{"id":111467,"date":"2026-04-21T09:00:52","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T09:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=111467"},"modified":"2026-04-21T12:56:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T12:56:51","slug":"the-new-facelift-fascia-face-and-body-sculpting-grazia-usa-spring-summer-2026","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/the-new-facelift-fascia-face-and-body-sculpting-grazia-usa-spring-summer-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"The New Facelift"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Photo by Arthur Elgort\/Conde Nast via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Words by Fiorella Valdesolo<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Ready to sculpt, lift, and make your skin glow in just 10 minutes a day?\u00a0<\/i>That\u2019s the question posed by Anastasia<\/a>, a wide-eyed influencer with Rapunzel locks and chiseled cheeks known online as\u00a0@anastasiabeautyfascia<\/span><\/a>. Her videos and \u201cGLOW transformation program\u201d (pricetag: $300) offer detailed guidance for how to squeeze, tap, and rub your way to a smooth forehead, lifted eyes and a slimmer jawline. In Anastasia\u2019s world there is no need for Botox or Juvederm or blephs or facelifts (all of which she actively denies partaking in), just your fingers and your time. Anastasia\u2019s qualifications (she is a board certified structural integration therapist) for doling out her transformative tips are a bit nebulous, and her theories (like how our swallowing pattern is the cause of a double chin) can veer into unscientific territory. But it\u2019s her own face, which she frequently shows in its pre-fascia-molding state, that may be the most convincing endorsement for her many followers (2.7 million on Instagram, 1.5 million on TikTok).<\/p>\n

Online and off,\u00a0fascia\u00a0is being mentioned ever more frequently.\u00a0Fascia\u00a0educators like\u00a0Lauren Roxburgh<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Ashley Black<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Sue Hitzmann<\/span><\/a>\u00a0are making\u00a0fascia\u00a0a part of the broader wellness conversation, and it\u2019s become a singular treatment draw: you can sign up for a functional\u00a0fascia\u00a0fitness class at the new\u00a0Ritz Zadun resort\u00a0<\/span><\/a>in Los Cabos, Mexico, or take a\u00a0fascia\u00a0flow and release at\u00a0Sage +& Sound<\/span><\/a>\u00a0on New York\u2019s Upper East Side. But for all the hashtags and mentions, what\u00a0fascia\u00a0is, how it functions, and what manipulating it can (and, just as importantly, can\u2019t) do for our faces and bodies remains widely misunderstood.<\/p>\n

What is Fascia?<\/h2>\n

A primer:\u00a0Fascia\u00a0is a connective tissue that runs through the entire body. \u201cIt wraps around muscles, organs, nerves, and blood vessels, linking everything together into one continuous system,\u201d says\u00a0Jessa Zinn<\/span><\/a>, a movement therapist and founder of The Zinn Method, adding that it behaves like a single piece of fabric, all of it interconnected, instead of separate parts. More than simply a foundation,\u00a0fascia\u00a0is our internal scaffolding, a critical support system.\u00a0Joseph Carrillo<\/span><\/a>, aka The Facial Sculptor, uses an orange to explain\u00a0fascia\u00a0to his clients. \u201cThe flesh is like muscle, the peel is like skin, and the thin white membrane holding everything together is\u00a0fascia,\u201d says Carrillo.<\/p>\n

Our understanding of what\u00a0fascia\u00a0does has shifted in recent years. \u201cFor decades in the West,\u00a0fascia\u00a0was considered inert packing material, something surgeons might cut through to get to the \u2018important\u2019 structures underneath,\u201d says\u00a0Sophie Carbonari<\/span><\/a>, a sought-after Paris-based facialist<\/a> whose unique technique has been described as \u201cskin cracking.\u201d But in the past two decades, since the start of the\u00a0Fascia\u00a0Research Congress<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in 2007, that thinking has evolved. Recent research has shown that\u00a0fascia\u00a0is highly innervated (it has more nerve endings than muscle) making it a major sensory organ, that it contains cells that contract in response to stress hormones, that it\u2019s rich in hyaluronic acid, and that it\u2019s a primary pain generator, so when pain is chronic it becomes stiff and inflamed, Carbonari explains. \u201cWe\u2019ve gone from viewing\u00a0fascia\u00a0as passive wrapping, to understanding it as an active system that communicates with the nervous system,\u201d she adds. Ashley Black, an author and entrepreneur who has been spreading the gospel of\u00a0fascia\u00a0(via the use of her system of\u00a0FasciaBlaster\u00a0<\/span><\/a>tools) for nearly three decades, sees the body\u2019s\u00a0fascia\u00a0as a singular energy system. \u201cIt circulates light throughout the entire body,\u201d says Black. \u201cThose of us who have been working with it forever, call it a life force.\u201d<\/p>\n

But while\u00a0fascia\u00a0manipulation may feel, if we\u2019re judging by our algorithms, like a more recent discovery, it\u2019s not new. In fact, says Carbonari<\/a>, other traditional healing systems have been working with it for centuries, just under different names. Carbonari points to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practices like\u00a0tuina<\/i>,\u00a0gua sha<\/i>, and acupuncture and their focus on releasing blocked \u201cqi\u201d (energy flow); Ayurveda\u2019s\u00a0abhyanga<\/i>\u00a0oil massage, which is designed to lubricate deeper tissues and soften\u00a0fascia; and how in traditional African medicine, Yoruba and Zulu healers use various methods to \u201cuntie knots\u201d in the body\u2019s fabric, mobilizing what we would understand now to be\u00a0fascial tissue.<\/p>\n

How Does Fascia Movement Work?<\/h2>\n

According to Black, manipulating and releasing the\u00a0fascia\u00a0allows the face and body to function as they should. That manipulation can take many forms. Her\u00a0FasciaBlaster tools look, with their molded claws, not unlike torture devices, albeit chic ones, and they function by loading (or applying pressure), stretching and shearing, thereby not just breaking up areas of tension but also, Black claims, regenerating tissue. Black\u2019s system has accrued both avid followers and vocal detractors who maintain that working the tissue should not be this aggressive. Myofascial release is a technique that facialists like Carbonari, Carrillo, and Lord Gavin have centered in their treatments. \u201cIt\u2019s a hands-on therapeutic approach that uses slow, sustained pressure to release tension and restrictions within the\u00a0fascia, restoring softness and elasticity, and improving mobility and circulation,\u201d says Lord Gavin McLeod-Valentine<\/a>, a celebrity facial masseur and global brand ambassador for Augustinus Bader. Done correctly, myofascial release works with the tissue, but doesn\u2019t force it. \u201cThe goal isn\u2019t to push harder, but to create space,\u201d says Carrillo, adding that when\u00a0fascia\u00a0is shaped properly it can affect posture and, in the face, address heaviness and create balance. While there is some overlap with gua sha and face yoga, both of which are also frequently name-checked on social media nowadays, the intention of\u00a0fascial work is slightly different. Face yoga builds and strengthens and relies on repeated muscular contractions (which can, says McLeod-Valentine, sometimes end up reinforcing dynamic lines) and gua sha stimulates lymphatic flow and drains. \u201cSkilled\u00a0fascial manipulation uses slow, sustained, precise pressure to restore glide between tissue layers, rebalance tension patterns, and re-establish structural lift and symmetry,\u201d says McLeod-Valentine. \u201cIt\u2019s transformative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zinn\u2019s eponymous method is focused on helping bodies in midlife move with more ease and resilience. It was developed after twenty-plus years of working with professional athletes, mapping out and activating the web of\u00a0fascia\u00a0with simple exercises and rituals. These include daily gentle ribcage breathing and slow joint circles for the neck, hip and shoulders and a few minutes of foam-rolling or ball work. While former professional dancer\u00a0Bonnie Crotzer\u2019s signature\u00a0Fascia\u00a0Flossing<\/span><\/a>\u00a0practice leans into an instinctual and involuntary function shared by humans and animals called pandiculation. It\u2019s that wiggling and tugging and stretching that people often do upon waking up \u2014 and that we often watch our pets do intermittently throughout the day. \u201cIt creates a contraction or engagement through the\u00a0fascial matrix that stimulates architectural change, reduces tension, and also sends a signal to the nervous system that all is safe,\u201d says Crotzer, who frequently teaches\u00a0Fascia\u00a0Flossing at\u00a0SkyTing<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in New York.<\/p>\n

Age, genetics, and lifestyle can all play a role in the health of our\u00a0fascia. And there is a marked difference, experts say, between healthy and unhealthy versions. The former is hydrated and elastic and springy with a gel-like glide \u2014 it has, says Crotzer, a goosh to it \u2014 while the latter tends to be dense, rigid, even sticky. \u201cOn the face, restricted\u00a0fascia\u00a0manifests as asymmetry, deep lines that won\u2019t release, reduced facial mobility, or a heavy, tired appearance,\u201d says Carbonari. Modern lifestyles aren\u2019t doing our\u00a0fascia\u00a0any favors either. More sitting, less varied movement, and hours spent hunched over our computers and phones, has, says Zinn, led to shallow breathing, constant jaw tension, and bodies that feel consistently braced rather than fluid, a perfect storm for\u00a0fascia, which thrives on variety and multi-directional movement. Carbonari can tell within moments of touching a client\u2019s face how much time they spend attached to their devices. Dehydration, inflammatory diets, and sleep deprivation also don\u2019t help, but, most of all, stress.\u00a0 \u201cWe live in a state of chronic low-grade stress that previous generations didn\u2019t experience; we\u2019re constantly \u2018on,\u2019\u201d says Carbonari. \u201cChronic stress means chronic\u00a0fascial contractions. Your\u00a0fascia\u00a0is literally holding your anxiety.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"fascia<\/p>\n

What Fascia Movement Can’t Do<\/h2>\n

But while\u00a0fascia\u00a0work can come with big promises, it\u2019s important to remember what it can do and what it can\u2019t. \u201cThe idea that\u00a0fascial face massage can replace skincare actives, Botox or fillers is ridiculous,\u201d says McLeod-Valentine, adding that while it softens the appearance of lines and helps the face function and age more optimally, it cannot stop neuromuscular contractions or replace lost volume.\u00a0David Kim, MD,\u00a0<\/span><\/a>a New York-based dermatologist and the founder of Soho Dermatology, agrees: \u201cFascia\u00a0work helps sharpen the face and body, but it can\u2019t replace Botox and filler, which simply serve a different purpose.\u201d For freezing or filling, if that\u2019s what you\u2019re after,\u00a0fascial work isn\u2019t it, no matter what that TikTok video claims. What\u00a0fascial work can do, most experts agree, is complement or delay those injectables. \u201cWhen the face is functioning well, people tend to need less overall, and whatever they choose to do works better,\u201d says Carrillo.<\/p>\n

How to Get the Best Results<\/h2>\n

Much like with most beauty and health rituals, consistency is key. And, says Carrillo, it matters more than intensity. \u201cPeople usually feel a shift right away, a lightness or openness, but visual changes build over time as the tissue learns a new baseline,\u201d he says. Beyond the promise of eventual visible results, what makes DIY\u00a0fascial work easy to adopt is that it\u2019s relatively simple and, more importantly, it feels really good. Try Carbonari\u2019s favorite temporal release on your next work break and you will experience what can only be referred to as an immediate face melt:\u00a0 Place fingers on temples; apply gentle, sustained pressure while slowly opening and closing the jaw; and hold for 60-90 seconds.\u00a0Fascial exercises may serve a different purpose than topical skincare actives or neurotoxins and fillers, but they are just as, if not more, vital for skin health. \u201cI think it\u2019s the key to the fountain of youth,\u201d adds Crotzer. Something that the beauty industry, which thrives on marketing and selling us what it claims we collectively need, may not be so thrilled about. As for the conversation around longevity,\u00a0fascial work fits in quite neatly, taking a long-game approach to the health of our skin and body. \u201cIt supports our ability to move with ease over time and determines how long you stay mobile, upright, and resilient,\u201d says Zinn. Maybe what Anastasia is espousing isn\u2019t so far-fetched after all?<\/p>\n

Read\u00a0GRAZIA USA<\/em>\u2019s Spring\/Summer Issue<\/a>\u00a0featuring\u00a0cover star Lux Pascal<\/a>:<\/strong><\/h4>\n