They say “Beauty is pain.” (I’ve always wondered what in the world is up with that. Who made these rules? I just want to talk, honestly.) They also say cold metal things on your cheek at the crack of dawn will somehow zap the puffiness away and move your lymph or whatever. If you couldn’t tell, I’m pretty skeptical about it. Curiosity got the best of me though, so naturally, I started watching videos of people trying one of those ice rollers.
Here’s what I’ve learned: First, you wake up early (which immediately sounds like a bad time to me). Your face feels like a bunch of bees stung you until it was swollen. You roll the thing on your face, and it’s obviously very cold (it’s an ice roller for a reason). There’s a second or two where the people trying it seem to question their life choices (or maybe that’s just me doing it for them, hard to say). It seems like they’re thinking, “Did I really sign up for this before even having my morning coffee?” Then, there’s apparently this weird pleasure in that shock of the cold on your skin.
People online swear ice rolling reduces puffiness under your eyes, shrinks your pores and improves lymphatic drainage. I’m not sure what exactly lymphatic drainage is, but it sounds super fancy. Do we need the fancy metal tool for that though? Couldn’t we just use a cold spoon or stash a washcloth in the freezer? Yeah, probably but then we wouldn’t get the aesthetics of carefully rolling metal across your cheeks while thinking “my pores are shrinking and my skin is glowing.”
Also, there’s the fact that doing something that feels like self-care before the day begins feels like it’s worth something. Even if that lymph isn’t drained or the puffiness returns after breakfast, you can feel like you’ve accomplished something and taken time to do something yourself. Yeah, you probably tortured your face a little, but that’s like paying dues in the beauty world nowadays.
In the end, I think ice rolling is one of those borderline useless but also fun things people like to do. If you have time, why not? If it helps mentally, who cares if it’s just cold metal on your skin? If it doesn’t help, well you’ve got an excuse for why you looked fresh for five minutes. Beauty routines are weird. Ice rolling is weird. Maybe the weirdness of it all is part of the appeal too.
