So I bought myself some Fraîcheur Ice Globes. If you follow stalk Tracee Ellis Ross as meticulously as I do, you will have seen such globes appear on the beauty routine video she did for Vogue (link at the bottom). If you read your paper UK Vogue carefully, as you always should, you have seen Ice Globes featured, somewhat confusingly, in an article about home exercise in the November issue.

The thought process before adding to basket was thusly short, but very determined: my middle-aged face needs a regular DIY cryotonic massage. I was also emboldened by my very successful recent beauty-purchase of Revitalash, which has, unusually for a cosmetic product, actually delivered on what it promises. (A friend noticed my newly extended lashes and made an unprompted comment about them.)

I’ll first cover the basics for those who have actual lives and no time to watch everything on Youtube. Cryotonic ice globes, in this case by the brand Fraîcheur, are essentially child-sized maracas made of glass. The globes are filled with anti-freeze liquid. You pop them in a fridge or freezer and then give your face a cryotonic massage. In industry-speak, it will “increase the blood flow and reduce puffiness for an amazing contouring”.

I put mine in a freezer and then for a couple of days forgot I had them. Hence my user experience with the globes is not very long, but I suppose immediate results can be of interest as well.

The point, I guess, is to use the ice globes in the mornings to reduce puffiness and wake up the skin. They definitely deliver on the latter. I glided my globes along the contours of my face, post-serum, focusing on the area around the eyes. Having a little bit of slick ie. oily serum or such, helps.

The ice-cold globes can be quite slippery as the frosty surface inevitably melts to wet moisture, including in the handles, so a certain level of agility must be maintained throughout.

It definitely felt fresh, and the round shape of the globes was perfect for de-puffing the eye area. In comparison to cold spoons, my thus far go-to, the ice globes stay cold for ages, should you have the time and inclination.

I didn’t follow any particular massage strategy for my first couple of test rounds, and am not 100% sure you really need much instructions for this – stroking the globes upwards along your face probably does not require a manual. But as is the case with everything, there’s ample information about various cryotonic facial massages online.

The globes definitely delivered on waking up the skin and increasing the blood flow – of course they would: you are essentially rubbing ice-cubes on your skin. I actually worried at one point that I might have given myself a frost-bite as I was really going at my under-eye situation.

Do you need ice globes? Absolutely not, unless there are no spoons in your household, and probably not even in that case. As a friend put it, having such fancy gadgets merely adds to the motivation to keeping with these small additions to a skincare routine. Ice globes are basically your dessert spoons upgraded.

If you have no access to facial treatments during the lockdowns or just want to kill it in the next Teams-meeting, why not give these big balls a chance. I suppose sticking you jade roller/almost anything in the freezer will deliver similar results.

If I manage to regularly stick to an ice globe-routine for a longer period and notice anything shift in my face, I will report back. So far I have noticed, with great satisfaction, the immediate effect the cold massaging has on puffy under-eyes.

In the meanwhile enjoy Tracee Ellis Ross’s beauty routine below.