6 Secrets We Uncovered from Meghan Markle's Facialist Nichola Joss

By Lesa Hannah

Date February 16, 2018

Facialist Nichola Joss, originally from Scotland and now based in London, recently made her third trip to Toronto’s Lac + Beauty to offer her renowned facials, which feature a distinctive massage method that earned her widespread recognition—thanks in part to glowing praise from Meghan Markle. While Joss was tight-lipped about her soon-to-be-married client (it appears Kensington Palace has given her instructions), she opened up about her approach, her essential product, and her views on growing older:

1. She developed her massage technique while residing in Asia, where she encountered a healer who primarily worked with cancer patients. He helped ease their discomfort, boost their vitality, and release negative emotions trapped in muscle tissue. “What I gained from him was an understanding of how to manipulate the muscles from inside the mouth to release and relieve toxins and stimulate the lymphatic system,” she explains. After observing how lifted, sculpted, and joyful his patients appeared, she adapted and expanded the method, ultimately turning it into a facial.
2. That’s why a key part of the facial involves Joss working inside your mouth. Wearing gloves, she uses a “wave movement” starting along the jaw up to just below the cheekbone, moving from the lips to the inner jaw area. She targets muscle tension along the jawline and beneath the cheekbone, progressing to the back of the jaw where teeth grinding and clenching occur. Addressing the master muscle—the cheek muscle—“can really improve the contours.”
3. Although she travels with an international kit packed with everything from jade rollers to cleansing waters, if she could bring just one product, it would be facial oil. “It does everything from cleanse your skin to hydrate and nourish and encourage you to massage.” A favorite of hers is Lumity Facial Oil. “Gorgeous product.”
4. If you have only a month to achieve a radiant complexion for a major event—say, a royal wedding—Joss recommends a good glycolic exfoliation or a gentle peel. She also highly rates the peptide Matrixyl. “It works like a life jacket, so it keeps the skin cells plump and young.” She’s also a strong proponent of probiotic supplements, believing skincare is 50% what we ingest. “The probiotic looks after your gut and your gut looks after your main living organs. Your skin is your largest one.”
5. Your hands are your best tool for facial massage at home. “You get the best out of them because you get complete touch and you really get to know your facial structure.” Start at the center of your face and work outward and upward, using your index and middle fingers along the jawline, with the jawbone between your fingers. Then, bend your knuckles to increase pressure. The simplest move: find your cheekbones with the heels of your palms and drop your head into them. Don’t push skin up toward the eyes; just support your head so you feel real pressure. “The muscle tissue has great memory, so it will start to remember, and it wants to sit where it should,” she says. “It doesn’t want to be heavy with tension.”
6. She does not advocate for anti-aging. “It’s negative and I think if we’re going to move forward as women, we need to have each other’s backs and encourage each other to age and be on this planet.” That said, she admits we all want to look our best—herself included—which is why massage is so vital; it keeps muscles healthy, preventing sagging that can bring a sadness to the face. “But we have to start to regard ourselves as beautiful in our 40s, 50s or 60s because if we don’t, we’re ignoring that age group and we’re all going to hopefully get there.”