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Have you ever wondered how we’ve developed skincare and beauty routines over thousands of years? Beauty rituals aren’t just something we developed in the last 50 years, they’ve always been popular and through the ages people have been searching for that ‘glow up’

That’s why we are so excited about recently becoming a Mount Lai stockist, a proudly Asian female owned brand who themselves have taken their roots from traditional chinese medicine. They take a wonderful modern approach to ancient skincare rituals and the range is beautifully presented; perfect for gifting.

Who is Mount Lai?

Mount Lai was inspired by founder Stephanie Zheng’s grandmother, who has been jade rolling and practicing gua sha for over fifty years. Her grandmother treated her skincare routine as a breath of calmness in her busy life. A daily ritual, an act of self care which in turn inspired Stephanie to formulate her own collection of beauty products.

As Stephanie says’ To me, skincare is a form of self-care. It’s a way to carve out time for yourself in your busy schedule, a way to decompress from the day.’ and we couldn’t agree more.

What are the benefits of gua sha and what is it?

In layman terms ‘Gua’ means scrape, and ‘Sha’ means sand. It is a treatment that involves scraping tools over the skin in order to promote tissue drainage. Puffy eyes? This is for you! 

Need a lift? This is definitely for you! Mount Lai boasts specialist tools you can use everyday and we think they are pretty special!

If you are new to gua sha then you’re probably thinking why you would benefit from it where to start, am I right?

As previously mentioned, gua sha is the practice of scraping tools over your face but why do you need to do this?

• It promotes circulations - the tools help to stimulate blood flow in the face which in turn promotes healthier-looking skin and sends the brain a message to send blood to that area. This is why after you’ve used one of the tools you’re face will not only look plumper but it will feel plump and fresh too. 
• It reduces puffiness - we love this quality. Using the tools will drain any excess fluid around your face and help you feel less puffy.
• It can improve wrinkles - the tools help the muscles in your face relax and which results in firmer-looking skin.

Gua Sha tools

In order to practice gua sha properly, you need the right tools and what’s so interesting is the number of different ones you can choose from but you’ll be pleased to know they aren’t overly complicated to use. They come in all sorts of shapes and often different stones which have different qualities and their main use is to scrape over your skin.  Mount Lai have an amazing range of gua sha tools and we’ve decided to stock a few of them.

So that you can choose what will be best for you let’s break the Mount Lai tools down:

The Rose Quartz De-Puffing Eye Massage Tool

Intentionally crafted for the delicate eye area, the Mount Lai de-puffing massage tool is the perfect way to remove excess fluid from around your eyes.

Ideal customer: Anyone looking to reduce puffiness around the eye area.

It’s simple to use and if you are interested in stone properties you will love the Rose quartz. Rose quartz has calming properties and is known for aiding meditation and reflection. It is known as the stone of love.

We like to use ours after we’ve applied eye cream and gently sliding the tool under the eye starting from the inner corner, out to the temple. Trust us when we say, you will feel awake and brightened after using this tool!

The Gua Sha Lifting Tool

A must-have for any beauty ritual, the Gua Sha lifting tool is a game-changer! It not only promotes lymphatic drainage which results in firmer skin, but it also relieves facial tension and can help relax the muscles that contribute to wrinkles.

Ideal customer: Anyone looking for firmer, radiant and youthful skin. 

Another benefit to this product is that we stock a variety of stones, ranging from Rose quartz to Jade and Amethyst so you can look into which suits your personality best. For example, the Jade stone has natural cooling properties and is known as the stone of eternal youth but the Amethyst stone is stress-relieving alongside promoting clarity and relaxation.

To use the tool, start with a serum or oil and then scrape it upwards and around the face. Each tool comes with detailed instructions to give you a helping hand as well.

In Summary

When it comes to ultimate self-care at home, we can’t recommend the Mount Lai tools enough. They not only look pretty, but they also promote so many health benefits including toning, firming, lifting, brightening alongside reducing inflammation, puffiness and dark circles which make them our go-to beauty product to add into our daily routine. What is your favourite ancient beauty ritual? We’d love to know how you keep looking youthful and look after your skin.

To celebrate being totally potty about plants, and with hopes of keeping all plants alive we thought we'd share our favourite plant lover accounts and a few accessories you can find at Poppie Snow to help you bring nature indoors.