French women are known for their effortless beauty. They tend to have amazing skin and tiny waistlines despite all of the decadent food, wine, and amazing champagne.  One might wonder how they can appear so youthful and perfect while indulging in such luxuries. To answer this, we decided to discover the French beauty secrets from Gloria Salinas – Walch, a professional beautician and make-up artist in Hong-Kong. She spilled some pretty great info.

Facial Massage

Slimming the Face, Erasing Eye Bags and Reducing Dark Circles; Who doesn’t want these things?! Gloria suggests a facial massage as part of an effective French beauty routine to reduce the appearance of aging. This is due to the lymphatic drainage technique which releases lymph that can lead to puffiness, eye bags, dark circles, headaches, and even sinus congestion. All it takes is a few minutes of gentle massage movements with your fingers and hands to reap the rewards.

Beginning at the middle of your face in between the eyes, gently press and move your hands towards the lower ears and jawline. Gradually slide your palms from your ears to your neck, continuing until you reach your collarbone. Repeat this routine for 3-5 minutes.

Diminish Your Folds With a Pinch

Yep, you heard that right. Gloria is a staunch supporter of the pinching technique known as “Pincement Jacquet”. This procedure, originally devised by a French doctor in the 1930s to treat scars and war wounds, has become part of the beauty world. Gloria affirms that the facial pinching technique can reduce puffiness, bags, and wrinkles. This is achieved by stimulating the skin tissue which produces heat that repairs and regenerates. The pinching process energizes the cells in the skin, allowing for more effective absorption of beauty products.

It is suggested to take five to ten minutes to pinch the skin in the areas around the mouth, between the eyes, crows feet, forehead and other areas of wrinkles using your thumb and index or middle finger. Begin with gentle pinches and gradually increase the pressure. Even if you only have a minute to pinch your face before skincare, it will still be beneficial and help your skin care penetrate the skin.

Drink Your Wrinkles Away

In order to combat wrinkles, our French beauty expert shared the importance of hydration through drinking more water. Our bodies are similar to grapes and raisins, as the lack of water will cause us to wrinkle. To make it easier to drink water, one suggestion is to add lemon or mint to it. Not only does this make it more appealing, but it also provides various health benefits.

Maintaining a healthy diet is also essential to having healthy-looking, clear skin. Eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, reducing processed foods, cutting out sugar and generally eating a clean diet can help improve the look of skin and reduce the formation of wrinkles. We know, no one wants to kiss sugar goodbye. But these dietary changes can be very beneficial in preventing wrinkles.

Strengthen Your Body.. With a Shower

Gloria’s next trick to getting a stunning French look is massage and cold showers for a more defined legs and stomach. Begin by taking your typical shower with warm water to open up your skin’s pores. While your skin is still wet, massage your chosen oil, (like coconut or cocoa), with circular motions up and down your thighs and abdomen. The oils will sink further into the skin and hydrate at the same time. To finish, take a brisk cold shower to rinse the oil, dead skin cells and any dirt off your body. The cold water will firm the skin and improve your blood flow, so you can step out of the shower with an even more toned physique.

Stop Exfoliating So Much

Gloria says the most frequent mistake made has a negative effect on our complexion. She said that it is “Too much exfoliation!”. Most of her customers actually boast about exfoliating 2 or 3 times a week, which is more than the optimal amount for most skin types. Exfoliation is a necessary component of our skincare regimen, but it should not be done more frequently than once per week. She explains that too much exfoliating can create a cycle that ends in more acne and recommended replacing this with face pinching to help the skin become smoother and more luminous.