The short answer: Double cleanse (oil balm on dry skin first), exfoliate gently, steam for five to seven minutes, apply a facial oil, then cup — keeping the cup moving at all times — then mask, then eye balm, serum and moisturizer. The single rule that matters most: facial cupping and the body cupping that leaves circular bruises are not the same technique, and confusing them is how people hurt themselves.
Facial cupping vs the bruising kind
Start here, because this is the misconception Nikol goes out of her way to correct.
The cupping you have seen on athletes' backs — the rows of dark circles — is stagnant. The cup is placed and left, drawing blood into one spot deliberately. That is the point of it, and the bruising is expected.
Facial cupping is the opposite. You apply oil first specifically so the cup can glide, and you never stop moving. Nothing pools, nothing bruises. Nikol's warning is unambiguous: "if you stop this on your face, yes, you would have bruising, because it's pulling all the blood in one area."
What you are actually doing is moving lymph. Direction: outward and down, toward the ear and then down the neck, because that is where the lymph nodes are. The visible result is blood flow to the surface — a rosy, radiant look — along with toning and a more defined jawline. It is not new: cupping goes back to ancient Egypt.
Two rules for the eye area
- Stay below the orbital bone. Do not suction the delicate tissue under the eye itself.
- Do not drag around the eyes. Use the small, low-suction cup and squeeze-release in place — "squeeze, let go, squeeze, let go" — to bring blood flow without moving that skin. Nikol has seen people dragging cups around the eye on YouTube and says plainly she would not do it.
Who should not cup
"It goes without saying — if you have open lesions, or acne, or anything that is inflamed, do not use this. You have to have healthy skin to be doing this."
The full sequence
1. Set the room, because it is part of the treatment
This is not decoration. Nikol filmed this in April 2020, when nobody could get a facial, and the point of the ritual was to make an hour feel like an escape.
What she uses: candles, a Himalayan salt lamp, essential oils — lavender or rose — in the bath water, an aromatherapy mist sprayed into the shower steam, shower steamers for anyone who does not take baths, and classical music. Hair back with clips that do not crease it, and a headband.
2. Double cleanse — the first one on dry skin
The detail people get wrong: apply the oil or balm cleanser to completely dry skin with dry hands. "You don't put it on wet. Don't wet your hands." Water gets in the way of oil dissolving oil.
Work it in slowly and use the time as a facial massage — it lifts makeup, mascara and lipstick as it goes. Remove with a damp cloth. Then a second cleanser, cream or gel depending on your skin type, concentrating on the T-zone. Hers is a salicylic gel she has used for four years and returns to whenever testing products breaks her out.
And her aside, which applies to every step that follows: "your face does not end at your jawline. It ends at your décolleté." Everything here goes down the neck and chest too. The neck needs it more than the face does.
3. Exfoliate — lightly, briefly
Physical (granules) or chemical (an AHA, BHA, azelaic or fruit acid pad) both work. She uses a fine crystal microderm scrub, worked in circles with a barely damp fingertip, concentrated on the chin, nose and the forehead spots where pores get congested.
The part to internalize: "it's not about going hard on your skin, and harder is better, or if it hurts it's better. That's not true at all. It's your largest organ — you want to preserve it." Light touch. Problem areas only. Short.
One practical buying criterion nobody mentions: pick a scrub whose granules actually rinse off. "I've had so many where they just don't come off, they just keep going and going — it makes me crazy." If you are still finding grit under your moisturizer, the product is wrong.
If congested pores are your main concern, the dedicated version of this step is in the pore-clearing routine.
4. Steam, five to seven minutes
A small home steamer set far enough from your face that it is never uncomfortably hot.
Skip this step if you have rosacea or broken capillaries. Nikol is direct: "you don't want to aggravate the skin." Normal, oily and combination skin get the benefit. If redness is your issue, start with sensitive versus sensitized skin instead.
5. Oil — and the layering rule
Lightest to heaviest. Serums before moisturizers, always. The oil here has a second job: it is what lets the cup glide instead of grabbing.
| Budget | Type of oil |
|---|---|
| Luxe | A dry oil that does not feel greasy — higher price point, better texture |
| Mid | A vitamin C brightening dry oil. Nikol has used the same one since 2016 and credits it with visibly brightening her skin |
| Drugstore | A rosehip and grapeseed oil with vitamins A and E |
6. Cup, five to ten minutes
Squeeze the bulb, place, and glide outward toward the ear, then down the neck. Silicone cups come in sets — tiny ones with light suction for around the eyes, larger ones with more pull for the face. Nikol prefers glass professionally: a stronger pull, and it wipes clean with an alcohol pad.
An unexpected benefit worth knowing if it applies to you: it releases jaw tension, so it helps if you have TMJ or grind your teeth at night.
Frequency: every three days or so, once you are hooked — which Nikol predicts you will be.
7. Mask, and use the waiting time
A hydrating mask if your skin is dry, or a brightening one for glow. Down the neck and décolleté, as always.
The ten minutes it sits are the best part of the whole thing. What she stacks into them: a lip sleeping mask, a facial mist over the top of the mask — rose water, or drugstore witch hazel and rose petal — and a hand massage with a rich cream. That last one came from washing her hands constantly through 2020 until they cracked, which is a reminder that hands age visibly too.
8. Finish: eye balm, serum, moisturizer, mist
A lightweight eye balm rather than anything heavy or goopy. Then a firming night serum, a moisturizer if your skin still wants one, and a final mist — hers is a citrus elixir, chosen because of how it makes her feel rather than what it claims to do.
If you would rather not cup
Every alternative here is inexpensive and gets you most of the same lymphatic benefit.
| Tool | What it is for | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Ice roller — stainless steel head, detachable, under $20 | De-puffing, especially under the eyes | Mornings. Head lives in the freezer. If it squeaks, a drop of oil fixes it |
| Cooling eye roller | The under-eye specifically | Straight from the fridge, worked outward to the temple |
| Gua sha | Lymph, toning, jaw tension — the grooves fit the cheekbone and jawline | Anytime. It is rhythmic and slow enough to do while watching television |
| A simple facial roller | Blood flow and drainage with no technique to learn | When you want the effect and not the ritual |
The gua sha is the closest substitute for cupping and it has its own full method — see how to use a gua sha on mature skin. For the cold-only version of all of this, the ice facial takes three minutes.
One note on body cupping
Nikol does use the stationary trigger-point cups on her own back — lined up along the upper and lower back for tension after rowing. Those do stay in place and they do bruise for a few days, and she accepts that trade because it substitutes for a massage she cannot get. Different tool, different rules, and nothing to do with your face.
Why she thinks you should bother
Her closing argument is the oxygen mask on a plane: you put your own on first, so that you are able to help anyone else.
"Know that we're worth it. Know that we're worthy of being able to take the ten minutes, the fifteen minutes, the half an hour." And she is careful to say that none of it is expensive — the steamer, the cups, the roller, the gua sha are all modest, and you choose the products at whatever level your budget sits.
Nikol Johnson is a licensed esthetician. This is general skincare education, not medical advice. Do not cup over acne, open lesions, or inflamed skin, and skip steaming if you have rosacea or broken capillaries. Speak to a dermatologist about any skin condition or concern.
Frequently asked questions
What is facial cupping?
Small suction cups glided across oiled skin to move lymph and increase circulation, leaving skin looking radiant, toned and slightly lifted. Unlike body cupping, the cup never stays in one place, which is why it does not bruise.
Does facial cupping cause bruising?
Not if you keep the cup moving, which is the whole technique. Bruising happens when a cup is left stationary and draws blood into one spot — that is body cupping, done deliberately. Oil the skin first so the cup glides rather than grips.
Can you use cupping around your eyes?
Only with the small low-suction cup, only below the orbital bone, and without dragging. Squeeze and release in place to bring blood flow. Never suction and pull the delicate tissue directly under the eye.
Who should not do facial cupping?
Anyone with open lesions, active acne, or inflamed skin. The technique needs healthy, intact skin. When in doubt, ask a dermatologist first.
What order do you do an at-home facial in?
Double cleanse, exfoliate, steam, apply facial oil, cup or massage, mask, then eye balm, serum and moisturizer. Products go lightest to heaviest throughout, and everything extends down the neck and décolleté.
Should you use an oil cleanser on wet or dry skin?
Dry — with dry hands. Water interferes with the oil dissolving makeup, sunscreen and sebum. Wet the skin only when you rinse it off, then follow with your second cleanser.
Can you steam your face if you have rosacea?
No. Steam aggravates rosacea and broken capillaries. Skip the step entirely and go from exfoliation — gently — straight to oil and massage.
How often should you do an at-home facial?
The full sequence suits once a week to once every couple of weeks. Cupping on its own can be every three days. What you should not repeat often is the exfoliation — that is the step that damages skin when overdone.
Is a gua sha as good as cupping?
It does much of the same work — moving lymph, toning, releasing jaw tension — with no suction and nothing to learn about keeping a cup moving. If cupping sounds like too much, start with a gua sha.
Do you need expensive products for a home facial?
No. The tools are inexpensive, and every product step here has a drugstore equivalent — a rosehip and grapeseed oil in place of a luxe dry oil, a witch hazel rose mist in place of a beauty elixir. The sequence matters more than the price of what is in it.
Start here
You do not need the whole hour to begin. Do the double cleanse properly — oil balm on dry skin, then a second cleanser — and take it down your neck. That alone changes how your skin looks. When you are ready to add the part that makes it feel like a treatment, oil your face and reach for a gua sha before you reach for cups, and see the rest of the tools for what earns a place on your shelf.
