A celebrity favourite and centuries-old beauty ritual, dry brushing has plenty of devoted fans due to its skin-loving benefits. Used to exfoliate dead skin cells and enhance blood flow, dry brushing is a popular way to rejuvenate your skin and make it look younger. If you’re curious about this skin care process and its benefits, check out our tips and techniques for beginners!
What is Dry Brushing?
Dry brushing is a form of exfoliating and rejuvenating your skin by massaging your body with a dry, stiff-bristled brush. You take a body brush and use it to gently massage your body in an upward motion. It helps alleviate flaky skin (especially dry winter skin), increases circulation, detoxifies your skin and even helps with digestion. Dry brushing brushes typically have long, natural bristles that provide firm resistance against the skin, as well as long handles so they can be used on hard to reach areas like the back. Neither the brush nor your skin should be wet or damp, hence the “dry” part of dry brushing.
What Are the Benefits of Dry Brushing?
1. Exfoliates Your Skin
Dry brushing is one of the best ways to exfoliate your skin. When you exfoliate on dry skin, the friction is increased as opposed to when the skin is wet. When there’s more friction, exfoliation is more effective. Because of this, dry brushing can enhance skin radiance and light reflection so the skin looks brighter. This can help reduce the appearance of cellulite, although it doesn’t actually diminish cellulite itself.
2. Boosts Circulation
Dry brushing provides increased circulation by pushing blood to the areas you dry brush. If you notice your skin is red after dry brushing, it’s no cause for concern, it’s just a bit of inflammation as a result of increased circulation. Proper circulation ensures that blood and oxygen continuously flow throughout the body, allowing every organ to function properly. It’s key to maintaining optimal health on top of giving your skin a natural glow.
3. Helps with Lymphatic Drainage
Dry brushing also encourages lymphatic drainage. Blood carries lymph fluid, which filters through the lymph nodes. Dry brushing speeds up the rate of blood pumping, helping get the lymph through the body, and removing toxins and pathogens more quickly.
What Are the Risks of Dry Brushing?
1. It’s Not Great for Sensitive Skin
If you have super sensitive skin, it may be best to skip dry brushing altogether. Brushing too vigorously or frequently can create small micro-cuts and cause irritation and dryness, which can be even worse for those with sensitive skin. It’s also not recommended for people with eczema, psoriasis or excessive dry skin, as it can aggravate these conditions further.
2. Skin Irritation
Irritation from dry brushing can occur due to using a firm, coarse brush on dry skin. Brushing too hard or for prolonged periods can result in skin irritation. While you may notice your skin gets red after dry brushing, skin abrasions aren’t results you should expect.
3. Avoid Dry Brushing Cracked or Wounded Skin
If your skin is too dry or cracked, you should steer away from dry brushing altogether. The cracks in your skin can lead to cuts or wounds if you’re using an abrasive brush on sensitive skin. If you have an open wound on your skin, be sure to avoid this area to avoid introducing bacteria or infection.
3 Dry Brushing Essentials to Invest In
1. Dry Brushing Body Brush
This dry brushing body brush helps eliminate dry, flaky skin, reduce impurities and achieve a more youthful skin appearance. Made with high quality, cruelty-free harvested boar bristles, it’s designed to contour your body with unique contour-cut bristles. This allows you to brush over the surface of your skin more effectively.
2. Polishing Dry Brush
While some people like having a handle on their dry brush, others prefer a brush with a comfortable grip belt for easy handling. It’s lightweight and easy to carry and pack, so it’s ideal if you want to bring your brush traveling and don’t want to pack one with a long handle. It’s made with soft hair nylon to protect the skin while thoroughly cleaning the whole body.
3. Facial Dry Brush
You shouldn’t be using the same dry brush for your face as you do for your body. Enter: a facial dry brush that features gentle, natural bristles to exfoliate and cleanse your skin. It helps remove dead skin cells, stimulates blood flow and leaves your complexion looking clean and smooth.
3 Dry Brushing Tips and Techniques
1. Work From the Bottom Up
To start the dry brushing process, begin at your feet and brush upward toward the heart. The point of dry brushing is to encourage lymph toward your upper torso and chest, where lymphatic fluid will re-enter the bloodstream.When you move to your arms (after your feet, legs and midsection), start at your hands and work upward. Use slightly firm, medium strokes and work in a circular motion. Use lighter pressure in areas where your skin is thin and harder pressure on thicker areas like the soles of your feet. For your stomach, work in a clockwise direction.
2. Master the Strokes
The dry brushing strokes should be medium pressure- you want to be able to feel it happening without irritating the skin. Long strokes are ideal since you’re trying to push up lymph fluid, which requires a delicate and rhythmic touch. Be sure to do each pass more than once and overlap sections while brushing. You can switch to shorter, quicker movements along bends like your joints.
3. Take a Post-Dry Brush Shower
Be sure to take a shower after you dry brush to rinse off all the dead skin cells. Consider standing in the shower while you dry brush so the flakes don’t fly around your bathroom. Follow your shower with a moisturizer, and if you’re heading out for the day, lather on sunscreen as dry brushing can make your skin more sensitive to the sun.
Dry brushing is a wonderful skin-loving technique that can seriously rejuvenate your skin. Do it for all its skin-loving qualities and watch your skin transform!
