Beauty
April 7, 2015
Episode 15: Let's Train Those Lazy Pores (Part 3)
Lesson 15: Let's Train Lazy Pores (Part 3)
photo by FUKUDA Emikoedit & text by SOMEYA Harumi
Your Décolletage: The Key to True Beauty
The area from your neck to your chest is called the décolletage. And this is a part of the body that easily reveals your age. Look in the mirror. Do you see dullness or wrinkles? If so, your pores are in a state of laziness. Therefore, let's care for this area with a spoon, too.
First, pat your neck. Since it's a large area, use a larger spoon. Tilt your chin up slightly, extend your neck, and then, just like patting your face, use a flick of the wrist to pat, pat, pat. Aim for about 100 taps. Don't forget the area under your chin, where sagging tends to occur.
Tapping 100 times is what's known as the 'neck hundred-tap' method. Women in the past, when wearing kimonos, placed great importance on neck care. Kimonos beautifully accentuate the neck. In fact, there was a time when a woman wasn't considered beautiful if her neck wasn't lovely. Even a beautiful face wouldn't suffice! So, they would pat their necks to enhance their beauty. The desire to be beautiful is the same now as it was then.
Now, let's move on to the jawline. Use the same large spoon, but instead of tapping, we'll 'press and drain' the lymph. Start from under the tip of your chin and press along your jawline, moving upwards. The endpoint is the lymph nodes below your ears. Do this on both sides. This promotes blood and lymph circulation, firming up your jawline.
From under the chin, along the jawline, press upwards along the face
Targeted Care with a Stirrer
From below the ears down to the collarbones, we'll use a stirrer. If you don't have one, a small spoon will do, but a stirrer is more effective for stimulating the collarbone area, where waste products tend to accumulate. Plus, its long handle makes it very easy to use!
There are beauty lymph nodes in the hollow below your ears. Therefore, the path from there towards the beginning of your collarbone is a crucial point. Simply massaging with oil can bring transparency to your skin. So, we'll focus on stimulating this area with the stirrer. From the hollow below your ear towards your collarbone, glide the stirrer, pressing and draining the lymph, and finally, drain it all the way to the back of your shoulder. Even your hidden collarbones will emerge (laughs).
From below the ear, down the neck, to the start of the collarbone, along the collarbone, and then draining to the back of the shoulder – glide the stirrer in an L-shape.
A stirrer is also perfect for eye area care. Compared to other parts of the face like the cheeks, the skin around the eyes is one-third as thin. That's why wrinkles and dark circles easily form. Puffiness is also a concern, isn't it? In such cases, try this care. From below the inner corner of your eye, press and glide along the muscle flow towards your temple. Do the same for the area above your eyes. Afterwards, your lymph flow will improve, leaving you feeling refreshed. It also helps with eye strain. The area around the eyes is delicate and very small, making it difficult to press properly with your fingers. But with a stirrer, you can easily care for it.
Gently press from the inner corner towards the temple. As this is a delicate area, avoid rubbing.
The Mighty Spoon
The curved edge of a spoon fits not only the face but also various curves of the body. For example, the armpits, the backs of the knees, and the groin area. Lymph nodes are present in these areas. Therefore, a spoon is an indispensable tool. For the armpits and the backs of the knees, place the curved edge against the skin and sandwich it, then move your arm up and down, or your leg back and forth, to apply pressure. For the groin area, place the curved edge and press and drain from the center towards the hip bone.
Furthermore, the spoon can be used for 'inner' care. After a bath or applying a steamed towel, when your pores are open, if you hold the edge of the spoon at a right angle to areas like your nose where blackheads are a concern and glide it, the sebum accumulated in the pores will come out and can be scooped away. Imagine scooping ice cream. For rough areas below the lip, you can get a good scoop by inserting your tongue and puffing out your cheek.
Hold the edge of the spoon at a right angle to the side of the nose and gently glide towards the tip of the nose; sebum will adhere to the spoon.
Use plenty of toner.
After opening your pores to remove sebum, replenish moisture and close your pores with chilled toner from the refrigerator or an astringent toner. Then, press the areas of concern for blackheads with a chilled spoon to further tighten your pores.
As you can see, spoons can be used in many ways. They start to look like something else entirely (laughs).
By the way, a 'rubber spatula' is great for your back. When applying a mask, use the spatula to spread it like putty. Afterwards, use cotton soaked in carmine lotion, secured with a rubber band, and pat, pat, pat. A rubber spatula has just the right weight and snap for back care. We tend to neglect our backs because we can't see them, but others often notice them. Let's get them in shape for the summer when we'll be showing more skin.