Crystals for beginners: how to get started on your crystal healing journey

Crystals are having a moment, whether you’re looking for crystals for beginners or you’re well-versed in their healing powers.

These days it’s just as normal to find a gigantic shard of rose quartz on someone’s desk to ward off negative energy as it is a laptop. Crystals are no longer considered woo-woo or a fringe practice that only Californian hippies indulge in. Nor are they simply the preserve of a certain type of baby boomer—one who probably went to Woodstock and still has the Birkenstocks and embroidered mirror bag to prove it. 

There is a genuine movement among millennials to engage with the healing power of crystals, whether they're using crystals for anxiety or crystals to help sleep. It's a movement part rooted in science, part indulged by celebrity idols. Victoria Beckham, for example, uses crystals backstage at her fashion shows. Katy Perry sleeps with one in her hand and Gwyneth Paltrow—well, we won’t go into where Gwynnie puts her jade eggs.

The current climate also explains the resurgence of crystal culture. “The whole world is made of energy, every person, everything is vibrating at different frequencies,” explains Emma Lucy Knowles, Victoria Beckham’s crystal healer and author of The Power of Crystal Healing: Change Your Energy and Live A High-Vibe Life. 

“When we are happy and buzzing, we emit high vibrations. When we are burnt out or feeling down, which have been recurring feelings during the pandemic, we emit low-energy vibrations. Energy is fluid and changeable so we can use crystals to change our energy and align ourselves with how we want to feel.”

This goes some way to explaining why we’re finding ingenious ways of using crystals. For some 90,000 people who Googled "crystal jade rollers" in the past year, crystal therapy snuck into their skincare ritual while rose quartz is universally considered one of the most soothing crystals to meditate with. (Use it alongside the best meditation apps for some serious de-stressing, even if you're just cleansing crystals.) 

But let’s be honest, the idea of using crystals to cleanse your energy and manifest the things you want is, well, a bit "out there," right?

Ahead, an explainer on crystals for beginners, including how to tap into the trend of using actual rocks for a healthy home or workspace, and how to incorporate crystals into your beauty routine.

Crystals for beginners 101: what you need to know

How to choose the right crystals for beginners

There are no set-in-concrete rules here. “Maybe you just liked the color and shape of the crystals, the way they sparkle or the way they feel but you don’t really know why. However they call to you, it’s all good. That’s your intuition talking,” says Knowles.

It’s also important to remember that, much like your mood, your crystal of choice will change. 

“Try thinking of crystals as being like your closest friendship circle,” Knowles continues. "Each person in that group has a trait you lean on in times of heartache, or when looking for fun or a confidence boost. This is how crystals will call to you. Each has their own healing properties and you’ll learn to instinctively know which one to turn to.”

If you’re looking for the best crystals for beginners, Knowles recommends the following “crystal super set.”

1. Amethyst: “This rich, purple crystal calms and promotes a balance within our inner emotions.”
2. Rose Quartz: “A warming crystal that pulses out pure, radiating, unconditional love.”
3. Tiger's Eye: “The protector and ultimate confidence booster, it allows you to see through your doubts and fears.”
4. Citrine: “This sunshine-yellow crystal burns off negativity. It’s a great piece for the home to disperse the lingering hangover of an argument.”
5. Clear quartz: “This enlightening stone allows us to rise above the noise and daily chatter to a heightened state of connectivity.”

The benefits of crystals for beginners

Crystal healing is a type of alternative therapy that involves using gemstones to bring balance to your life and mind.

 “Crystals are naturally occurring minerals with a unique crystal structure, formed under pressure over millions of years,” explains Knowles. “Each one vibrates at its own frequency and has its own special properties. Crystals work to heal or realign your energy when it’s out of whack or to help you reach your goals.”

In other words, they’re a bit like tuning forks, bringing our energy back into balance. 

Best crystals for beginners

Kitsch is like catnip for millennials with its cute shower caps, face masks and hair-friendly scrunchies—all of which makes buying crystals for beginners more fun and mainstream, as there’s no visiting a fusty old crystal shop to get your rock. You can also make the crystal the centerpiece of your self-care ritual, adding other products from the brand as you go. As for amethyst itself, this rich purple stone helps to calm and balance our inner emotions.

Själ is known for combining elements of ancient Eastern medicines with the latest in Western biotechnology. If you’re looking to dip your toe into gemstone skincare, this serum is packed with a blend of ruby, diamond, amethyst, sapphire, quartz and tourmaline. It manages to be both nourishing and non-greasy, and it doesn't contain any ingredients that could rile sensitive skin. In fact, Själ's founder, Kristin Petrovich, believes the crystals help to heal inflammation. The added bonus is the anti-ageing boost from peptides that ramp up collagen production. 

Over 90,000 people googled 'jade rollers' in 2020 and it's not hard to see why. These naturally cool stones used in a massage tool are said to do everything—from sculpting and firming skin to boosting circulation, enhancing glow, reducing puffiness, minimizing fine lines, detoxifying and helping skincare products penetrate better. Phew! This inexpensive option still ticks all those boxes and its dual-ended tip means the small roller can comfortably glide over puffy under eyes without tugging.

The benefits of this rose quartz tool are two-fold. First, you are adding the benefit of a facial sculptor to your skincare routine, which stimulates circulation and firms the muscles that loosen as you age. Second, this healing stone helps to ease tension, stress and anxiety, as well as promote feelings of happiness and emotional wellbeing. Use it in the mornings to reduce puffiness and eliminate toxins by massaging it in an upward and outward motion starting from the neck area, moving along to your chin, cheeks and around to the eye area. 

Finding the right crystal for you can be daunting. If you want complete ease but still personalization look no further than these pouches, containing four raw, tumbled and polished healing crystals especially for your star sign. In this case, the Scorpio bag contains malachite to help release toxins from the body and promote self-confidence, rose quartz to open the heart chakra and increase self-love, smoky quartz to protect against negative energy and mookaite to help you feel more focused and grounded. 

How to use crystals

“Gently hold them while sitting in meditation or place them on energy centers while lying down,” says Knowles. “Skin-on-skin connection is superbly powerful but crystals are also strong enough to vibrate through your jeans. My pockets, even my bra, are full of them! Or place them in areas of your home that need healing.” 

Is gem-powered skincare the next big thing?

The most obvious way that crystals have made their way into our beauty routines is via crystal rollers. Typically made of jade, rose quartz or amethyst, crystal rollers are hand-held massaging tools typically made with one or two stone heads. The crystals themselves are chosen for two reasons—their alleged healing power and their naturally cool surface.

The roller itself is a swollen face’s enemy. It removes excess fluid under the eye by constricting blood vessels, while the massage action boosts blood circulation and helps products absorb better into your skin. 

But crystals also appear on the ingredients list of high-tech skincare formulations, with their vibrations and energy believed to balance our seriously stressed-out skin.

Kora Organics by Miranda Kerr fuses clean beauty with the power of crystals. She was inspired by her grandparents’ garden, which contained many crystals and she has said she could “feel the magic” of rose quartz. As such, this gemstone features heavily in her skincare line.

Kristin Petrovich, co-founder of Själ Skincare, where each product contains gemstones such as amethyst and tourmaline says: “We are made up of minerals and our bone structure is crystalline, so we naturally resonate with gemstones. Crystals vibrate at a high frequency so when used on the face or body, their healing energy travels towards weaker cells helping to balance them.”

Bring on those good vibes only!