Takeaway: Our combined love of facials and cupping led us to ask: Why not merge the two to create a dose of bliss in our self-care styles? 

Every day, we sprinkle our lives with tiny infusions of self-care acts that deliver reliable moments of bliss. Sometimes, it’s preparing a nutritious meal for the family, taking a yoga class, or walking the dog. Other times, it’s going to happy hour with friends. Recently, we’ve enjoyed using silicone cups as part of mini-facials (more about that in a bit). 

After years of practicing (and occasionally forgetting), we now consistently fortify our days with kind and caring acts directed toward ourselves, and we notice the specific type of nourishment we require is ever-changing, as is the shape and expression of our self-care style. Self-care is less about getting things right—or even getting things done—and more about leaning into what brings you reliable doses of joy. What activities or relationships bring you powerful moments of bliss—small or mighty? 

Discover Your Joy Triggers  

Can you imagine giving yourself reliable doses of bliss every day? Or, if you already do, are you ready to add to your repertoire of joy triggers? Grab your favorite writing tool, your curiosity, and answer the following four questions. 

1. Enjoy a generous breath as you begin to write or list out loud: What do I love? For 5 minutes, create a list of all the things you love without editing yourself. Examples can include freshly cut flowers, a hot cup of Earl Grey tea, or the smell of grapefruit essential oil. Give yourself time to reflect and build your repertoire of joy triggers.

2. Think back to your childhood and adolescence and ask yourself: What did I do for fun? What activities interested you? What games did you play? Trigger your joy with memories of play and fun that you may have forgotten and may enjoy doing again. 

3. Move back into the present: What am I most curious about now? What would you like to know more about or try doing for the first time? Perhaps this can inspire new joy triggers you’ve yet to discover that you can add to your daily self-care style.

4. If time and money were no object: What would my dream day look like? Engage your imagination and, with as much detail as possible, envision yourself experiencing your dream day. Allow all your senses to awaken. What does the air smell like? What’s the texture under your feet? What do you hear? Feel all the feelings to bring that day into felt reality. 

A Dose of Bliss with a Mini-Facial

For us, facials trigger joy! They make us feel luxurious, beautiful, and they simply feel good. It’s a way for us to bring an element of play, fun, and care into our morning—and sometimes evening—routines. Perhaps it’s something you would like to integrate into your self-care practice, or maybe it can inspire you to refresh how you infuse a dose of bliss into every day. Our combined love of facials and cupping led us to ask: Why not merge the two to create a dose of bliss in our self-care styles?

If you’re unfamiliar, facial cupping is a technique that uses small, flexible silicone cups specially designed for the face. With the help of face oils and lotions, you can slide and glide the cups across your face to lift tissue and stimulate the circulation of blood and lymph. It is a simple, quick, and easy way to give yourself a mini-facial a few times a week. It not only feels good but also offers relaxed, refreshed results and feelings similar to those after a standard facial.

Benefits of Facial Cupping 

Use facial cupping to: 

• Increase oxygen-rich blood circulation

• Strengthen the skin and connective tissues

• Stimulate the cells responsible for collagen production

• Relax muscle tension 

Because of this, the practice is said to:

• Brighten skin

• Minimize the appearance of scars, fine lines, and wrinkles

• Tone the chin, jawline, neck, and décolletage

• Decrease puffiness

• Regulate oil production

• Improve nutrient delivery and product absorption

• Reduce headaches and the frequency of migraines

• Reduce symptoms related to temporomandibular joint disorders (TMJD)

• Reduce the appearance of scar tissue

• Relieve sinus congestion and symptoms related to allergies   

Best Practices for Facial Cupping 

The effectiveness of facial cupping depends on how often you practice. A simple, 3-minute daily cupping session is ideal for reducing fine lines and preserving skin firmness and elasticity. That being said, this is not meant to be another chore or box to check off, but rather an opportunity to care for yourself in a way that brings you joy. Please don’t do it if it doesn’t bring you joy.

• Prep your skin by cleansing and then massaging an oil, lotion, or serum over your entire face so the cup can smoothly glide across your skin. 

• Gently squeeze the cup and apply it to the skin, then release it to create the negative pressure or suction. 

Prep for Self-Cupping Facial

• If the suction feels too pinched, release the cup and squeeze again lightly to find your preferred intensity (if it feels pinched, you’re likely using too much negative pressure).

• Keep the cups moving across your face to avoid blemishes, purpura, or petechiae (in other words, don't leave a stationary cup in one place on your face for more than 5 seconds, or you may create the appearance of a bruise).

• Avoid areas of broken skin, active breakouts, rosacea, eczema flare-ups, or rashes. 

Steps for Self-Cupping Facial 

1. Begin by placing a facial cup just below the ear or at the superior attachment of the sternocleidomastoid muscle (SCM). Glide the cup toward the clavicle, following the length of the SCM. Repeat several times on both sides. Focusing on this area is a way to reduce neck tension and boost your lymphatic drainage. 

2. Now start at the jawline, gliding from the chin toward the ear. Release the cup near the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). Then, start another pass at the edge of the lips, glide up toward the TMJ, and release. Next, begin at the outer flare of the nose and move up toward the TMJ. Then, repeat these three passes on the opposite side and/or add 2–3 additional passes in these areas. This will help lift the face, reduce jaw tension, diminish TMJD symptoms, and drain the sinuses. 

3. Begin on the delicate tissue of the medial side under the eye. Use the smallest cup and glide outward toward the temple. If you have difficulty sliding, try “fish bites.” (Start by (1) squeezing and releasing the cup to generate mild suction; (2) squeezing the cup and sliding 1 inch [or less]; and (3) releasing the squeeze to generate a gentle “fish bite” sensation.) 

4. Repeat several times as you move from the inner eye to the temple, using a gentle hand. The skin around your eyes is notoriously delicate, so make sure you’re not pulling or tugging. Repeat on the opposite side.

5. Finish your facial cupping practice with the forehead. Start in the center of your forehead and move the cup out toward the side of your ear or temples. This part is great for horizontal forehead lines, brow furrow lines, and tension-related headaches. 

Note that you may notice some redness during or after the cupping, but this will fade shortly. This routine can be done as part of a weekly ritual or any time you need some facial tension relief, an instant facial lift, an immunity boost, or an infusion of joy and self-care. 

According to Sonja Lyubomirsky, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, adding more joy to your daily routine can amplify your feelings of life satisfaction and increase the frequency of positive feelings you experience like pride, curiosity, enthusiasm, tranquility, and well-being. As you change and grow, so can your awareness of joyful triggers. Asking yourself what brings you joy daily and opening yourself to discovering more—then sprinkling in what you love—reaffirms your self-worth and dedication to your own care. This fuels your ever-evolving self-care style. Filling your day with what fills you up seems so simple, yet it has a huge impact on how good you feel and how good it feels to give to and be with others. Find moments to saturate in joy and love every day. 

Your Face Is Unique 

Your face is a sublime landscape of skin, muscles, and expression, containing 14 bones, 40 muscles, and 32 teeth that enable you to eat, speak, express, and so much more. The incredibly complex structure of the human face can reveal and reflect your thoughts, feelings, and intentions, and each is unique to the individual. 

Face the Facts

1. Some estimates claim it takes 43 facial muscles to frown.¹

2. It takes about 13 facial muscles to smile, according to some sources.²

3. We have 19 types of smiles.³

4. The skin around your eyes is the thinnest on your face.

5. The skin on your face has three distinct layers—the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis.

6. The masseter muscle is the strongest muscle in the human body for its size.

7. Throughout the world, there are seven universal facial expressions: happy, sad, angry, disgusted, surprised, contempt, and afraid.⁴

8. Microexpressions can appear on the face for as short as 1/25 of a second. 

Notes

1. Tom Scheve, How Stuff Works, “How Many Muscles Does It Take to Smile?” updated April 2021, https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/emotions/muscles-smile.htm.

2. Amboy Orthodontics, “What Muscle Is Used in Smiling?” https://amboyortho.com/what-muscle-is-used-in-smiling.

3. Zaria Gorvett, BBC, “There Are 19 Types of Smile But Only Six Are for Happiness,” April 10, 2017, www.bbc.com/future/article/20170407-why-all-smiles-are-not-the-same.

4. CBC, “The Seven Universal Emotions We Wear on our Face,” www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/features/the-seven-universal-emotions-we-wear-on-our-face.

Resources

Abdur-Rahim, Y. “Everything You Need to Know About Facial Cupping.” Last modified on October 2, 2018. www.healthline.com/health/facial-cupping.

Sonja (Sofya) Lyubomirsky. https://sonjalyubomirsky.com.