. The polished quartz I’ve found there is beautifully white…

Plus fingertips are great for accuracy. They glide around your face with ease and finding the right pressure to use is a cinch. Probably a lot easier than sliding oil-slicked rocks around your face, although there may be some merit in the rollers, pulsers and vibrators. But when it’s all said and done, I still think they’re all just another fad.

I’ll stick with fingers for now.