Dry brushing is a type of skin brushing that has many benefits (according to everyone on the topic). I hadn’t heard about dry brushing until recently, I felt like it would be a hoax and this would be a fad that would come and go. After giving it a bit of research, I had to try it out. I felt kind of ridiculous when I was brushing my skin for the first time, but after I completed the first few days I noticed a difference in my skin. I honestly was hoping it didn’t work so that I wouldn’t have to add another step to my already time consuming morning ritual.
HOW TO DRY BRUSH
I read several instructions on how to do this, according to everything I could find about the subject you want to use an all natural brush (not a synthetic bristle brush, I will link the one I use below) and brush when you are completely dry (hence “dry brushing”) before you shower. You want to brush up in sweeping motions, from your toes to your thigh and your fingers to your shoulders. The best rule of thumb is to brush towards your heart. Be careful not to push too hard because the brush exfoliates and you can rough up your skin too much. I got over excited when brushing my elbows and over exfoliated, take it from me it’s not fun to over brush. You will be able to tell the pressure you need as you go, some areas are more sensitive than others. For example, my inner thighs and inner arms were a bit more tender than my shins or my stomach.
It’s suggested to dry brush at least once a day and for best results do twice a day. In my opinion, once a day is plenty, like I said you don’t want to over brush. After you brush, apply some lotion or natural oil to your skin since you just exfoliated. It’s recommended to wash your brush with soap at least once a week, since you are brushing your dead skin off with this brush, I would say it’s not so much recommended as it is necessary to wash it once a week.
Overall, I think dry brushing works, my skin is so much softer and I swear my cellulite is disappearing, and maybe it’s all in my head since I have been hitting the gym more, but I seriously think dry brushing has something to do with it. If you have scaly skin or dry patches like I do in the winter, this is definitely something you should try out. (Side note: I didn’t take before and after pictures because you really wouldn’t be able to tell the difference from a photo, not to mention I didn’t want to take awkward pictures of my skin)
WHY YOU NEED THIS IN YOUR LIFE
- EXFOLIATION – This benefit is obvious, you are brushing the dead skin off, but you will notice that your skin will be softer and brighter. This is a natural way to exfoliate which helps the dead skin slough off and turn over, it also may help with ingrown hairs.
- CLEANS PORES – Brushing continuously will also help cleanse your pores, you are removing all of the dead skin, residue and dirt from your pores. This will help the products (you are probably spending tons of money on) better absorb into your skin.
- CELLULITE – Dry brushing increases circulation helping to break up those stubborn fat deposits. There isn’t much definitive research to support this but I swear it works; since there really isn’t a down side to dry brushing, if you do it correctly, I say go for it!
- LYMPHATIC DRAINAGE – Sounds disgusting, I know, but great for skin and overall health. Lymph nodes help eliminate toxins naturally from your body, this is why when you have a cold you may notice the lymph nodes in your neck are swollen. Many of the lymph nodes in the body lie just below the skin surface and dry brushing can help to stimulate their natural flow.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT DRY BRUSH
This is the brush I use, I purchased it from Amazon and it works great! It also has a handle extension, my arms are long enough to reach the middle of my back but if yours aren’t this would be a great feature for you. The bristles are natural and aren’t too coarse, I haven’t experienced a ton of shedding. A few bristles came out at first, but after a few uses I haven’t seen an issue.
If you want to try out dry brushing I would say this brush is a great place to start because it is affordable and you can always upgrade later if you feel it necessary.
To wrap up this super long blog post, if you made it all the way through congratulations and thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post be sure to give it a like and let me know in the comments your thoughts on dry brushing.
