The best facial rollers to smooth and perfect your skin

Looking for the best facial rollers to help get your skin in tip-top shape? If the past year has taught us anything about our beauty routines, it’s the importance of knowing how to substitute in-person treatments with at-home alternatives. In the skincare category in particular, facial rollers became an essential tool in our home pampering kit. 

While some have been skeptical about the actual results facial rollers deliver, the truth is that the best facial rollers can target some of your top skincare concerns and sculpt, de-bloat, smooth, and massage your facial skin. Much like a professional in-salon treatment, they help increase the flow of blood in your face to decrease puffiness and keep your skin looking and feeling rejuvenated. Unlike pro treatments, however, rollers are extremely budget friendly (no more pondering how often should you get a facial while simultaneously fretting over your bank balance)

By targeting and stimulating the lymphatic system, facial rollers phase out toxins and ease muscle tension in much the same way a killer facial massage does. "Without realizing it, we carry a lot of tension in our face, and the pressure from a roller releases that tension, just like a massage would for the body," Emily Buckwell, of beauty brand CurrentBody, tells woman&home. "Since the beginning of lockdown, we’ve seen a significant increase in products that can help you to relax as well as treat your skin."

"Facial rollers are a great tool to encourage and improve lymphatic drainage, boost circulation, relieve tension, tone muscles, and brighten the skin," says Alice Moore, celebrity makeup artist, facialist, and founder of Kyūshi. "Using a tool allows for a cooling effect that hands can’t achieve."

Skincare benefits of the best facial rollers

Made with materials like jade, rose quartz, amethyst, stainless steel, and smooth plastic—just like the best gua sha tools or the best derma rollers—facial rollers serve as a good companion to your skincare routine. 

Jade rollers are said to have been part of beauty routines of the Chinese since the Qing dynasty in the early 17th Century. But this age-old beauty tool now comes in a range of materials and iterations. Each one promises a different range of results depending on your skincare concerns. 

• Depuffing: You will want to invest in a jade roller if you’re hoping to depuff your skin. 
• Cooling: A freezer-friendly ice roller (or even facial cooling globes, anyone?) is the best facial roller for you if you’re searching for a cooling effect. 
• Sculpting: There are facial rollers out there specifically built to work out your facial muscles.
• Contouring: Choose a facial roller with vibrating capabilities to help contour your facial angles. 
• Smoothing: A rose quartz roller will smooth wrinkles and improve skin’s elasticity.

The best facial rollers, as chosen by our beauty experts

The cooling effect of any facial roller is one of the most luxurious and refreshing aspects of this practice. Jade stones in particular are known to retain their coolness for a noticeably longer time. These stones remain just as refreshing as you finish your skincare routine as they were when you started. 

Calming on red and inflamed areas of skin and refreshing on facial skin overall, this facial roller is best for targeting a range of skincare challenges. Think fine lines and wrinkles, general puffiness, and the loss of skin elasticity we all encounter as we age. 

The smaller head fit snugly into our undereye area for general puffy eyes relief and sinus drainage, leaving you literally breathing easier than when you started your skincare routine. We recommend using this jade roller as the final step in your skincare night routine or first thing in the morning to give your a fresh start.

Consider this ice roller to be the hangover cure you didn’t know you needed. Widely considered a “morning after multiple martinis” essential across our team of beauty editors, you won’t know how you survived before you knew the magic of this inexpensive ice roller. 

Store in the freezer for easy access and an instant cooling effect that will work immediate wonders for puffy under-eyes first thing in the morning. We suggest prepping your skin with the best eye cream you can find to really maximize the benefits of the cooling effect and truly rejuvenate your skin.  

For best results, we used this with repetitive motions for a good five to ten minutes as we caught the morning news and made our coffee. Dedicated use has led us to see a noticeable shift in the firmness of our skin and the tightness of our jawlines instantly. Order this must-have facial roller and see the magic for yourself!

Amethyst facial rollers can be counted on to reduce dark circles and general under-eye puffiness, tone facial muscles, and increase circulation. What sets amethyst apart from other facial rollers are the infrared rays in amethyst that are said to slightly raise skin temperature to increase circulation. Amethyst is also known to ward off negative energy and stress—something we could all use a little less of these days—and remove toxins from the skin. Think: less bacteria and toxins and clearer, blemish-free skin. 

Much like its jade and rose quartz counterparts, this amethyst roller serves as the ideal last step in a skincare routine and will help your skin drink up the benefits of your serums and creams. Think of this facial roller as a way to seal the deal on all the nutrients and benefits that come with your skincare products of choice and as a small moment of self-care to end your day.

Rose quartz, a.k.a. the love stone, has been used for centuries to fight signs of aging and target inflammation and redness. Much like its jade sister, this rose quartz iteration retained its coolness and stayed as such as we worked through our skincare routine.

Infused with magnesium and iron, rose quartz helps remove dead skin cells and promote healing, which means rolling with this facial roller over others will do more than just relax tense facial muscles. Consider this facial roller if you’re searching for a tool to help with cell turnover and healing your skin. Our blemish- and redness-prone editors rated this facial roller as a must-try for anyone struggling with similar skincare concerns.

Not only that, but this Instagram-worthy facial roller will look beautiful on your vanity and the soft pink hue will be just as soothing visually as it is on your facial skin.

A 24-karat gold vibrating bar that tones and revives your skin sounds almost too good to be true, doesn’t it? This luxurious real gold sculpting bar rings in at a pricey $195 (or £221), but the immediate results we saw after using this facial roller just one time might just make it worth it. The lifted and toned effects were remarkable, it was almost enough to make us want to forget how to contour makeup altogether.

Jaw tension and facial tightness can be a common result of stress. This sculpting facial roller as a way to relieve some of that facial tension and to help you finally relax your jaw after a long day of a multitude of stressors. 

Whether you are looking for an addition to your nightly routine to ward off stress, or a morning elixir to reduce puffiness and water retention, you’ll be amazed at the instant results of this vibrating bar. The gentle vibrating targets tension without overstimulating your face for a relaxing and effective end to your evening routine. 

Using sonic vibration and utilizing the benefits of amethyst stones that include reducing toxins and bacteria, this luxury massaging facial roller is an easy-to-use solution for wrinkles and aging skin. Built to target and smooth out fine lines, the massaging capabilities of this facial roller will give you a self-care moment you’ll look forward to all day.

This facial roller is unique in its combination of factors that you rarely find in one beauty tool: amethyst stones and ultrasonic technology. It combines the historically beneficial aspects of facial rolling with the latest technology for a truly effective end to your evening skincare routine.

Our editors loved this facial roller for its compact size that made it travel-friendly and  foolproof. While some of the heavier rollers in this collection will quickly tire out your arm, we found this combination facial roller to be light enough to use for extended periods of time. 

Microneedling is a cosmetic procedure also known as collagen induction therapy. Tiny needles make small punctures in the surface of the skin in order to promote healing and cell turnover to reduce the appearance of fine lines and fade scars and dark marks on the skin. 

While in the past this has been an in-office only procedure reserved for trained dermatologists and facialists, safe at-home options have been popping up that allow users to take their microneedling procedures into their own hands. 

This facial roller is the best on the market when it comes to DIY microneedling. Developed by an expert aesthetician for at-home use, this facial roller stimulates skin regeneration as it exfoliates the skin and delivers brighter skin. 

Our editors experienced a slightly uncomfortable but not painful sensation while testing this facial roller and made sure to sanitize after each use. After just a few weeks of use, we saw brighter and more even skin texture, and an overall plumper complexion. The prickliness was par for the course as with any microneedling session, but we did see an increase in glow and plumpness after around two to three uses.

The best technique for using facial rollers

Not a lot goes into learning how to use a facial roller. It's quite literally as easy as 1, 2, 3—you just need to know your way around a few simple steps:

1. Cleanse: Start by cleansing and preparing your skin for a mini massage courtesy of your new facial roller. Wash your skin with the best cleanser you have on hand and gently pat dry using a fresh towel to avoid spreading any germs to your facial skin. 
2. Prep: Use a nourishing face serum or oil to prep skin and give the facial roller something to roll with. By using an oil or serum, you will ensure that your facial roller doesn’t tug at your skin. 
3. Roll: Starting in the center of your face, roll under your eyes and towards your temples. Next, roll outwards under the jawline towards your ears. Finally, roll along your eyebrows and up towards your hairline. Use gentle but firm pressure as you roll and address each area numerous times. Note: Choosing one direction to roll is essential for lymphatic drainage. We recommend moving in an upwards direction to lift your skin for a quick boost. 

woman&home thanks Emily Buckwell of CurrentBody and Alice Moore of Kyūshi for their time and expertise.