Start Dry Brushing Your Skin
Have you heard of dry brushing? That phrase alone sounds a little weird - the words “dry” and “brushing” don’t exactly sound appealing together. Dry brushing is using a coarse brush across all parts of your skin, from your head to your toes. If you haven’t heard of dry brushing, you probably think this is some new skin care craze that will pass. But if you can believe it, dry brushing has been around for centuries, and has been making quite the comeback in the skin care world. Who would have thought, right?
History of Dry Brushing
So why is dry brushing making a comeback? Because of its touted ability to keep your skin looking younger and healthier. Yes, that’s right. Dry brushing claims to be the skin care solution you thought didn’t exist – it’s affordable, easy, and has proven results in keeping your skin looking healthy, maintaining that vibrant glow, reducing the appearance of cellulite, and even helping to reduce fine lines and wrinkles. Sounds pretty amazing, right? We thought so too. Which is why we decided to dig into dry brushing. Does it really do everything it claims to do? Is it worth all the effort? How many people really see results? If you’re wanting to know more about dry brushing, read on. Dry brushing may just be the solution you’ve been looking for to fight the effects of aging.
Skin brushing started thousands of years back, in ancient times, used by the Greeks, Japanese, and even American Indians. Whether using a coarse instrument or sand to scrub their skin, these ancient cultures knew the healthy benefits of dry brushing. The Scandinavians and Russians have been using this technique for centuries as well. But it wasn’t until the last 30 years that it emerged from history. A Finnish doctor made headlines in the skin and health care world when people learned his prescribed treatment to stimulate, exfoliate, and detoxify the skin – dry brushing.
As bizarre as it sounded to many, dry brushing has slowly been gaining traction. Enough traction that it is now an incredibly popular treatment in a variety of circles. Celebrities praise its benefits. Natural healthcare workers can’t stop raving about it. And stores everywhere are beginning to sell it. Word is spreading. And apparently, it works. From the time of the antiquities to now, dry brushing continues to provide people with proven results. Watch this video from Ashley's Green Life to see how dry brushing is done, before you learn about the benefits.
Benefits of Dry Brushing
So what are the benefits to dry brushing? Does it really help your skin? Read on to learn how dry brushing benefits your body and fights the signs of aging, giving you the skin you want to have!
Dead Skin Removal
The main benefit you’ll hear everyone talk about (and the one you’ll likely notice) is dead skin removal. Considering how much exfoliation is emphasized when it comes to proper facial skin care, it is surprising we’ve never thought of doing it for our entire skin. But that is exactly what dry brushing does. It removes your dead skin cells, helping that new layer of skin to come through. This keeps your skin looking smoother and brighter, which helps you look younger! It also helps to reduce fine lines and wrinkles on your skin.
Added bonus – removing those dead skin cells helps to keep your pores clear. This in turn helps with any ingrown hairs you see popping up on your body. Instead of picking at the ingrown hairs, trying to make the hair break through the surface, dry brushing will help to remove the skin over the ingrown hair for you. No picking required!
Cellulite Reduction
Cellulite is the bane of almost every woman’s existence and she gets older. Those dimples on your thighs during swimsuit season can be frustrating, to say the least. And it often seems that no amount of dieting or exercise can get rid of them. Yet paying thousands of dollars to get rid of them doesn’t seem like the right solution either. This is where dry brushing steps in. Cellulite is caused by a variety of things, including toxic material that accumulates in your body’s fat cells. When you use a dry brush over the affected areas, the dry brushing action helps to break down those toxins. When you break down the toxins, you help restore the connective tissue in your body, helping the skin appear more plump, allowing those dimples to be filled in!
Using a dry brush for cellulite also helps to soften any hard fat deposits underneath your skin. You then help to distribute the fat more evenly, reducing the appearance of cellulite. Overall, that sounds like a win!
Lymphatic Drainage
While that word may look a little too scientific, let us explain before you move on to the next section. Your lymphatic system is the part of your body that removes or eliminates the cellular waste your body produces. This system runs all throughout your body, as the lymphatic tubules collect waste from your tissue and move it to your blood for elimination.
So why is this lymphatic drainage important? When that lymphatic system isn’t working correctly, any waste and toxins building up in your tissues won’t get drained. When the waste and toxins don’t get drained, your body can’t perform the functions it uses to keep your skin looking young and healthy. But when you use a dry brush, you actually stimulate your lymphatic system, encouraging it to drain those toxins, making dry brushing one of the many ways you can detox your body, keeping it healthy and youthful.
Blood Circulation
Going along with the lymphatic drainage, listed above, improving blood circulation helps in that process. When your blood circulation is good, your body’s ability to drain waste through the blood stream greatly improves. But good blood circulation does more than just improve waste removal. When you have good blood circulation, your body is able to get the nutrients pumping through your blood where they need to go. What does that mean, you may be wondering? That means that the blood circulation will assist the body in creating collagen, pushing a new layer of skin forward, and a variety of other things your skin needs assistance in to make it look young and healthy.
Stress Relief
Did you know that stress increases the signs of aging? Having stress hormones run through your body reduces the good hormones – the hormones that help your skin maintain its elasticity and youth. But sometimes it’s hard to keep the stress levels down. Life for many of us can be hectic and difficult, and controlling stress levels can seem impossible. When you incorporate dry brushing into your daily routine, you actually help your stress levels go down. Why? Well, first, you’re taking time to do something for you with these DIY stress relief skin recipes. If you are in a quiet space, you’re able to meditate as you dry brush, helping to clear your mind and provide some mental relief. Second, dry brushing is like a light massage. Which means it helps to reduce muscle tension and bring a sense of calm and order. All of these things help to reduce stress, which your entire body loves!
Overall Health
Many people become rather obsessed with dry brushing once they get started. And for good reason. Dry brushing, aside from all the benefits we’ve already listed, is invigorating. It helps to stimulate nerve endings in the skin (which is what makes it feel so good!), helps with providing better muscle tone, allows the skin to absorb nutrients better, and eventually creates tighter skin over time. The more you do it, the better your skin will feel.
Dry Brushing Your Face
With all of the benefits we’ve just described for dry brushing your body, you may be wondering if it is something you should do to your face. We’ve wondered the same thing. Which is better, dry brushing or exfoliation? Which is more effective at giving your skin that youthful look that so many of us work towards?
Dry brush enthusiasts claim that by dry brushing your face, you exfoliate your skin better, you brighten your complexion, and you reduce puffiness. And increasing the blood circulation and assisting with lymphatic drainage on your skin are added benefits to using a dry brush on your face. All of these benefits are what can help reduce wrinkles and fine lines on your face, keeping you looking as healthy as you possibly can.
Still having doubts?
While there are many benefits, it sounds rather counterintuitive. When thinking about how dry brushing works, the first thing that raised a red flag for us was the brush itself. The reason dry brushing is so effective on your skin is because the brush is coarse – it’s able to force that dead skin off from areas that aren’t as delicate and sensitive as the skin on your face. The skin on your body is more tough, which means it needs that coarser brush. But is that what the sensitive skin on your face needs? Can it handle that kind of roughness?
The answer is yes and no. Surprisingly enough, using a dry brush on your face can be both safe and effective, as long as you know how to do it. The most important thing to remember when trying it on your face is to be gentle – because the brush is more coarse, you don’t need to apply as much pressure to your face as you do to the rest of your body.
Now, that being said, to avoid causing irritation or inflammation, make sure the bristles on your brush aren’t too coarse before using it on your skin. If your dry brush isn’t as soft, you may want to consider getting a separate one for your face.
How to Dry Brush Your Skin
Make sure that you read the following guide on how to dry brush your skin before doing it for the first time. Because dry brushing involves removing dead skin cells, you’ll want to time your dry brushing around when you are taking a bath or shower. Otherwise, you won’t be able to wash those dead skin cells off (which defeats the purpose of dry brushing!)
- Start at the bottom of your body, at your ankles. Then move up towards the heart – this is the direction that lymphatic fluid flows. Brushing in that same direction helps your lymphatic drainage be more effective.
- As you brush up your body, you’ll move the brush in circular, upward motions along the body, transitioning to long, smooth strokes.
- Your back is the only part of the body you’ll do differently. For your back, move the brush from the neck down to the lower back.
- Be aware of the softer, more sensitive skin found in areas around the chest. These areas should be treated more gently. Also avoid any damaged parts of your skin. Any part of your skin with sores, sun burns, inflammation, or any other skin ailment should not be worked with a dry brush.
- Take a shower or bath once you’ve gone over your entire body to wash away the dead skin cells and cleanse your body.
- Lather your body in a moisturizer to provide the extra nutrients and overall moisturizer to your skin.
- Repeat two to three times a week should help you get the results you’re looking for.
Dry brushing may sound too good to be true, but considering how affordable it is, it may be worth a try. While results aren’t guaranteed for everyone, we’re sure you’ll find your skin looking and feeling younger!
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