How Learning Gua Sha Changed My Career

I often say that Gua Sha found me and honestly, it couldn’t be more true.

Before I became a facialist, I spent over 10 years in a corporate role, all while struggling with persistent acne. No matter what I tried, nothing truly helped until I made a conscious decision to put myself first. I changed my diet, shifted my mindset, and began prioritising my health and wellbeing. That’s when my skin started to heal, not just on the surface but from the inside out.

I had always loved facials, but back then, very few therapists were doing anything I felt was truly natural. There were reflexologists and aromatherapists, yes, but the facial world seemed saturated with products and protocols that felt harsh and overcomplicated. Many facialists were using skincare I didn’t resonate with, often stripping the skin instead of healing it.

My first step into the world of holistic skincare was a facial training with one of the first truly raw, vegan skincare brands, Raw Gaia. It was a totally different approach, and I absolutely loved it. That experience inspired me to pursue professional qualifications, beginning with VTCT Level 2, and eventually going all the way up to Level 4. If you're serious about treating the skin (and not just offering massage or Gua Sha as a trend), I can’t recommend proper training enough. It’s foundational.

Alongside skincare, I’ve always been drawn to crystals and energy work, and I wanted to incorporate that into my facials too. Around that time, I attended the Natural Organic Products Exhibition, where I stumbled upon a talk about Gua Sha. It immediately piqued my interest, the technique, the history, the results. I knew there was something special about it.

A few weeks later, on holiday, I found a quartz Gua Sha tool in a small local shop, heart shaped and calling out to me. I bought it instantly and began researching how I could learn more. That’s when I discovered a training led by a semi retired Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor in Maida Vale. It was one of those moments that changes everything, even though you don’t realise it at the time.

That training marked the beginning of something extraordinary. Gua Sha transformed not only my treatments but also my business. It gave my facials a new level of purpose, depth and results and clients could feel it. My facial practice began to flourish in ways I hadn’t imagined.

Gua Sha didn’t just change my skincare toolkit.
It helped me reconnect to the body, the fascia, the energy, and to my deeper purpose.