Dry brushing is one of my favourite anti-ageing night time rituals. Brushing our body helps to get rid of all the dry, dead skin cells which unclogs our pores. It also smoothes, strengthens and firms our skin through enhancing circulation and regeneration of skin cells, promoting a glowing, smooth and radiant complexion!
The ancient technique of dry brushing goes far deeper than just the appearance of your skin though, it actually promotes detoxification. The brushing technique activates the removal of wastes via the lymph nodes. In other words, It stimulates our lymphatic system which is responsible for eliminating cellular waste products. We have many lymphatic tubules throughout our body that collect waste from tissues and transports it to our blood for elimination. This whole process is called lymphatic drainage but if toxins build up and we get congestion then this can cause inflammation and various skin conditions. Dry brushing helps to move and stimulate lymphatic drainage and increases circulation which then encourages the elimination of waste and toxins.
Here’s a quick overview of the benefits of dry skin brushing:
1. Reduces cellulite
The detoxification process helps to reduce cellulite. Cellulite is fat-deposits under the skin that appears lumpy. Dry brushing can help to smooth the skin and strengthen the connective tissue, reducing this appearance. Cellulite can be caused by hormonal imbalances, stress, toxin build up or lifestyle and diet habits so depending on the cause of cellulite, dry brushing may reduce or get rid of cellulite or it may only be temporary. It depends on the root cause.
2. Detoxification
As I already mentioned, dry brushing helps to flush out the toxins through the lymphatic system. This reduces inflammation and excess fluid
3. Exfoliates
If you think about it, we exfoliate our face but we never really exfoliate our whole body. Dry brushing does just that, it gets rid of the dead skin cells, promoting a smoother complexion and allowing the skin to better absorb moisture.
4. Enhances circulation
Dry brushing enhances our circulatory system which is the pathway that carries vital nutrients and oxygen around the body for all our cells and systems and that same system that also carries waste and toxins out to be detoxified. This means, dry skin brushing supports this system by boosting blood flow that will better deliver nutrients and oxygen and get rid of toxins, which is essential to keep our skin looking radiant and clear!
How to Dry Brush
Dry brushing has a very specific technique which ensures fluids and toxins are moved in a specific direction. First, starting at your feet, move in long, smooth upward strokes, moving towards the centre of your body (your heart). Brushing each section between 5-10 times, keep moving up your body. Around your stomach, back and armpit area, brush in a circular clockwise motion then back to long smooth strokes starting from your finger tips, down your arms towards your chest. I do my neck area last and you want to be quite gentle around this area. You can also buy a specific gentle face brush to also do your face. After dry brushing, your will appear a little red but it shouldn’t hurt or feel sore. If you are, then you may have a too harsh brush or be pressing too hard. Once I’m finished, I hop into the shower to wash off all the dead skin cells. You can also go from hot to cold, this helps to boost your circulation even more (plus a load of other benefits which I will talk about later!).
Thanks for being here! I hope this post has convinced you to try this for yourself! When buying a brush, you want a natural bristled brush as synthetic bristles can be too harsh.
Once you have your dry brush, light a candle, diffuse some calming oils and enjoy this beautiful night time ritual!
Allison xo
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