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Jennifer Aniston, Christy Turlington-Burns, Cate Blanchett… These are just a few of the women who have had their faces sculpted and contoured by the US-based super facialist and Dior Skincare Ambassador Joanna Czech. And whilst the thought of a facial at the hands of a professional is something of a pipe dream right now, her tips for how to achieve the ultimate manual at-home facial massage (something of signature of hers – one of her facials can sometimes involve 280 minutes of pure tension-relieving, skin-sculpting heaven) are beauty gold. Below, her six tips for administering the best at-home facial – and in record time.

Use a bit of slip

“I prefer a little slip when doing a manual massage treatment. Something like Dior Capture Totale Serum is ideal because it has this amazing hyaluronic acid and you really want to get as much moisture as you can into the skin. Initially, I will spread it gently all around the face, neck and décolletage. Never forget about the décolletage – ‘From the nipples up right to your face’ – this is my mantra, I say it all the time.”

Netflix and massage 

“Time-wise, on average, I recommend five to seven minutes massage in total per night to stimulate the blood and the muscles. You can do three and a half minutes on each side while watching TV. It’s Netflix-ready, you know?”

Preparation is key

“How you start your massage is very important. Begin by relaxing the muscles along your spine, and relax your shoulders, too. All the nerves responsible for opening up the front of the body are situated along the spine, so it is key to relax here. Then, I like to release tension from the scalp. I call it the ‘pulling-hair technique’, where you grab hair [from your hairline] and gently pull back about one centimetre. It is very, very relaxing and releases any tightness. One more step before you start to get the centre of the face prepared is to gently stretch the ears.”

Put your best face forward

“Focus on stimulating the largest facial muscles: the brows, the cheeks, the jawline. Working these areas is going to create micro-swelling that’s going to create that lift-effect automatically. And then, of course, don’t forget the neck and décolletage.”

Get to know your massage techniques 

“There are so many different techniques. I do kneading in the cheeks, a kind of piano movement (tapping the fingers backwards and forwards) around the eyes, and then there is the pinching motion on the forehead and along the brow line which really helps to lift. Do what feels good.”

Respect your skin

“My philosophy towards the skin is: ‘Respect, support and protect’. Treat yourself the way you would want to treat another human. If we all practised this, it would be such a good world.”

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