Can you get a v-shape face naturally with face cupping?

Almost every night since my 28th birthday, I have been relying on my FOREO Bear. Though it performed well, I was tired of charging it and needed to find a tech-free alternative that I could bring with me on my frequent travels. I had been seeing people share their reviews on face cupping on social media and had been curious about trying it for myself. Before I went to check out, I dove into the TikTok rabbit hole to see how the girls cupped their faces. By seeing their lifted faces and glowing skin, I was sold. 

Although I tried cupping for my body, I was quite nervous to try this on my face since I usually get circular bruises on my back, which stay on for a week. As someone who loves Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), I was keen on try face cupping in place of gua sha (which is more familiar islandwide) as the latter would require me to use more energy to scrape my skin to promote lymphatic drainage. Though not many face cupping services are provided in Singapore, the benefits are similar to gua sha according to entrepreneur Cheryl Wee, the founder of a facial and wellness spa Cheryl W, which offers gua sha treatments. 

Like gua sha, Wee explains that "Face cupping can brighten skin, decrease puffiness, stimulate cells responsible for collagen production and promote lymphatic drainage”. As someone who suffers from acne and stress, this persuaded me to try face cupping for two weeks to see if it improve my complexion.

Week 1

My skin was a mess thanks to the maskne on my chin and lack of proper sleep. I was also racking up a lot of screen time, which left my skin dull thanks to the blue light exposure from my devices. No matter how many times I applied my serums, masks and moisturisers, my skin still looked dull whenever I woke up. 

While I was using my FOREO Bear as religiously as I could, my cheeks still remain puffy. Even contouring bronzer didn't make much of a difference. According to social media, to achieve the V-cut jaw, I had to slide the cup across both sides of my jawline three times. Within a single swipe, I saw a difference that makeup and the FOREO couldn't provide. I repeated the process on my cheeks and browbones to achieve a Bella Hadid-esque sharp profile. 

After cupping, all the areas were mildly red. Wee explains that when some pressure is applied onto the skin, “blood flow around that area” is increased due to the amount of oxygen being generated during blood circulation. Out of all the areas of my face, my cheeks and jawline were immediately less puffy. 

Wee says, “The suction effect pulls blood into the area of skin underneath the cup. This saturates the surrounding tissue with fresh blood and promotes new blood vessel formation and increases the lymphatic drainage system.” 

I had no idea about lymphatic build-up, and was the reason why my cheeks and jaw had remained puffy. I was pleased with my results and my skin glowed immediately. However, the biggest concern I had was if it would help to improve my situation with acne.

While I repeated this routine three times for one week, I had minimal side effects compared to my first time trying out the kit prior to this experiment, where I had bruising that lasted for five days. Wee cautions that “bruising can occur if the cup is left in the same place for too long” and in order to prevent that, she says that I have to “keep the cup moving” as discolouration (i.e. bruising) can occur within five seconds. 

For those who are more sensitive to the sensations of cupping, Wee warns that you may experience temporary dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea and cold sweats. Thankfully, none of those things happened to me as I have a strong pain tolerance. 

Week 2 

It has been a few days since the Harry Styles concert, where I wore a layer of makeup and sweated a bucket. My cheekbones stayed contoured and my jawline remained V-like. Since I had been doing it for a week, my face also felt less oily as my skincare products were properly absorbed. Wee mentions that cupping my face would “improve nutrient delivery and product absorption”. This was indeed true as my skin felt velvety smooth instead of creamy and slippery.

TCM practitioners believed that acne is often caused by heat and dampness. Traditionally, Wee explains that acne treatment with cupping is done when “blood is removed by making small cuts in the skin” (a.k.a. wet cupping). In this case, I did mine via the dry cupping method (i.e. no incisions), then massaged the red areas on my cheeks, jawline and brow bone immediately after cupping. Though some mask-related pimples formed underneath my cheekbones, none of them grew bigger despite the application of cupping to my cheekbones. However, the biggest difference I experienced was having lightened acne scars compared to the first week. According to Wee, brightened skin would be one of the side effects of face cupping. A win is a win, indeed! 

During the experiment, the most noticeable asset was the plumpness of my skin. It felt bouncier compared to the start of the month. Wee explains that when I cupped, the tools “gently pull the skin away from deeper layers of fascia” to stimulate blood flow and “boost collagen production in the surrounding tissue” via new blood vessel formation underneath. After all, this was the secret to a “lifted” effect. 

Verdict

After two weeks, I successfully retained the benefits. Though it had yet to fully improve my acne, I was still pleased as I didn’t have any extremely angry cysts that would usually appear during my period. In spite of my hormonal breakout at the end of week two, I did not get too many breakouts in the areas where I would apply the cup. 

While I would use topical brightener serums to speed up the process of the acne scars, face cupping accelerated the skin cell turnover to brighten them up. Even when I wore makeup, the scars weren’t that terribly visible to the point where I had to apply layers of concealer.

Although face cupping will be offered in the near future at her mum’s spa Jean Yip Loft, Wee recommends a session a week for the first 10 facial cupping appointments, then maintenance appointments once a month. Since this experiment taught me that skincare benefits happen from the inside out, I would highly recommend face cupping to anyone who wants less invasive, yet instant results.