Dry Brushing: What, Why and How

The ‘Dry Brushing’ trend is relatively new to the internet and I hopped on that wagon sometime last November. I’m always looking for new methods of detox and this one is surprisingly worth the hype.

What is Dry Brushing?

Basically, it’s exactly what it sounds like. It’s the act of taking a brush and, yeah – brushing your skin! There’s a method for it to have optimal results. It’s usually done before showering. Later in this article, I will give you a step-by-step “How To”.

But why Dry Brush? What are the Benefits?

It’s said that it stimulates blood flow and the lymphatic system, (a major player when it comes to the immune system). Because it stimulates this system, dry brushing aids in the body’s detoxification process. 🙂 Sounds great, right? Always on the lookout for ways to boost the immune system.

Dry brushing is also a fantastic way to exfoliate the skin. It removes all that excess dry skin that exfoliating while showering may miss. I noticed the first time I dry brushed how much smoother my skin was after a shower.

Lots of people say they notice that dry brushing helps reduce the appearance of cellulite, also. I have yet to find any real research to back up that claim, but hey – it doesn’t hurt to try it!

After about a week or so of dry brushing regularly, I noticed that my pores were much smaller. I used to have these little, (barely noticeable), red dots on my upper arms. Dry brushing eliminated them!

All in all, the Benefits of Dry Brushing include: 

• Incredible exfoliation
• Smaller Pores!
• Helps Detoxify the body
• Possible reduction in the appearance of cellulite

Read more in this article from Healthline that also discuss the possible risks.

How to Dry Brush: 

1. Start at the bottoms of your feet, using long strokes. ALWAYS BRUSH TOWARDS THE CENTER OF YOUR BODY, for best results.
2. Go up your legs, (you may notice a ‘dust’ coming off of you and this is good – it’s all that dead, dry skin that needs removed anyways).
3. Keep going up your body, stomach area and lower back.
4. Brush your arms, (I focused heavily, at first, on my upper arms where those little red bumps were)
5. Careful around the chest, as the skin is more sensitive there.
6. Always brush towards the heart 🙂
7. Shower – NEVER GET THE BRUSH WET.
8. Apply lotion over entire body after shower.

Tips: Don’t brush too hard and you may want to do it while standing in the shower so that the dry skin doesn’t get on your floor. 🙂

The photo in this article is my personal dry brush. I do it before every shower. It doesn’t take long and it makes a huge difference in the smoothness of my skin. Below are the best, affordable dry brushes I’ve found – including mine 🙂

What do you think? Have you tried dry brushing? What differences do you notice? Let me know in the comments.