Your friends rave about their favorite cryotherapy spots and gush about how much better they feel after their cryo sessions. You’ve seen cryotherapy and cryo facials on your favorite social media platforms, and every magazine cover at the store, but you really know nothing about what “cryo” actually is or what it can do. Honestly, it kind of sounds like something you do if you want to bypass the next 150 years and wake up in a new generation ala Captain America. No worries, love, we have everything you need to know about cryo facials, what they are, what they do, and how you can do them right in the comfort of your own home, without visiting an ice chamber or science lab.
What Are Cryo Facials?
Cryotherapy is simply a type of therapy that uses extremely low temperatures to treat certain conditions. When cryotherapy technology is used for your skin, it refers to either liquid nitrogen blasts against the skin to bring the skin’s temperature lower than it is naturally, or the use of another method of skin cooling which will bring about the same effect.
Due to the popularity of cryo facials, they’ve become incredibly expensive. You can expect to pay anywhere between $50-$140 for a single treatment, and it is typically recommended that you get another cryo facial every three to five weeks to maintain the results. You’ll also need to consider gratuity for the service provider into the cost, which is traditionally 20% of the total cost of the service. In addition to cost, the time it takes to get a cryo facial at a salon will be between 15-20 minutes.
During a typical cryo facial, your skin will be cleansed and dried. Then, liquid nitrogen will be blasted against your skin for a few minutes. After your treatment, you will be slathered in serums and sent on your way.
What Are the Benefits of Cryo Facials?
Cryo facials are a great way to get healthy skin benefits without the use of chemicals and peels. Especially when performed at home (without the use of liquid nitrogen), the benefits are surprisingly quantifiable.
At-home cryo facials use specialized, stainless steel rollers that are chilled in your freezer, and then rolled on the skin in a circular motion. You will also roll the edges of your face, like your temples, and your neck and lymph node areas to encourage lymphatic drainage.
Some of the benefits of cryo facials may impress you. Cryo facials can:
- Detoxify your skin. At-home cryo facial rollers can help your skin drain toxins. When skin is chilled to 45 degrees, it is able to increase micro-circulation, which in turn helps skin awaken its detoxification system and flush toxins away.
- Increase collagen production. The stimulation of the at-home cryo roller helps your skin produce more collagen, faster. Collagen is what plumps your skin, fills in tiny lines and wrinkles, and gives it an overall appearance of health and wellness. Increased collagen makes your skin look younger and healthier.
- Be sustainable. You may think an at-home facial roller will end up heating to your skin’s temperature instead of cooling your skin to the roller’s temperature, but that isn’t accurate. The stainless steel used on the at-home cryo roller is specially and specifically designed to hold it’s temperature while in use, so you get consistent cooling from your roller minutes after you’ve had it in use.
- Constrict your pores. If you’ve got large pores you’ve probably tried everything to get them to shrink down even a tiny bit. Besides being unsightly, larger pores are prone to clogging and acne. People who have larger pores also tend to produce more skin oil, which can result in breakouts or in overly oily skin texture. Cryo facial rolling constricts your pores, shrinking them back down to size and helping eliminate the buildup of excess oil and dirt that is normally swallowed up by larger pores.
- Help other skincare products penetrate more deeply. It’s essential to apply your most powerful serums and creams immediately before or after cryo rolling, as the tightening and constricting of the skin helps to pull the product deeply into the layers of the skin where it can be more effective. You’ll likely full more in love with your products when you use them in combination with cryo rolling, as the rolling tends to boost their ability to work for you.
- Relax facial muscles. If anyone has ever told you to stop scowling because you’ll get a wrinkle, they’re actually right. Facial tension can cause us to develop wrinkles like crow’s feet. Cryo rolling relaxes your facial muscles and helps relieve tension so you don’t experience unnecessary wrinkles and lines.
- Depuff eyes. If you wake up with puffy eyes, using a cryo roller at home can instantly de-puff them, smooth undereye skin, and help the buildup of undereye fluid drain more quickly and effectively. Additionally, cryo rolling will help you look more awake and alert, even if you haven’t had much sleep. You’ll also experience more undereye comfort and a feeling of skin tightness.
- Improve overall skin health and function. Cryo rolling at home can help your skin improve its overall level of health. In fact, you’ll likely notice your skin appears brighter, less puffy, and more invigorated when you begin using a cryo facial rolling technique on a regular basis. You’ll also be promoting healthy toxin cleansing as the facial rolling stimulates lymph nodes in the face and neck and can help them function more effectively and drain more quickly than they normally do.
Cryo facials are a safe, all-natural way to benefit your skin and help improve overall skin health and function without a lot of monetary investment. You can get the same great results that a professional salon cryo facial will benefit you by simply using a cryo facial roller at home. Cryo facials help reduce the signs of aging, eliminate toxin buildup, and tighten your skin, which can give your skin a healthier glow.