The Benefits of Dry Brushing

Last week, I wrote a post on Squalane Oil and briefly talked about dry brushing. I realized I haven’t actually talked about dry brushing on the blog, and thought today was the perfect day for it!

I’m not talking about brushing your hair or your teeth, but your body. Have you heard of this? It’s been around forever, but gained popularity lately. Dry Brushing is exactly what it sounds like, you brush your body with a dry bristle brush to stimulate your lymph system. It sounds a little strange at first, but I promise it’s the best.

You know I love my ice roller and my gua sha for lymphatic stimulation and drainage and this is just another step.

What are the benefits of lympatic drainage?

There are a bunch actually. First, it increases blood circulation. It’s great to get your blood moving and increase energy.

It also may reduce the appearance of cellulite. It hasn’t actually been proven to reduce cellulite, but many people claim that it has decreased the appearance.

Dry brushing exfoliates your skin by removing dead skin and impurities. It also helps unclog and shrink pores.

Again, it promotes lymphatic drainage.

For me personally, it helps relieve stress and anxiety. I have to be careful because I sometimes take out my stress and anxiety on my skin and go a little crazy with the pressure, but when used correctly I feel really relaxed and relived.

What’s the process?

Since I was a little girl, I’ve always liked to hang out in the bathroom for a few minutes with the water running before I actually get in the shower. I take really hot showers, so I like to hang out in the steam for a bit before I get in. I have asked other people if they do this and apparently I am not normal. But I either scroll on my phone, pluck my eyebrows, whatever . Once I started dry brushing, this became my brushing time.

So while I’m all steamy, I start at my feet and ankles. I brush in long repetitive strokes on my legs and arms and then in small circles on the rest of my body. I use enough pressure to be pink not red and definitely decrease pressure on the sensitive parts of my body–boobs and armpits especially!

I brush about 10 times on each body part always towards the heart. I don’t do my face or my neck because they get enough treatments on their own. Then I hop in the shower like normal and remove all the dead skin. I still use this scrub from my wax studio in the shower to help with exfoliation.

When I get out, I apply squalane oil like I mentioned last week.

 What type of brush do you use?

I use this one. I like the natural bristles and the strap on the backside for my hand. It’s very easy to control this way. I’ve read some people prefer the longer handle, but I like this one. It’s kind of the “Goldilocks” of brushes–not too hard, not too soft.

No matter which one you choose, your brush should have stiff bristles. That’s like really the only requirement…

I love dry brushing. I feel like I pay so much attention to my face, that sometimes my body gets neglected so this is an easy way to take care of it!

Do you dry brush? Which one do you use?