Cupping made headlines during the 2016 Rio Olympics, when Michael Phelps attributed the round, purple bruises on his back to the alternative medicine practice used to treat everything from muscle soreness to arthritis and blood diseases. Now, celebrities are getting the skin-suctioning therapy on a new part of their bodies: their faces.
Kim Kardashian recently posted a photo on Snapchat of a collection of serum bottles and glass jars with balloons on top. “Face cupping facial at Nurse Jamie,” she wrote on the pic. We wanted to know: does cupping really help rejuvenate skin? And what about the bruising?! (The reality star did not share a post-treatment selfie.)
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Nurse Jamie (aka Jamie Sherrill), facialist to the stars, said that cupping uses mild suction to drain lymph nodes, getting “rid of any sign of a jowl and fight[ing] inflammation for a perfect profile or over-the-shoulder photo moment.” She uses the technique at Beauty Park Medical Spa, a destination for A-listers seeking non-surgical skin treatments. Kate Beckinsdale’s aesthetician, Kat Rudu, also uses facial cupping on her celeb clients, according to The Hollywood Reporter.