My Experience With An Ice Face Roller

About a year ago I bought an ice face roller and only recently I realized how often I use it. An ice roller is probably one of the cheapest and most effective ways for me to depuff, prime, and define my face.

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Together with face shaving my ice face roller is my most used beauty tool. Both are cheap and super effective. Ice rolling is nothing new though. Many top facial experts and makeup artists use ice in their skincare routine.

I find an ice roller perfect to depuff my face. My face wakes up two hours after me, so an ice face roller is a must for its immediate effects. It’s a very soothing and refreshing experience. I’m still surprised how much of a difference it makes in less than 5 minutes.

WHAT IS AN ICE FACE ROLLER?

An ice face roller is a simple beauty tool used to cool the skin (cold skin therapy). Technically, you could dunk your face in a bowl with cold water with ice cubes, but using an ice face roller is way easier. All you have to do is take the ice face roller out of the freezer and roll it over your face.

I store the ice face roller in the freezer (sometimes fridge) and I use it as part of my everyday skincare routine. But it can also be used occasionally when you want to depuff in the morning, or as part of an at-home beauty treatment.

WHICH ICE ROLLER IS BEST?

There is a big market for this tool. You can buy the fancy ice roller or a budget ice roller. In my opinion, they both do the same. They both cool the face. So, whether you go for a stainless-steel ice roller or a budget roller, that’s totally up to you. The budget version I use is available for less than $15.

I love the budget gel-filled roller because it’s pretty big and it stays cooler for much longer. Also, you don’t have to worry whether it will rust or be too hard on your face, as might be the case with frozen stainless-steel rollers. And a gel-filled roller will never stick to your skin like a stainless-steel roller can do.

Having that said, there are a lot of ice rollers out there with some hefty price tags considering what you are getting: a tool to roll ice over your face. I don’t think it should be pricey to be effective.

The gel-filled roller does the job very well. It’s large, stays cool for a long time after taking it out of the freezer, and there is no water or ice leaking.

ice face roller on a white plate with ice cubes on a pink tile backdrop

ICE ROLLER BENEFITS

Reduces puffiness

There are quite some benefits to cool the face with an ice roller. The first most immediate effect is that ice rolling reduces puffiness and redness. It’s truly a miracle how it erases the puffiness around my eyes in the morning. Not only that, it wakes me up. I use the ice roller very gently around the eyes and also rest the roller on my eyelids.

For my eyes, I start from the inner eye corners up towards the brow to drain excess fluid and reduce puffiness.

A lot of celebrities seem to submerge their face in a bowl of icy water to fight that typical morning-after puffiness. This is easier.

Lymphatic drainage

An ice roller works the same as a lymphatic massage, just way cheaper. It helps to increase flow, drain fluid, and depuff your face, just like a lymphatic massage.

Healthy glow

Anything that will massage the face will boost its circulation and calm inflammation. Circulation is beneficial for the skin because it brings blood (a carrier of oxygen and nutrients) to the surface of the skin. All this will help to restore the skin. It also helps to get rid of waste.

Cold therapy improves the circulation in the skin. A result is that healthy glow we all want.

Pores

Ice rolling will also tighten the skin and shrink pores. I noticed that my pores are almost not visible anymore when I use the ice roller.

Anti-aging

The ice roller claims that regular everyday use will help to reduce wrinkles and other signs of aging.

Face sculpting

Another great benefit is that it sculpts and tightens the jawline. I use it on my whole face and neck and focus on my eyes and jawline (right on the bone and above and below it). I swear I see immediate results in the morning.

It firms, contours, refreshes, and relaxes my face. So good!

I’m not surprised that icing or cold face therapy has been used for so long as a beauty treatment.

There are some other pleasant effects of using an ice roller. It can soothe sunburn (not only on the face), ease acne, reduce oiliness, and reduces any swelling due to injury, rashes, or anything else. I have personally not tried it for these cases simply because I don’t have acne, oily skin, or sunburns. But it makes sense that cold can only help relieve pain, burns and decrease inflammation by constricting the blood vessels.

LONG TERM ICE ROLLER USE

I have been using an ice face roller for about a year now and have noticed a few (long-term use) effects.

Although I do not have acne or oily skin, I notice the effects on my skin besides the immediate ones (pores and puffiness). The skin is firmer and a bit lifted. I have especially noticed this after stopping for a month. I also have no more so-called tiny broken capillaries around my nose. These small capillaries show up when I switch too fast from warm to cold rooms in the winter. Ice rolling seems to work great for me to prevent and treat those tiny broken capillaries. You can also treat these with laser treatments, but I don’t want to do that.

Those who use an ice roller daily report experiencing firmer skin, fewer wrinkles, and their skin is less prone to breakouts. Also, they notice the anti-inflammatory effects. This covers not only acne and redness but also rosacea and even premature aging.

ice face roller on a white plate with ice cubes on a pink tile backdrop

OTHER BENEFITS

I have also noticed that it makes my face relax and it gives me a beautiful healthy glow.

In this article, I’m only discussing how to use an ice roller for the face, but ice rollers can also be used on the neck, feet, and chest. It’s great for muscle pain and some reviews say it alleviates not only sore muscles but also migraines and headaches. Instant at-home cold therapy relief.

A facialist wrote that if you apply a cream or serum to the skin before using the ice roller it will restrict the capillaries. This will create a ”pulling effect” to help the ingredients penetrate deeper.

HOW DO YOU USE AN ICE ROLLER FOR YOUR FACE?

I prefer to use the ice roller in the morning. To depuff my face, wake up and energize.

And I keep the face roller in the freezer. When I use the ice roller my main focus is my eyes, jaws, and cheeks.

Step 1

Wash your face. I use rose water to clean my face and then I apply a hydrating cream. Because an ice roller helps stimulate blood flow, the skin will absorb products much better. Then wait about 30-60 seconds before you start rolling, so you will not drag your face oil/cream all over your face.

Step 2

After your skincare routine, take the face roller out of the freezer. I start with my neck with upward strokes, then I move over to under my jaw, then along my jaw and under my cheekbones, and across the lips.

Next, I move to my eyes. I close my eyes and place the ice roller directly on it. Then I go to the inner eye corner and move up towards the brow. Finally, I move over to my forehead. All the cold (mostly upward) strokes will drain excess fluid and reduce puffiness.

I repeat the above about five more times. This will take anywhere between 5 to 10 minutes. So relaxing!

Step 3

After that, I apply sunscreen and makeup if I wear any that day.

ice face roller with a frozen roller top on a white plate with ice cubes on a pink tile backdrop

FINAL TIPS

You can remove the roller part from the handle of the ice roller and place it in the freezer.

Ice rolling feels intuitive to me. I start with a gentle roll, and I feel when I need to apply pressure. I think this is very personal. Sometimes a bit more pressure feels so good!

I think the best results are achieved when you do this for about 5-10 minutes. But when I’m in a rush, I see the benefits after just a couple of minutes (I mainly focus on the eyes then).

You can also use the ice roller straight out of bed, so before even cleaning your face. I prefer to use an ice roller after my skincare routine, to help the moisturizer set in the skin.

When in doubt about how to roll your face, make upward strokes.

Wash your ice roller every time you use it with hot soapy water and place it fully dry in a reusable zip lock bag in the freezer for the next use.

Never apply ice directly to your skin, but use an ice roller. And don’t overdo it. I wouldn’t use this three times a day, nor would I let the ice roller rest longer than a minute on a specific part of my face.

And finally, be extra careful around your eyes. Gently place the ice roller on your eyes and do not rub or roll it over your eyes.

ice face roller with a melted roller detached from it on a pink tile backdrop with melted ice cubes

MY EXPERIENCE WITH AN ICE FACE ROLLER

Initially, I loved the immediate effects. My face is awake within 5 minutes and my eyes don’t look so sleepy anymore.

But after a few weeks, I started to pay more attention and noticed my pores were less visible and my skin feels tighter. If I had a small impurity, the inflammation would be gone much faster than normal.

Ice rolling also helped to constrict blood vessels and reduced the appearance of broken capillaries drastically. 

All in all, I think an ice roller is a great, cheap, natural way to help the skin look much firmer and tighter, to help it depuff, fight inflammation, and shrink pores. It also is a massage, which is something that only can be beneficial (if you do it the correct way).

It’s an amazing soothing experience and there is not a cream or tool out there that will make your skin look so fresh, radiant, and clear as an ice roller.

I feel like this is not a beauty hack where I need to convince you how effective this is. It makes perfect sense that icing can do what it claims. With regards to the inflammation, there is this study here where it explains the benefits.

Cryotherapy is used often in sports science and sports medicine, and there are hundreds of scientific studies on this topic to be found. Enough for me to be convinced and use it daily. Of course, for beauty purposes there will not be any medical studies done, but in this case (especially since it’s so cheap) it’s worth a try. And in my case, I’m happy I did because I can see the benefits. Both immediately and after long-term use.

DO ICE ROLLERS REALLY WORK?

Yes! The more I use it, the more I’m convinced of this. Regardless of your skin type, everyone can benefit from ice rolling. Who doesn’t want a relaxing massage that will increase blood circulation, minimize pores, tighten the skin and soothe any inflammation making you not only relaxed but also resulting in clear, radiant skin?

It’s cheap, non-invasive, vegan, toxic-free and it works instantly.

You can get the ice roller here, and I’m convinced you will not regret it. I would love to read your experience below in the comment section.

ice face roller on a white plate with ice cubes on a pink tile backdrop

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