Face Yoga vs Gua Sha: What Each Does and Why Many People Do Both

Face yoga vs gua sha comes down to exercise versus massage: face yoga actively moves and stretches the muscles of your face with no tools, while gua sha is a gentle massage that glides a smooth stone over oiled skin. Both take about 5 to 10 minutes, both can be relaxing, and the evidence for visible change is limited for both. Because they do different things, many people simply do both, and below you’ll find a combined 10-minute routine that shows how.

The difference in one minute

Face yoga is something your muscles do; gua sha is something done to your skin and the soft tissue under it.

• Face yoga is a set of facial exercises, holds, expressions and hand-massage moves. You need nothing but your face, your hands and ideally a mirror.
• Gua sha comes from a traditional Chinese medicine technique in which a smooth-edged tool is stroked firmly over the body. Facial gua sha is a much gentler adaptation: a flat stone glided outward over oiled skin in slow, light strokes.
• What they share: both are short, calming rituals. Neither has strong evidence for lasting visible change, and neither is a medical treatment.

For each practice on its own, see our complete guide to face yoga and our complete guide to gua sha.

What face yoga involves

Face yoga is a short workout for the face: you contract, hold, stretch and relax specific muscles, area by area, usually for 5 to 10 minutes a day.

Typical moves by area:

• Forehead and eyes: smoothing strokes over the brows, light slides around the eye contour.
• Cheeks and mouth: the O-shape pump, cheek puffs and wide smiles.
• Jaw and neck: jawline presses, the sky smile (look up and smile to stretch the front of the neck) and slow neck circles.

No equipment is needed, and a little oil helps only for moves that glide. Our 5-minute face yoga routine for beginners is an easy starting point.

What the research says about face yoga

The study most often cited is a small 2018 pilot in JAMA Dermatology (Alam et al., 2018). Of 27 women aged 40 to 65 who enrolled, 16 completed 30 minutes of facial exercises a day for 8 weeks, then every other day until week 20. Dermatologists rating standardised photos saw improved upper and lower cheek fullness, and the average estimated age dropped from about 50.8 to 48.1 years. There was no control group.

An earlier systematic review found no randomised controlled studies and judged the evidence insufficient to say whether facial exercises work (Van Borsel et al., 2014). Larger controlled studies are needed. Our article on whether face yoga works covers every study.

What gua sha involves

Facial gua sha is a slow, light massage: oil on the skin, a stone held almost flat, and single-direction strokes that move outward from the centre of the face, starting at the neck.

• Tool and oil. A flat stone with a long curved edge and a notched edge, often heart-shaped, plus enough facial oil that it glides without tugging. Shape matters more than material.
• Angle. Roughly 15 to 45 degrees to the skin; the flatter, the gentler.
• Direction. Centre outward and bottom up, lifting the stone after each stroke.
• Pressure. Light to medium. Facial gua sha should never hurt or leave marks.
• Session length. Usually 5 to 10 minutes, three to five strokes per area.

Our step-by-step gua sha routine covers each area, and our comparison of gua sha vs a jade roller helps if you’re still choosing a tool.

What the research says about gua sha

Research on facial gua sha is thin. The most-quoted study looked at body gua sha: in 11 healthy people, surface blood flow rose briefly after firm strokes (Nielsen et al., 2007).

One of the few randomised trials on the face compared a gua sha stone with a facial roller in 34 women over eight weeks; both groups showed small changes in facial measurements and skin elasticity scores (Ahn et al., 2025). It compared two tools, not gua sha with doing nothing.

Many people find a gentle session, especially with a cool stone, helps their face look a little less puffy in the morning and feel less tense. That effect is temporary, like a cool compress.

Face yoga vs gua sha: comparison table

The quickest way to choose: compare what each asks of you and what it’s usually used for.

	Face yoga	Gua sha
What it is	Exercises, holds, stretches and hand massage	Gentle massage with a flat stone and facial oil
Equipment	None (a mirror helps)	A gua sha stone and facial oil
Learning curve	Learning the form and not tensing the wrong muscles	Learning the angle, pressure and stroke direction
Time	5–10 minutes	5–10 minutes
Feels like	A light workout, then release	A slow, calming massage
Often chosen for	Tension habits, posture awareness, a daily movement routine	Morning puffiness, relaxing tight areas, a calm skincare ritual
Cost	Free to do on your own	The price of a stone and oil; a pricier stone isn’t better
Main risks	Jaw or neck strain if you overdo it	Redness or bruising from too much pressure; irritation on broken skin
Evidence	Limited; one small study without a control group	Very limited; mostly small or body-focused studies

Want something you can do anywhere without buying anything? Face yoga is the easier start. Want a slow, soothing ritual after cleansing? Gua sha may suit you better. Like both ideas? There’s no need to choose.

Should you do both?

Yes, if you enjoy them: face yoga and gua sha give your face two different inputs, movement and massage, and together they still fit into about 10 minutes.

Face yoga asks your muscles to work and then let go; gua sha is passive. Together they feel like a short workout followed by a stretch.

Two easy ways to fit both in:

• In one session. Do face yoga first and finish with gua sha, or start with gua sha while the oil is fresh, then do face yoga. Both orders work; the routine below pairs them area by area.
• Split across the day. A short, cool-stone gua sha session in the morning, when puffiness is most noticeable, and slower face yoga in the evening to relax the jaw and forehead before sleep.

Gluvy is built around this combination: more than 200 guided face yoga video exercises in 3-week plans and about 34 gua sha and facial-massage video courses, with a timer on every step. Morning and night routines and reminders help with a split schedule.

A combined 10-minute routine

This routine pairs a gua sha stroke with a face yoga move for each area, from the neck up, finishing with a slow breath: about 10 minutes in total. Timings are suggestions; skip anything that doesn’t feel right.

1. Prepare (about 30 seconds)

Cleanse, pat dry and apply a generous layer of facial oil to your face and neck. Sit tall with relaxed shoulders.

2. Neck (about 1½ minutes)

Gua sha (1 minute): glide from under your chin toward the area behind your ear, then down the side of the neck toward the collarbone. Keep it very light over the throat.

Face yoga (35 seconds): a slow Neck Circle, ear to shoulder, chin to chest and around, switching direction halfway. In the app, the Neck & Chin Drainage course covers this area with video.

3. Jaw (about 2 minutes)

Gua sha (1 minute): fit the notched edge along your jawbone and glide from chin to earlobe, three to five times per side.

Face yoga (1 minute): Jawline Press & Pull for 30 seconds (press along the jaw and pull outward along the bone), then Sky Smile for about 35 seconds (look up, smile wide, hold, relax). Our jawline exercises guide has more moves, and the Jaw Relaxation Routine in Gluvy helps if you clench.

4. Cheeks (about 1¾ minutes)

Gua sha (1 minute): lay the long edge beside your nose and sweep outward along and just under the cheekbone toward the ear or temple.

Face yoga (40 seconds): O-Shape Pump. Make a tight O with your mouth and slowly move your jaw up and down, keeping your forehead relaxed.

5. Eyes (about 1¼ minutes)

Gua sha (45 seconds): with the lightest touch of the session, glide from the inner corner of the eye outward along the bone toward the temple. Never press on the eye itself.

Face yoga (35 seconds): Temple Lift. Rest your hands on your temples and glide gently up and down, eyes closed.

6. Forehead (about 1¼ minutes)

Gua sha (45 seconds): glide along the brow bone from the middle outward, then sweep upward from the brows to the hairline.

Face yoga (35 seconds): Forehead Smooth Down. Smooth both hands downward over the forehead and brows in slow strokes. Gluvy’s Forehead Relaxation Yoga course expands on this.

7. Finish with a slow breath (about 1 minute)

Make a few long strokes from the temples down the sides of the neck. Then close your eyes and take four or five slow breaths through the nose, letting your jaw and shoulders soften. Wash your stone afterwards.

Want to do this routine with video and timers? Download Gluvy and follow the face yoga and gua sha courses step by step.

Safety notes for face yoga and gua sha

Both are low-risk for most people when done gently, with a few exceptions.

• Skip gua sha on broken or irritated skin: cuts, active acne, sunburn, rashes, cold sores or a recent peel.
• Keep pressure light. Bruising or lasting redness means too much pressure. Face yoga should feel like a stretch, never pain.
• Stop if anything hurts, clicks or makes you dizzy.
• Ask first if you take blood thinners or bruise easily, have jaw joint (TMJ) problems or a neck condition, or have had fillers, Botox, facial surgery or laser treatment recently.
• Don’t use either to self-treat. For pain, sudden swelling or any change in your skin, see a doctor.

Face yoga and gua sha with Gluvy

You don’t have to pick a side. Gluvy is an iPhone app with both in one place: face yoga video workouts in 3-week plans of 5 to 10 minutes a day, gua sha video courses, guided breathing and sleep sessions, and a progress journal with selfies to compare photos over time. See all of Gluvy’s features or more comparisons.

Sources

• Alam M. et al. “Association of Facial Exercise With the Appearance of Aging.” JAMA Dermatology, 2018. doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2017.5142
• Van Borsel J. et al. “The effectiveness of facial exercises for facial rejuvenation: a systematic review.” Aesthetic Surgery Journal, 2014. doi:10.1177/1090820X13514583
• Nielsen A. et al. “The effect of Gua Sha treatment on the microcirculation of surface tissue: a pilot study in healthy subjects.” Explore, 2007. PubMed
• Ahn et al. “Comparative Effects of Facial Roller and Gua Sha Massage on Facial Contour, Muscle Tone, and Skin Elasticity: Randomized Controlled Trial.” Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2025. PubMed