After three years of struggling with infertility, I had another long day of crying this week. The next morning, I posted a video using my beloved facial ice roller to calm down the swelling. Then it occurred to me that I’ve never actually done a post about skin icing for some strange reason.
It’s one of my very favorite routines, I’m actually SO obsessed with it. I don’t know how I’ve never mentioned it! Anyway, here is everything I know about skin icing and why I think you should definitely be doing it!
Benefits Of Skin Icing
So what are the benefits of skin icing? Besides killing acne-causing bacteria and lessening irritation, icing calms swelling and inflammation within the skin. It can help fight the formation of wrinkles, promote blood circulation, and promote lymphatic drainage and detoxification.
It’s the easiest, cheapest and most effective way to de-puff your under eye area. Feeling a cystic acne breakout coming on? Skin icing can kill that sucker before it has a chance to break through to the surface, and without drying out the surrounding skin.
How Does It Work?
If you haven’t gotten on board with this trend, also known as cryotherapy, now is the time. So how does it work? Skin icing works by causing the blood vessels to constrict, but then, when the icing is over, the body sends a rush of blood to the surface of the skin to speed healing.
This rush of nourishing blood also causes tightening of the skin and gives you a nice rosy glow. It’s also the QUEEN of toners. Who needs liquid toners when you can get your skin to be as smooth as glass from simply icing your face before you put on your foundation in the morning? Trust me, your skin will never look as smooth as if you ice roll before you do your makeup.
Tried And True
Ice isn’t anything new. If you’ve ever put cold cucumbers on your eyelids or used an icepack after an injury to heal faster, then you already know how well it works. Personally, I never really thought to use it on my face until I had an IPL treatment at the dermatologist.
After the hot lasers had damaged my skin to stimulate healing, they had me use an ice roller on my face for 10 minutes, and it was HEAVENLY. So, how can you bring this doctor-approved method to your own freezer?
How To Ice Roll Like A Pro
It’s super easy! Amazon sells ice rollers for about 10 bucks. You can store the roller in the freezer in a ziplock container until you’re ready to use it. I love to apply a little facial oil or beauty balm prior to facial icing, but you can do it on dry skin as well. Just be sure to wash your face first!
Just take the roller out of the freezer and gently roll it upwards onto clean skin for about 5- 10 minutes. After a while, the roller will begin to warm up (usually after about 10 minutes) so if you’re not a fan of setting a timer, don’t worry. The temperate itself is kind of a built-in timer. After you’re finished icing, just be sure to sanitize your ice roller with some alcohol and let it dry before putting it back into the freezer for later use.
Don’t want to buy something extra to keep in your freezer? That’s ok! Plain old ice works just as well. Just wrap an ice cube in a washcloth or dish towel, so that your fingers don’t freeze, and glide it gently over your face for several minutes.
An Ice Facial At Home
Breakouts? You can hold the ice or the roller in place for a few seconds, up to a minute at a time, to concentrate the healing power of the ice in that area. Puffy eyes? The roller works like a dream! Just be sure to follow up with a moisturizer, acne treatment, serum, or eye cream after your treatment! After all, you basically just gave yourself a free ice facial at home. You may as well make the most of it!
I really hope you’ll give skin icing a chance if you’ve never tried it. It’s such a simple thing to add into your routine, but it makes a WORLD of difference!
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