10 Benefits of Dry Brushing Your Skin
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Have you ever heard of Dry Brushing? or Dry Skin Brushing?
Dry brushing is quite the rage in spas and salons right now. You can pay quite a lot of money to have your skin dry brushed. I checked some local salons and a dry brushing treatment can cost upward of $65!
The thing is, it is so easy to do yourself at home in your own bathroom!
My goal for the month of March was to dry brush every day. And, so far so good! It has felt great!
What the heck is dry brushing? It is exactly what it sounds like. You literally brush your skin, while it is dry, with a brush.
You use a special body brush, one with natural bristles, (I like this one) and, using long sweeps, you brush your skin. Many resources suggest starting at the extremities and working your way in to your torso. So you might start at your feet and work your way up your legs. Then start on your hands and work your way up your arms. Then finish with your back, torso and chest.
I read conflicting information on scrubbing your stomach…some sources said you should scrub counter-clockwise, some said clockwise. I can't imagine it matters. If you know why this would matter, please let us know in the comments.
Essentially you are brushing your whole body from toes up with long strokes. The whole process should only take a few minutes
You should scrub hard enough to be brushed and exfoliated but not hard enough to cause welts or irritation. Be sure to avoid spots that have cuts, wounds or other irritation.
I will say, I was surprised at how uncomfortable it was at first. I definitely thought I would have little red scratched on my body…but I did not!
Then you usually hop in the shower and go on with your day!
Now, why in the world would one do this? There have to be benefits of dry brushing, right?
Well, your skin is your largest organ right? And it breathes through your pores. The pores get clogged with dead skin cells and can cause all kinds of problems.
You can experience numerous benefits if you dry brush your skin. Some I think are a little questionable, but hey, this can't hurt you so go for it!
I have definitely experienced 1, 2, 6, 8, 9 and 10 and it has only been a few days!
1. Buffs away dead skin.
2. Promotes clearer and tighter skin.
3. Increases circulation.
4. Opens pores.
5. Boosts lymphatic drainage, moving lymph fluid through lymph nodes, helping to release toxins.
6. Stimulates nerve endings. Rejuvenates nervous system.
7. Reduces appearance of cellulite. (I question anything that makes this claim, but it can't hurt, right?)
8. Increased energy.
9. Inexpensive and easy to do.
10. Just feels good!
Are you going to give it a go?
Exfoliating your face is just as important! While you aren't going to dry brush your face, there are a variety of facial scrubs you can use that are natural and toxin free like these DIY Facial Scrubs from The Crunchy Moose!
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I have been trying to dry brush all fall and winter. But I keep getting these super dry patches on my legs after I brush. I am not doing it too hard and I only brush every other day. Any suggestions? Or is it possible that dry brushing isn’t for everyone? Have you heard about anyone with really dry skin doing this?
I have really dry skin. I just bought a brush to today to get started, but I’ll let you know if I have any problems.
In the meantime, have you tried smoothing coconut oil on your skin afterwards? I’ve also recently been told that a hot or warm shower afterwards helps, then smoothing with lotion or oil, but that the shower should be a fairly long one. Supposedly, it takes a good 20 minutes for your pores to properly open up. I don’t know how true that is, but I’m willing to give it a try if I can find ways to occupy the little ones and keep them out of trouble.
I Had the dry patches. Doctor gave me a cream went away.
Next winter started putting creams on every day all winter
no dry Patches and I use Natural Ing. Creams.
I would think you would dry brush your stomach clockwise as it is the way your large intestine moves. I have been told to rub my babies belly clockwise to get things “moving”.
Yes, the direction used to brush or massage your abdomen matters greatly. The purpose of dry brushing is to stimulate your lymphatic system. When brushing you should you use the lightest pressure as you are able to control. Think of a wave in the ocean, it starts small but continues for miles without “breaking”. When you create a large wave, it peaks then breaks early. Your lymph fluid is generally pretty viscous, think of the consistency of honey, so the slower and lighter you can keep your waves, the more fluid you are able to move. As for the principle of which direction you should brush your stomach, it is based on the flow of your intestinal tract. your ascending colon pushes matter from your lower right abdomen up to your transverse colon, transverse colon moves matter from your right upper abdomen across to the left, from here your descending colon moves matter down the left side of your abdomen for exit. Your intestines/colon are involuntary smooth muscles so by gently massing them in the proper direction, you are aiding their process. Hope this makes sense and helps someone.
If you google “I Love You Massage”, you will find information about the direction to move on your abdomen and why. If you’re doing it for yourself, it’s counter-clockwise. If you’re doing it to someone else, you’ll be moving clockwise. The idea is to start on your left side (or the left side of the person you’re working on) just below the ribs, and put firm pressure (but not putting your weight into it) down towards the front of their hip. That’s the “I” in “I Love You”. Then you start just under the ribs on the right side, apply firm pressure straight across to the spot you started your “I”, then straight down in the same manner. That’s the “L” in “Love”. Then you start on the right side on the front of the hip (opposite your finishing point in the first two movements), go straight up to your starting point for the “L”, then across, then down again. That’s the “U” (think “I Love U”). I suspect that would be the same direction to use when dry brushing, but maybe with lighter pressure?
And now I see that Stephanie gave far better explanation already. 🙂
Ah…that makes sense. Then that would explain for the different things I was reading (counter-clockwise or clockwise). Thanks for sharing!
I have read you drybrush your stomach clockwise if you are looking down (left to right) because that is the direction your colon goes and it helps stimulate your colon.
Oops…large intestine!
How much does it matter if one takes a shower afterward? Just being real here…a shower every day is never going to happen for me!
I read you DO want to shower to rinse off all the dead skin you loosened up, which is holding the toxins you are trying to get rid of. I’m not a daily shower girl either, but I’m already naked after brushing, so I hop in for at least a 60 second rinse, even if I’m going to exercise later.
I was introduced to dry skin brushing by my herbalist and it made a tremendous difference to my health. My appearance too!
I’ve been dry brushing for awhile and I love it. I soak in a hot bath after with Apple cider vinegar and epsom salt.
Hello! I have been reading a lot about dry brushing, but no one seems to have this answer. You say natural bristle brush, which is great, so I was wondering if I could use my boar bristle brush? I initially bought it for my hair, but I don’t really like it for that purpose. So can I use that for this or should I purchase a brush specifically titled as a body brush?
I don’t know for sure but wouldn’t see why not! A body brush is just a stiff natural bristled brush!