Do Face Rollers Work? | UPMC HealthBeat (2025)

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If you spend time scrolling through social media beauty videos, you may come across face rollers to improve your complexion. Some beauty influencers even claim using face rollers helps to slim your face. You may have already used face rollers or know someone who swears by them.

But do face rollers work? Here’s what you need to know about whether these beauty tools are hype or hope for better-looking skin.

What Are Face Rollers?

Face rollers are a type of facial massage to improve your complexion or facial skin. They come in many different shapes and materials, such as glass, stainless steel, or smoothed stone, typically jade or quartz.

Ancient China first used jade rollers, and people believed that they had healing properties. In the 1970s, jade rollers became popular beauty tools in the U.S. and other Western cultures.

Traditional facial rollers are double-ended and look like small rolling pins attached to a handle. The larger end is for areas, such as your neck, cheek, and forehead. The smaller end is for the area under your eyes and eyebrows.

Some facial rollers have a textured surface to increase circulation, while most are smooth. Some are battery-powered, providing vibration as they roll.

When choosing a stone roller, look out for fakes. Some are made out of plastic, dyed to look like stone, which may irritate your skin. You can tell a real stone roller by feel: It should feel cool to the touch.

Hype About Facial Rollers

There’s much hype around facial rollers for better-looking skin. Here’s what facial rollers can’t do:

Facial rollers can’t slim your face

Using facial rollers, especially if you chill them, may help reduce the appearance of puffiness, such as under-eye bags. But facial rollers can’t help you lose weight in your face. Only following a healthy diet and getting regular exercise can do that.

Facial rollers don’t provide permanent skin benefits

The skin benefits of using face rollers are often immediate, or short-term. While you may notice your skin looks smoother, facial rollers don’t stop your skin from aging. Using facial rollers daily can help you see improved benefits over time.

Facial rollers don’t cure any skin or medical condition

Using facial rollers won’t cure skin conditions, such as eczema or rosacea. There is no evidence that jade rollers or any other type of facial roller have healing or anti-aging properties. If you don’t clean your face or your facial roller before use, using facial rollers may actually make skin conditions worse.

What Can Facial Rollers Do?

There’s not much strong evidence on whether facial rollers improve your skin long-term. And exactly how they help improve skin remains unclear. Here’s what evidence there is so far about face roller benefits.

Decreased appearance of wrinkles

So, do face rollers get rid of wrinkles? Two studies by beauty product manufacturer L’Oreal, published in PLOS One, tried to answer this question. Here’s what it found:

The first study looked at the effects of mechanical massage on human skin remnants taken from abdominal surgeries. It found that a mechanical massage of one minute twice a day increased the production of elastic fibers, such as collagen, in the skin. After 10 days of mechanical massage, the skin looked smoother compared to the skin that had not received mechanical massage.

The second small study compared two sets of 20 women between the ages of 65 to 75 who used the same anti-aging cream regimen. But only one set also used mechanical massagers.

Using mechanical massagers after using the cream resulted in a bigger reduction in the appearance of wrinkles compared to anti-aging cream alone. The women who used mechanical massage also had less skin sagging compared to those who used the anti-aging cream alone.

Improved circulation or facial blood flow

Increased blood flow enhances the supply of oxygen and nutrients to cells and helps remove metabolic products from cells. Massaging your face with a roller helps to loosen facial muscles and increase blood flow.

Only five minutes of massage using a facial roller increases skin blood flow. That’s according to the findings of two small studies published in Complementary Therapies in Medicine. The improved blood flow continued for at least 10 minutes after the facial roller massage ended.

Increasing blood flow may give your skin an immediate, but temporary “flush” or “lift.”Right after using a facial roller, your skin may look brighter.

Relief from migraine headaches

Gliding cold facial rollers across your forehead and face may help relieve migraine headaches. That’s because, like placing a cold gel pack on your forehead, using cold facial rollers is a type of cold intervention.

Research shows cold interventions provide immediate short-term relief from migraine pain. That’s according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published in the Journal of Clinical Nursing.

How to Use a Facial Roller

Experts recommend you follow these steps for best results:

1. Cleanse your skin first to prevent the roller from pushing bacteria into your pores.
2. Moisturize your skin with a hydrating serum or facial oil. This provides slip, so the roller won’t pull or tug your skin, which can contribute to wrinkles.
3. Apply gentle, steady pressure. Too much pressure can cause broken blood vessels.
4. Start from the base of your neck and roll in an upward, forward motion until you reach your jawbone.
5. Then, starting at your chin, work your way up your face in sections, rolling outward and upwards towards your hairline.
6. For your under-eye area, use the smaller side and roll from the inner corner outward and upward.
7. From the inside of your eyebrows, roll flat across.
8. For your forehead, start above your brows and roll straight up toward your hairline.

Facial rollers are safe for daily use. For maximum results, experts recommend using facial rollers three to five times each week.

Depending on the type of roller you buy, you can chill it in cold water or in the refrigerator. Using a cold roller causes your blood vessels to constrict. This may help to temporarily reduce puffiness on your face or under your eye bags.

If you have a battery-operated roller, read the user manual to see whether it’s safe to place in cold water or your fridge.

Risks of Using Facial Rollers

Facial rollers don’t come without risks. If you don’t use or clean them properly, you may get:

• Facial bruising.
• Skin irritation or infection.
• Worsened acne.

If you have sensitive skin, you may want to avoid textured or battery-operated rollers. Don’t use facial rollers if you have a breakout, rosacea, or sunburn. Your skin is vulnerable to infection and irritation at that time.

To prevent irritation or infection, always clean and dry your facial roller well before each use.