FutureDerm

Gemstone Rollers: Why I’m Not Drinking the Kool-Aid

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Gemstone rollers are the latest “must-have” item that’s trending in a beauty industry that is absolutely booming. In fact, ever since Kim Kardashian made it seem downright normal to go parading down the street in a hoodie, jeans, and primer, foundation, concealer, bronzer, contour, highlighter, powder, blush, eyeliner, false eyelashes, eyeshadow, and mascara, the cosmetics industry has made Millennial women buy 25 percent more cosmetics than women of older generations.

In similar fashion, industry gurus are trying to find ways for us skincare fanatics to buy more skincare products. Unfortunately, unlike with the instantly-gratifying effect of the right contouring product, skincare takes longer to work. And skincare add-ons, like micellar water, skin essence, and gemstone rollers, provide significantly less value than a great serum, moisturizer, or sunscreen.

That said, facial rollers aren’t without their fans. Jade facial rollers have been around as far back as seventh-century China, where the stone was believed to have healing and protective properties. Its proponents say that the stone and its massaging properties may help to fight wrinkles, aid with blood circulation to the face, assist in detoxification, decrease puffiness under eyes and around face, tighten the skin, and help to absorb moisturizers more fully.

As far as the science goes, there isn’t a lot of support for gemstone rollers, other than their massaging properties. And even then, the friction coefficient of a lot of gemstones is lower than that for a lot of other materials, indicating that there would be less frictional force rubbing against your skin than with, say, a plastic or rubber dermaroller. Further, a lot of the benefits come exclusively from massage, which “may help to fight wrinkles, aid blood circulation, assist in detoxification, decrease puffiness, tighten the skin, and help to absorb moisturizers.” Better to massage your face with your fingers, honestly.

The only benefit here is if you believe in the healing or energizing power of gemstones. (Hey, I’m not above buying a stone here or there to carry in my purse for luck!) That said, I would much rather invest my own money in ingredients that are proven to work — not these rollers.

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Nicki Zevola is the founder and editor-in-chief of FutureDerm.com. Named one of the top 30 beauty bloggers in the world by Konector.com since 2009, Nicki

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