Gua sha looks deceptively simple. Pick up the stone, move it across your face a few times, done. And that's where a lot of people go wrong.
The technique actually matters. Stroke in the wrong direction and you're working against the direction the practice traditionally follows. Use too much pressure and you can cause skin irritation rather than a pleasant, considered massage. Skip the oil and you risk friction damage to the skin surface. None of these mistakes are catastrophic, but they do mean you'll get less from the practice, and might write it off as overhyped before giving it a real chance.
This guide covers what you need: tool and oil, the direction and angle conventions, a step-by-step sequence, pressure guidelines, and the common mistakes worth avoiding. By the end, you'll have a clear, repeatable ritual that takes about 5 to 10 minutes.
Kōzōn products are cosmetics intended for topical use. The instructions below describe a skincare ritual; they are not medical advice. If you have a skin concern, consult a qualified healthcare provider.
Before You Start: What You Need
You need two things: a gua sha tool and a face oil or serum.
The tool. Facial gua sha tools come in several materials, including rose quartz, jade, and amethyst. For the face, you want a tool with a curved edge that fits the contour of your jaw and cheekbone, and a notched or concave edge for the neck. Our Amethyst Face Gua Sha is shaped specifically for facial use. Amethyst has a slightly textured surface that gives good contact with skin and tends to stay naturally cool during use, which many people appreciate first thing in the morning. It is also more durable than rose quartz, which can chip or shatter if dropped.
The oil or serum. This is non-negotiable, and the next section explains why. A lightweight face oil works best, something that feels comfortable on the skin rather than sitting heavy on the surface. Our Etesian Face Oil, a blend of ozonated apricot kernel oil, frankincense, and cistus, provides the glide the tool needs without feeling slick.
Optional but useful: a clean towel nearby for any excess oil, and a mirror during the first few sessions until the movements feel natural.
The Most Important Rule: Never Use Gua Sha on Dry Skin
If there's one thing to take from this guide, it's this: gua sha on dry skin causes friction. The tool drags against the surface, and repeated friction on the face can leave skin looking irritated afterwards. It's the same reason you would not shave dry skin.
A face oil solves this by creating the slip the tool needs to glide smoothly across the skin. The massage ritual itself also gives the oil more time on the skin than a quick fingertip application would, and many people find the tool helps them apply it more evenly.
Apply your oil before you pick up the tool. Three to five drops is usually enough for a full face and neck. Warm it between your palms first, press it gently into the skin, then begin.
If you want to go deeper on pairing technique, we've written more on how to use gua sha with face oil.
Direction: The Convention of the Practice
Direction is what separates gua sha from just moving a stone across your face.
The convention is simple: upward and outward across the face, downward on the neck. The upward-and-outward pattern on the face follows the natural lift of the cheekbone and jawline. The downward motion on the neck follows the direction toward the collarbone. This is the direction the tradition has settled on, and it is also the direction that feels most pleasant when you try it, the tool contours naturally along the bone structure rather than fighting it.
A few technique details worth knowing:
- Angle: Hold the tool at roughly 15 to 30 degrees to the skin surface. Think nearly flat, not perpendicular. A steep angle concentrates contact into a narrow edge and can feel uncomfortable. A flatter angle distributes the contact and feels much better.
- Strokes: Each stroke should be deliberate and smooth, not rushed. Repeat each stroke 3 to 5 times in the same area before moving to the next.
- Pace: Slow is better. Fast strokes tend to feel shallow and hurried. A slower stroke is part of what makes the ritual feel grounding rather than rushed.
Step-by-Step Gua Sha Routine
Work bottom to top: always start with the neck, which opens the ritual the way the tradition describes. Many people find this warm-up helpful for getting the whole face to feel ready before the more detailed work on the cheeks and under-eye.
The full routine takes 5 to 10 minutes.
Step 1: Cleanse Your Face
Before anything else, start with a clean face. Oil applied over sunscreen or makeup residue will not sit comfortably on the skin, and you don't want to be massaging the day's buildup into your skin. A simple rinse or gentle cleanser is enough.
Step 2: Apply Face Oil
Apply 3 to 5 drops of your face oil, Etesian Face Oil or equivalent, to your palms, press briefly to warm, then apply to your face and neck using gentle pressing motions. You want even coverage across the neck, jawline, cheeks, under-eye area, and forehead.
Step 3: Neck (Start Here Always)
This is the step most beginners skip. Don't.
Use the notched or concave edge of your tool along the side of the neck. Unlike the face, where you move upward and outward, on the neck you move downward, from just below the ear, sweeping down toward the collarbone.
Three to five strokes on each side of the neck. Use light pressure; the skin on the neck is sensitive.
Step 4: Jawline
Use the curved inner edge of your tool. Position it at the chin, angled flat against the jawbone, and sweep outward toward the ear.
This stroke follows the jawline, you are not going under the chin, you are tracing the bone from chin to earlobe. The jaw is a common area where people report carrying tightness at the end of a long day, and this stroke tends to feel pleasant once you find the right angle.
Three to five strokes, then switch to the other side before moving on.
Step 5: Cheeks
Start at the side of the nose and sweep outward and upward toward the hairline, following the natural lift direction of the cheekbone. The broad flat edge of the tool works well here.
The goal is to cover the entire cheek, so you may use two or three slightly different start positions (lower cheek, mid-cheek, upper cheek) to cover the area thoroughly. Three to five strokes per position, per side.
The cheek zone is the area where the 2025 randomized controlled trial on gua sha observed the most visible appearance differences, a subtle but measurable change after consistent use. (We've gathered that research in a labeled section on the gua sha benefits article for readers who want to look at it directly.)
Step 6: Under-Eye Area
This is the most delicate zone. Use the smallest, most curved edge of your tool, and lighten your pressure substantially. The skin under the eye is thin; you do not need significant pressure here.
Start at the inner corner of the eye, just below the lash line, and sweep very gently outward toward the temple. Keep the tool nearly flat, almost parallel to the skin.
Three to five strokes per eye. If it feels uncomfortable at any point, ease off the pressure further.
Step 7: Forehead
Use the flat edge of the tool. Start at the eyebrow and sweep upward toward the hairline. You can work in sections, center, then moving outward toward each temple, to cover the full width of the forehead.
The forehead tolerates slightly more pressure than the under-eye area, but still: light to medium is plenty. You're not trying to push into the skull. The goal is surface contact with the skin.
Three to five strokes per section.
Step 8: Finishing Strokes
Return to the neck for a few final downward strokes on each side. This closes the ritual the same way it opened.
You can also do a few gentle passes along the sides of the face, from temple to neck, as a finishing sweep.
How Much Pressure to Use
Light to medium. That's it.
A useful test: if it hurts, you are pressing too hard. Gua sha should not be painful. You're not trying to dig into muscle the way a deep-tissue massage therapist might, you're working at the level of skin, and skin responds better to gentle, consistent contact than aggressive pressure.
This surprises people who assume more pressure means more results. It does not. Excess pressure can cause the appearance of bruising, broken capillaries, and irritation, without providing any additional benefit.
If you've seen images of gua sha leaving dramatic red marks on the back, that is a traditional body practice used for very different purposes on thicker, more resilient tissue. Facial gua sha is an entirely different ritual. You should not; and should not want to, leave marks on your face.
One exception: the jawline, if you carry tightness there, can tolerate slightly more pressure than other zones. But "slightly more" still means you're a long way from anything that causes discomfort.
How Often to Do It
Three to five times per week is a reasonable starting point for most people. Daily is fine if your skin tolerates it well. Less frequent, once or twice a week, still provides the sensory and ritual value of the practice, though any cumulative appearance difference tends to build more slowly.
The key is consistency over intensity. A relaxed 5-minute session four times a week tends to be more enjoyable and more sustainable than a forceful 20-minute session once a week.
We've covered this in more detail in our guide on how often to use gua sha.
Caring for Your Gua Sha Tool
Clean your tool after every use. Stone is porous, and residue from skin and oil can accumulate on the surface if the tool is not washed regularly.
Wash with mild soap and warm water, rinse thoroughly, and dry completely before storing. Don't submerge for extended periods or use harsh chemical cleaners, these can degrade the surface of natural stone over time.
Store somewhere it won't get knocked around. Amethyst is more impact-resistant than rose quartz, but all natural stone will chip if it hits a hard surface at the wrong angle.
If you enjoy an extra-cool touch, especially in the morning, you can refrigerate or briefly chill the tool before use. Avoid freezing, extreme cold can cause microfractures in stone over time.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Skipping the oil. Already covered, but worth repeating, this is the most common and most damaging error. Always oil first.
Going in the wrong direction. Downward strokes on the face work against the convention of the practice and tend to feel less pleasant. The tradition is upward and outward on the face, downward on the neck.
Using too much pressure. Results don't scale with force. Ease off if you're pressing hard.
Rushing. Fast strokes are superficial strokes. Slow down.
Starting at the face instead of the neck. The tradition opens with the neck. Start there.
Inconsistent practice. Doing it once won't tell you much. The effects that many people describe build over weeks of regular use, not after a single session. Give the ritual a month of consistent practice before you evaluate it.
Using a broken or chipped tool. A chip creates a sharp edge that can scratch the skin. Inspect your tool before each use. If it's damaged, retire it.
The Bottom Line
Gua sha is a simple practice once you understand the fundamentals: always oil first, always move upward and outward on the face and downward on the neck, use light pressure, and start at the neck. The step-by-step sequence, neck, jawline, cheeks, under-eye, forehead, finishing neck strokes, takes about 5 to 10 minutes and fits comfortably into a morning or evening routine.
What the research actually supports about gua sha is covered in more depth in our gua sha benefits article. The short version: consistent practice has been associated with modest, measurable appearance differences. Expect modest and you'll be satisfied.
If you're starting from scratch, the Etesian Face Oil & Gua Sha Set includes both tools together. Or if you already have a face oil you enjoy, the Amethyst Face Gua Sha on its own is where to start.
This article is for informational purposes only. Kōzōn products are cosmetics intended for topical use and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or condition.
Formulated and written by Szilvia Szuts, Founder Last updated: April 2026