Sadiye Aktas: The real value of Gold is believing in your own path. Face Massage Italian Massage Contest 2026

Who is Sadiye Aktas? Tell us a little about yourself and your journey into the world of massage. How did it all begin? Was there a particular moment when you realized that massage would become an important part of your professional life?

My name is Sadiye Aktas. I have been working in the field of massage and manual techniques for around ten years. For me, massage has never been simply a profession. It has been a journey of continuous learning, curiosity, research, and personal development. Over the years, I became increasingly fascinated by the face. I wanted to understand not only its aesthetic aspects, but also the muscles, fascia, circulation, and the connection between touch and overall well-being. This curiosity encouraged me to explore different techniques and, over time, develop my own approach to facial massage. Today, I continue to work with my own techniques while sharing my knowledge and experience with other professionals.

Every professional develops their own way of working over time. How would you describe your approach to massage? Is there a principle or value that you always try to bring into your work, regardless of the technique you are using?

For me, massage is not about simply performing a movement correctly. It is about understanding why you are doing it. Anatomical knowledge, understanding the tissues, and recognizing the individual needs of each person are essential to my work. Every body is different. That is why I do not believe in applying exactly the same technique to everyone. I listen with my hands, observe how the tissues respond, and adapt my approach accordingly.

You won the Gold Medal in the Face Massage category. What does this particular area of massage represent to you? What fascinates you most about working on the face, and what do you think makes this discipline so unique? When working on the face, how important are technical precision and, on the other hand, listening and sensitivity through your hands?

Face massage has become a very special part of my professional life. What fascinates me most is the way the face reflects emotions, tension, stress, and our overall state of well-being. Working on the face requires precision, but it also requires sensitivity. Your hands need to listen and understand what the tissues are communicating. For me, technical knowledge and intuition should work together. You need to understand anatomy, but you also need to feel the person in front of you. I believe the real art of facial massage lies in combining knowledge, precision, and sensitivity.

Before arriving at Italian Massage Contest, what did you expect from the competition and from the people you would meet? Was there anything about the Italian Massage Contest experience that particularly surprised you?

Before coming to Italian Massage Contest, I wanted to experience an international environment where I could challenge myself and meet professionals from different countries. I was curious to see different approaches to massage and to represent my own work on an international stage. What surprised me most was that Italian Massage Contest was much more than a competition. It was a place where professionals with different backgrounds and techniques came together through a shared passion for massage. That atmosphere of learning, sharing, and connection was one of the most valuable parts of the experience for me.

How did you prepare for the competition? Was there a particular aspect of your work that you felt you needed to focus on most? Did you experience moments of doubt or difficulty during your preparation? How did you deal with them?

Preparing for the competition was also a process of questioning myself and looking closely at my own work. I focused particularly on precision, flow, and expressing my technique in a clear and authentic way. I did not want to simply demonstrate movements. I wanted my performance to represent my understanding of facial massage and the experience I have built over the years. Of course, there were moments of doubt and nervousness. But instead of allowing them to stop me, I used them as motivation to practice more and trust my experience.

Was there a moment during your performance when you felt completely focused and truly in tune with what you were doing? What is the strongest memory you have from your performance?

When the competition started, there was a moment when everything around me seemed to disappear. I stopped thinking about the judges, the audience, and the result. I simply focused on my hands, my technique, and the person in front of me. That was probably the strongest memory I have from the competition. At that moment, I felt that I was not simply competing. I was expressing something that I had spent years developing.

 When you heard your name announced as the winner of the Face Massage category, what was the very first thought that came into your mind? Was there someone you looked for in the audience, or someone you immediately felt the need to share that moment with? What does that Gold Medal mean to you today?

When my name was announced as the winner of the Face Massage category, I felt an incredible mix of happiness, pride, and gratitude. My first thought was about the journey that had brought me there, all the work, practice, learning, challenges, and moments when I had chosen not to give up. The Gold Medal means much more to me than a medal. It represents the value of believing in your own path and continuing to develop it. It was a very emotional moment, and one that I will always carry with me.

In addition to winning the Gold Medal in Face Massage, you also received the Best Innovation Award. What did it mean to you to receive a recognition specifically connected to innovation? When you think about the word “innovation” in massage, what does it actually mean to you? Where does your desire to experiment, explore, and discover new possibilities in your work come from? Do you think innovation necessarily means creating something completely new, or can it also mean looking at a familiar technique from a different perspective? Is there an idea, technique, or way of working that you have developed over time and that feels particularly yours?

Receiving the Best Innovation Award was especially meaningful to me because innovation is a very important part of the way I work. For me, innovation does not necessarily mean creating something that has never existed before. Sometimes, innovation means looking at something familiar from a different perspective, understanding it more deeply, and finding a new way to apply it. My own approach to facial massage developed in exactly this way. I have always asked myself questions such as: Why does this movement work? What is happening underneath the skin? How can I make the technique more effective while keeping the touch natural and meaningful? Years of observation, research, practice, and experience allowed me to create my own system. Receiving an award specifically for innovation made me very happy because it showed me that this constant desire to explore and improve was visible in my work.

How important do you think it is to find a balance between technical knowledge and creativity? In your opinion, how far can a professional go with creativity while still remaining grounded in solid technical knowledge? Does innovation come more easily from experience, or from the ability to keep asking questions?

 I believe technique and creativity need each other. Technical knowledge gives you a strong foundation, while creativity allows you to use that knowledge in your own way. But creativity should always be supported by solid anatomical and technical understanding. Without that foundation, creativity can easily become random. For me, innovation comes from both experience and curiosity. Experience teaches us what works, but asking questions allows us to discover what could work even better.

During Italian Massage Contest, you had the opportunity to observe professionals with different approaches and backgrounds. Was there anyone or anything that particularly impressed you? What do you think an international competition can teach a professional that they might not be able to learn simply by working on their own?

After experiencing Italian Massage Contest, what does it mean to you to compare yourself with other professionals?

One of the most inspiring parts of Italian Massage Contest was seeing professionals from different countries and backgrounds working in completely different ways. Every person brought their own experience, culture, and understanding of massage to the competition. For me, comparing myself with other professionals is not about deciding who is better. It is about observing, learning, and asking myself what I can take from the experience and how I can continue to improve. An international competition gives you something that working alone cannot always provide: a completely different perspective on your own profession.

Do you think this experience has changed the way you look at your work?

Have the victory and the Best Innovation Award made you want to explore new directions? Is there something you would like to learn or explore further now?

This experience made me look at my work from a different perspective. Winning the Gold Medal and receiving the Best Innovation Award gave me confidence, but they also gave me a greater sense of responsibility. They reminded me that there is always more to learn and explore. Now I feel even more motivated to continue developing my techniques, studying facial anatomy, exploring new approaches, and sharing my knowledge with other professionals.

What is the next professional goal you have set for yourself? When you think about the future of massage, is there anything you would like to see change or evolve within the profession? Is there an idea or project you dream of bringing to life that you have not yet had the opportunity to pursue?

 My next professional goal is to take my own approach to facial massage beyond Türkiye and introduce it to an international audience. I would like to work, collaborate, and learn with professionals from different countries while continuing to develop my own method. I would also like to see massage become increasingly recognized as a professional field that requires knowledge, education, anatomical understanding, and continuous development. One of my dreams is to create an international platform where treatment, education, knowledge sharing, and my own approach to facial massage can come together.

 If you could go back to the moment just before entering the Italian Massage Contest 2026 competition and speak to the Sadiye you were then, what would you tell her?

If I could go back to the moment just before entering the Italian Massage Contest 2026 competition, I would tell myself: “Trust yourself. You have already done the work. Now just enjoy the moment and let your hands speak.” I would also remind myself not to be afraid of being different. Sometimes, the things that make us different are exactly what make our work meaningful and valuable.

If you had to describe in a few words what Italian Massage Contest 2026 has left you with, not just the medal or the award, but the experience as a whole, what would you say?

Italian Massage Contest 2026 left me with much more than a Gold Medal and the Best Innovation Award. It gave me confidence, new connections, new perspectives, and a deeper appreciation for the journey I have taken so far. Seeing years of work recognized on an international stage was an incredibly meaningful experience for me. But I do not see this as the end of a journey. I see it as a new beginning, a motivation to learn more, create more, share more, and take my approach to facial massage to more people around the world. For me, massage is a continuous journey of learning, feeling, and discovering. And I believe the most exciting part is that the journey is still ahead of me.

Interview collected for our magazine. Special thanks to Sadiye Aktas -Face Massage Italian Massage Contest 2026 - for her availability and the sincerity with which he shared own vision.