Cryotherapy: Bringing Ice Therapy Home

Have you ever rubbed an ice cube all over your face and felt how refreshing it was? Or experienced hot/cold therapy in a sauna where you sit in a steam room and then come outside and rub ice all over your face and body from the ice fountain? There is a reason that the ice fountain is there at the spa, outside of the steam room (or sauna) and that’s to cool down your face and help to increase circulation by alternating between hot and cold. It really does work too! My skin is always literally glowing. Ice helps to literally wake your skin up by firming and by increasing circulation. Ah but how to bring ice therapy into the home? I’ve stumbled across at-home cryotherapy in the form of new beauty brand Jalue. 

This is a really interesting concept actually and one that Russian’s most famous empress, Catherine the Great, used herself. The ‘ice queen’s beauty secret’ was to apply an ice cube to her face, neck and décolletage every morning to preserve her beauty and refresh her complexion. Russians later improved upon this ritual by adding different skin beautifying herbs to the ice for the ultimate skincare treatment. 

Fast forward to 2016/2017 and we have the same thing but in a much more convenient application. Jalue is essentially a toner that you freeze and then apply to your skin after cleansing. It’s full of herbs that the Jalue founder Jale was taught to use by both her mother and by a Russian herbalist while growing up. Making their own beauty products in the kitchen was completely normal in this family and from it, Jalue Ice Therapy was born.

So how does this work? It’s actually really, really easy. The pack comes with four little sachets of herbs that are labelled with the numbers 1-4. Each sachet makes enough to last one week so hence, you start with sachet #1. You boil water on the kettle and put the sachet in a tea cup and pour the freshly-boiled water over it. Let it brew, just like a cup of tea until the water cools so you can get as much herbal goodness as you can from the sachet. Once the water is cool you simply pour it into the silicone cylinder that is provided in the set and put it in the freezer to freeze.

The next morning or that evening once it is frozen, you can take it out and use it as a toner after you cleanse your face and before moisturising. This feels particularly amazing in the morning which is when I use it. What I do is wash my face with a gentle cleanser (right now I am using pur~lisse HERE) and then rub the cone all over my face (the ice will protrude a little out of the cone). The cone helps catch any dripping water and is cleaner than using a regular ice cube. I rub this all over my face for about a minute and then I’m ready to moisturise!

The key ingredient in the toner is the bark of white oak which has been used centuries as a herbal medicine. White oak bark contains iron, vitamin B12 and potassium and it is also rich in tannins (compounds with astringent and antiseptic properties also found in tea, cocoa and red wine). For the skin it has astringent, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. The toner also contains chamomile, sage, nettle and rose – all great for calming and detoxing the skin.

You can use the Jalue ice therapy cone to apply the frozen toner after cleansing, morning and night. You only need to rub this all over your face for about a minute – boosting your circulation and giving yourself a mini facial massage at the same time. If you suffer from puffy eyes in the morning this would be a great product to use. I have been using this myself for a week now and I really like it – it perks you right up that’s for sure. I’m quite groggy in the morning but this really wakes me up in a good way and is probably more effective than a cup of coffee! The ice feels lovely on my skin and my face does feel tighter after application. This would also be a great booster if you are getting ready for a big night out!

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