How can you improve your mature skin routine without invasive methods, but with facial massages, brushing and facial training that results in sharper contours and fewer wrinkles? We met Natalie Herzlieb Bren from Clean Beauty Concept who has come up with a new, yet traditional method.
IRMA: How did you come up with the idea of a clean skin care and rejuvenation concept?
NATALIE HERZLIEB BREN: It started in 1999 at L’Oreal Deluxe, followed by 20 years of collaboration with various international manufacturers and brands in the beauty industry and years of close collaboration with one of Austria’s leading dermatologists – Dr Hajnal Kiprov.
The search for a natural alternative to botox & fillers and a more holistic approach to beauty and wellbeing led me to create my own beauty brand. I am creating a clean and organic skincare line made in Austria that is uncompromising in its ingredients, efficacy and packaging, and have developed holistic beauty rituals that combine the effects of ancient knowledge from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
The deep relaxation of the facial massage makes worry lines disappear. Just a few minutes a day is enough to achieve a visible and long-lasting rejuvenating effect. Gua Sha is my favourite self-massage tool and I use it every day.
IRMA: How important are your workshops and why are they such a big part of your business?
NATALIE HERZLIEB BREN: We offer Gua Sha & Glow Cupping workshops for your daily facelift. I think it’s important to follow a protocol to make sure you get the most out of your practice and don’t do any harm. For example, skipping the neck. The neck is like the superhighway to the face. In other words, facial gua sha won’t work if you don’t treat the neck as well. Or holding the Gua Sha tool incorrectly, applying the wrong pressure in the wrong places…
You will learn valuable self-care and anti-aging techniques, as well as mindful practices for stress relief and inner peace. I’ll teach you all the details and most effective rituals to give yourself a natural facelift and achieve a youthful, healthy, glowing face. Gua Sha keeps over 40 facial muscles fit and healthy. The skin is directly connected to the muscles. Remember: sagging muscles = sagging skin.
In this 90 minute workshop you will learn how to properly perform a complete Gua Sha & Face Yoga ritual:
The practice stimulates meridians, acupressure points and both the circulatory and lymphatic systems to promote a healthier body and immune system. You’ll lift your spirits and revitalise your entire body.
Use your brushes in the same order. I always start in the morning with the brush, then the gua sha and finish with the ice spoon before applying my skincare products.
IRMA: You have optimised your Gua Sha shape tools, can you tell us a little bit about them?
NATALIE HERZLIEB BREN: Our award-winning, patented facial Gua Sha tools are designed to lift, sculpt, tone and de-puff the skin – inspired by Traditional Chinese Medicine. The NO-TOX FACIAL GUA SHA, for example, is a tool that combines the most effective and powerful shapes and edges in one special, luxurious tool. It has been designed for even more sculpting and lifting benefits with two special edges to ‘erase’ wrinkles and naturally plump up the lip volume.
We have a tool especially for the eyes & lips: The EYE & LIP THERAPY GUA SHA is great for the eye area as it is small, handy and gets into all the right areas around the eyes. The tip is particularly good for acupressure points. The special comb edge works on lines and wrinkles – even around the lips. The head of the Gua Sha is perfect for reducing swollen or heavy eyelids and loose skin around the eyes.
All our tools are handmade from bian stone.
IRMA: What is the main massage of your product?
NATALIE HERZLIEB BREN: Skincare rituals that visibly lift, plump, tone and sculpt the skin.
Clean Beauty Concept works with the most natural rejuvenation methods in the world: Gua Sha massage for face & body, Glow cupping for face & body, dry brushing for the face, silk dry brushing for the body and cryotherapy. All designed for home use.
IRMA: Tell me about the face brushing. I have been doing it for six weeks now and would not want to miss it in my morning routine.
NATALIE HERZLIEB BREN: We know about dry brushing for the body, but it can work wonders for the face too.
From boosting radiance to refining skin texture, the benefits are endless.
Dry brushing with our super gentle facial brushes is a quick, effective morning workout to refresh and prepare skin for the day, and you can see a visible difference. The main benefit of dry brushing is that it gently exfoliates, increases blood flow to the skin and can also help with a sluggish lymphatic system, helping to de-puff the face. Our Glow Brushes with natural goat hair bristles are so soft that you can even brush your delicate eye area. Regular brushing helps reduce dark circles and puffiness around the eyes. They are also suitable for sensitive skin, including couperose.
IRMA: When is the best time to use the Ice Spoon?
NATALIE HERZLIEB BREN: I recommend using it in the morning to wake up your skin. It’s like rubbing an ice cube on your face without the mess. The cooling ice cubes work by constricting the blood vessels, tightening and firming the skin. They work very well on the eye area, especially if you have dark circles or puffiness. They minimise inflammation or puffiness, aid lymphatic drainage, reduce redness and pore size, and improve circulation, helping to give the skin a radiant glow.
A 3-5 minute ice massage is sufficient.
IRMA: How can I get the most out of my Gua Sha Massage Stone?
NATALIE HERZLIEB BREN: Your Path to Transformation: 21 Days of Gua Sha Massage.
Why 21 days?
Our muscles have a memory and it is said that it takes 21 days for a new behaviour to become a habit.
The facial muscles are like little elastic bands under the skin. As we get older, they lose their elasticity, causing the facial skin to sag. This sagging is most noticeable around the eyes, mouth and chin.
Kinesiologists have shown that each muscle can be reprogrammed to accept its tone. The face has over forty muscles just below and connected to the surface of the skin. As we age, the muscles tend to stretch (lengthen). By re-energising the muscles with Gua Sha or Glow Cupping, improved muscle tone is achieved.
IRMA: Why is bian so much more effective than rose quartz?
NATALIE HERZLIEB BREN: We use authentic Bian Stone of the highest quality for our Gua Sha tools because of its powerful healing and rejuvenating properties. Bian Stone has been used as a healing stone in Traditional Chinese Medicine for thousands of years. It’s the original stone for Gua Sha.
Numerous studies confirm the effects of Bian Stone:
– When it comes into contact with the skin, it emits ultrasonic pulses that stimulate blood circulation and rejuvenate cells.
– Its unique oscillation rate generates infrared radiation, which accelerates the regeneration of cell tissue, drains toxins and improves skin texture.
– Bian Stone generates approximately 3 times more impulses than the jade and rose quartz commonly used in gua sha tools.
The Bian Stone Gua Sha is larger than traditional Gua Sha stones and also thicker and therefore much heavier, making it a very luxurious tool for the skin.
IRMA: What is the next tool in your Clean Beauty concept?
NATALIE HERZLIEB BREN: The next launch will be a ritual for self-massage of the scalp meridians, where pressure is applied to specific points on the head for hair growth, increased hair vitality and relaxation. Scalp massage increases hair thickness, improves circulation and stimulates faster hair growth. It’s a scalp massage with a specially designed Gua Sha tool that helps increase blood flow and relieve tension.