True Story: Meghan Markle Pays Someone $350 to Massage Her Mouth
It's all in the name of beauty.
Just call it the Meghan Markle effect. It seems that anything the Duchess-to-be touches — her famous collection of coats comes to mind — catches on like wildfire in the fashion and beauty community. After all, whatever Markle is doing works. The former Suits actress always looks stylish, glowing, and serene.
So, when fans caught wind of Markle's preferred facial, it wasn't long before that, too, became a trend. Even if the service is a bit different from your typical exfoliation or extractions ...
The soon-to-be royal is reportedly hooked on visits to London-based skincare expert Nichola Joss, whom she's known for around five years. The beauty guru, who works out of a salon in Covent Garden, specializes in a $350 treatment that's billed as an "inner facial." Basically, it's meant to sculpt a person's cheeks and jawline, and it involves a massage to the inside of the mouth.
“It adds vitality to the muscle," Joss told People. "It makes it softer but stronger, and obviously working from the inside of the mouth really addresses the core element of the muscle.” Markle herself has attested to the power of the facial.
In a 2014 blog post for Birchbox, the California-born beauty wrote: "I do facial exercises taught to me by one of my favorite aestheticians, Nicola Joss, who basically has you sculpt your face from the inside out. I swear it works, as silly as you may feel. On the days I do it, my cheekbones and jawline are waaaay more sculpted.”
Want to try the exercises at home? Joss has posted an instructional guide on Instagram, which uses visuals and words to help guide beauty buffs through the process she uses on her star clients. Check it out:
We can hardly wait to try this! Is it weird if we start the facial massage now, at our desks?
And by the way, if you're not a DIY facial type, or can't make it to London at the moment, the service is also offered stateside. The Cut reports that NOY Skincare Salon in Manhattan has been busier than ever doling out inner-mouth massages (see above re: The Meghan Markle effect.)
