Don’t want Botox? How a massage inside your mouth could be just as good (and Meghan is a fan!)

I lie on a treatment bed, with my mouth wide open, while a woman wearing latex gloves sniffs around my gums. At first my brain goes into ‘dental work’ mode and I grab the side of the bed, but within seconds I realize that the experience is quite pleasant.

I relax as the woman deftly kneads my cheeks and jawline on the inside and outside of my mouth.

I get an intra-oral (or buccal) massage with Abigail James, the facialist who has been treating countless actors, pop stars and models for more than twenty years. The concept has been around for a while, but it’s having a moment: the hashtag #buccalmassage is all over TikTok, while the Duchess of Sussex and Kate Moss are among its famous fans.

Buccal massage can help improve blood flow and elasticity to the lower part of the face and facilitate better lymphatic drainage to help reduce puffiness. Its current popularity is partly due to the fact that many midlife women are looking for natural alternatives to Botox, fillers and other adjustments.

I’m trying James’ new Rejuvology facial, which she launched nationally last year, training around 70 practitioners in the UK, with more to follow this year. The 60-minute session (which costs around £100 to £250 with James herself at her home clinic in Surrey) is a ‘non-invasive, non-surgical alternative to facelifts and other facial rejuvenation treatments’.

In addition to the buccal massage, my treatment includes craniosacral work, gua sha (a traditional Chinese practice in which a stone tool such as smooth jade is drawn over the skin), cupping (a small glass ‘cup’ is wiped over the face, sucking and while the skin twists – which sounds painful, but isn’t) and numerous facial massage techniques, some gentle, some firm.

It is surprisingly effective. I leave with skin that is less puffy but fuller (making lines less visible), a slightly firmer jawline, and cheekbones that seem to have traveled an inch north. ‘Facial massage will not produce the same results as Botox,’ warns James. But from my point of view it is certainly a credible alternative.

‘I’ve had an increasing number of clients over 40 who are starting to see their faces age but don’t want to go down the injectables route,’ says James. ‘Then there are those who have tried injectables but didn’t like them. While there has been an increase in the number of younger women getting adjustments, there has been a slowdown when it comes to older women.”

The Duchess of Sussex, pictured with Prince Harry last month, is among the famous fans

One of the reasons, according to James, is that the more open conversation about menopause and aging these days means that many women are more accepting of physical changes and no longer see wrinkles as the enemy.

Sophie Perry, author of The natural facelift (£12.99, HarperCollins), provides facial massage to therapists and started her career as an assistant to aesthetic doctors. At the age of 21, she was persuaded by a colleague to have lip filler done. She was told it would disappear within 12 months – instead it migrated, looked terrible and she eventually had it removed six years later. The experience has made her swear off invasive beauty treatments both personally and professionally.

Perry’s book is subtitled Shape your face at home in just five minutes a day. Real? Will a DIY facial massage and facial exercises make a difference?

“You’ll see immediate results because it improves blood flow and reduces water retention,” she says. Then there’s the longer-term impact: ‘Your muscles have a memory, so doing exercises to contract them and adding some massage will help your face look lifted and defined.’ There’s more: Stress is often etched on our faces, so when we build a five-minute facial massage into our daily routine, it becomes a self-care ritual. Check out some of Perry’s techniques below.

The key is consistency. “There is a cumulative effect with facial massage,” says James. ‘It’s like going to the gym: once is fun, but you will benefit from coming more often.’

“Try it yourself, five minutes a day for two weeks,” says Perry. ‘See the difference it makes.’ So I do – and it does.

3 facial massages by Sophie Perry

For the mouth and jaw

• Using a facial oil or cream, work with the same hand and same side of your face (right hand with right side), using the other hand for light chin support.
• Massage in circular motions along the jaw, starting at the chin and ending at your ear, concentrating the pressure on lifting up and not pulling down. Use medium pressure with your finger pads. As you release the tension above the jawline, allow the thumb to follow lightly underneath.
• Repeat this up to 8 times before switching sides.

For marionette pleats (the pleats that run vertically down from the corners of your mouth up to your chin)

• Place your finger pads on your chewing muscles (they’re on either side of your jaw – the big one you use for chewing).
• Lift the skin slightly, pull it towards the ears and keep it taut.
• Blow air out of your mouth ten times, as if you were blowing out a candle, making an O with your mouth each time.
• Repeat 20 times.

For between the eyebrows

• Use the lengths of your middle and index fingers and place them along both eyebrows, leaving a space in the middle.
• Apply very light pressure to both eyebrows and try to frown, resisting with your fingers to prevent wrinkles from forming.
• Hold for 3 seconds. Repeat 20 times.

To book a Rejuvology treatment, go to abigailjames.online/clinic-finder