What are jade combs?
What are jade combs?
This is the whole lot you want to understand approximately jade combs, inclusive of their cultural relevance.
Each time calgary-based clinical esthetician vivian lau become unwell as a child, her mother might drag a metallic soup spoon down the back of her neck, scraping the skin until reddish-blue marks might seem.
Years later, after seeing images of human beings the usage of pretty gua sha gear on their faces on-line, lau ordered a jade gua sha tool for herself and fell in love with how it felt. For folks who aren’t acquainted, gua sha is an ancient chinese language medicinal exercise, which entails using a tool (along with a stone or spoon) to scrape the body to sell blood move and heal contamination. After seeing how famous gua sha changed into, lau enrolled in a path all approximately facial gua sha and started presenting gua sha facials at her calgary skincare boutique kintsugi studio. However after performing some of her very own research on-line, lau found out that what she became doing changed into some other model of her mom’s spoon scraping practice.
“the manner we use [gua sha] now, and the way i take advantage of it in my exercise, is totally unique from the conventional method which changed into for greater medicinal functions,” says lau.
Gua sha tools, which you may now find at simply any beauty or well-being shop, are normally product of jade, rose quartz or any other polished stone. Jade combs are a tool that may be used for facial gua sha, though customers frequently use the toothed side of the brush for scalp massages and hair growth stimulation.
Right here’s everything you need to realize approximately jade combs, from its traditional roots to the advantages of the use of this gua sha device.
What are jade combs?
Just like the name shows, jade combs are combs crafted from jade. However, there are also combs that do the identical issue made out of different stones like rose quartz or bian stones, that are black stones used in traditional chinese medication.
Jade combs have unique uses and blessings while used at the scalp and hair, however additionally they do double responsibility as gua sha equipment as well. Consistent with lau, some jade combs have each tooth that you could use on your hair and scalp as well as a contoured facet that you can use in your face and body. Others are fashioned like normal combs with enamel on one aspect and a easy component which you grip on the other aspect.
What are the blessings of the use of a jade comb?
Like gua sha, using a jade comb to your face and body can assist with lymphatic drainage. The lymphatic device is a community of vessels and organs that keeps our fluid tiers, absorbs fat from the intestines after which transports them to our blood circulation. The lymphatic device also facilitates guard the frame in opposition to pathogens (reflect onconsideration on whilst the lymph nodes to your neck swell up whilst you’re sick). Gua sha gear useful resource in lymphatic drainage via manually transferring the stagnant lymph fluid that reasons pores and skin puffiness and irritation. The alternative main benefit of using jade combs is that they can promote blood circulate the scalp, which may assist with hair boom (even though there isn’t an excessive amount of technology to lower back up the claim that blood drift equals hair increase).
A way to use a jade comb
There are some ways you can use a jade comb. In case your jade comb has a contoured aspect, you can use it similar to you’ll use a facial gua sha device and scrape your face and frame with it.
You can also run it through your hair to reinforce blood go with the flow in your scalp. “i generally brush with a hair oil like jojoba oil that’s first rate for growth,” says lau. First, observe the hair oil and ensure you’re keeping the brush almost flat towards your head (at a 15 diploma attitude or much less). Begin at your hairline and brush your hair up and lower back. Use strain—but not so much that it hurts. Then, flow to the returned of your neck and stroke up in the direction of the pinnacle of your head. If you have curly or kinky hair, work in shorter strokes to keep away from getting tangled.
Whilst you’re up there on your hair, you could additionally supply yourself a chilled scalp massage. Lau indicates taking the brush edge of your device and running it alongside the hairline (wherein you have got the frontalis muscular tissues), the place right above your ears (where the temporalis muscle groups are) and the occipital ridge that’s proper at the back of your scalp at the bottom of your backbone. Massaging your scalp, specially these regions, lowers your blood pressure, heart charge and pressure hormone degrees — all of which facilitates you destress and loosen up. “you get this tingling sensation that turns on your parasympathetic anxious machine which facilitates you loosen up.”
What is the cultural importance of jade combs and gua sha?
Lau’s own family, and lots of other chinese households (my personal blanketed), used spoons to scrape the body to treat illnesses like colds and warmth stroke. In recent times, latest western trends downplay the medicinal roots of gua sha and jade combs and rather spotlight the beauty blessings, together with enhancing the pores and skin’s look.
The way the well-being enterprise markets and aestheticizes gua sha products and jade combs divorces the tools from the unique practice. “it’s a modernized version of gua sha for certain,” says lau. “it’s vital to understand that and pay tribute to the roots of the exercise.” for her element, lau is planning on attending acupuncture college to examine more about conventional chinese language medicinal drug so she will be able to stand behind her emblem with extra information and represent the exercise properly.
“when it comes to my world, the splendor global, we see a whole lot of people who forget about the cultural relevance and who are not the use of gua sha properly, even on the face,” says lau. “it makes those practices look like just a fashion, now not something that’s been carried out for hundreds of years.”