Princess Kate attended the annual Christmas Carol Service on December 6. Indeed, many wondered if the glow was the work of twinkling lights overhead or something less obvious, like a secret skin care ritual.

The royal family's beauty routine is notoriously shrouded in mystery; in 2019, when a British plastic surgeon claimed that the Princess of Wales “loves Botox for babies,” the palace quickly issued a brief statement calling the rumor “categorically untrue.” The statement reportedly added, “The Royal Family never endorses commercial activities.” Most of what we know about Princess Kate's favorite beauty products comes from indirect sources. In 2020, for example, Michelle Obama's makeup artist revealed that the former first lady “regularly used Biotuline cream,” which smoothes out lines, “at the recommendation of Kate Middleton. However, it is basically impossible to parse what beauty products and treatments she prefers without reading between the lines.

Still, Hello! Magazine has come up with a new best guess as to how the 42-year-old keeps her complexion glowing and snatched: an oral facial-sculpting technique, Bacal, that Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, is also a fan of. massage.

Buccal massage involves massaging the lower half of the face from the inside outward to relieve tension and define facial contours. Fingers are hooked on either side of the mouth before gently manipulating the chewing and expression-making muscles on the inside of the cheeks.

In other words, yes, this treatment involves having carefully gloved fingers placed inside the mouth. However, this technique has been widely praised as a way to access points around the lips, cheeks, and chin that are not typically addressed by superficial facial massage. By relaxing tight muscles and stimulating lymphatic flow, cheek massage has a variety of therapeutic and cosmetic benefits, including improved circulation, reduction of pain and swelling, and lifting. (Read more: A look at Kate Middleton earlier this very month.)

“It's incredible how a technique that loosens stiff muscles can improve the oval lines of the face, tighten sagging jowls, and add volume to the cheeks,” says Nichelle Temple, facialist and founder of Inderma Studio.

At her New York practice, Temple also offers cheek massage as part of a sculpting facial that incorporates LED light therapy and customized skin care application. Clients are often surprised at how much tension they have,” Temple adds. 'It may feel soft at first, but it eases. The skin regains its radiance, as if it were reborn."

‘The skin is then restored to its natural radiance,’ Temple says.

You may have seen tutorials for home cheek massage floating around on social media before, but Temple cautions the curious to instead seek out a trained esthetician or massage therapist for a true royal treatment . She explains, “The practitioner has advanced knowledge of the process, knows where the muscles are, and is trained in the proper pressure to apply and the movements to activate the release without stimulation.”

Whether cheek massage is really the secret to Princess Kate's well-defined chin remains a mystery. But this much is perfectly clear. Her skin is smooth, grainy, and moist as hell.