Wouldn’t it be awesome to not NEED to moisturize your body? Can you imagine having smooth skin naturally, just relying on diet and simple body care techniques? It’s definitely possible. Six years ago I had the flakiest, driest skin. I constantly had lotion or heavy duty hand moisturizer with me to keep my skin from cracking.
It was terrible. Of course, diet changes and healing my body internally was crucial to addressing the root cause, although during this process I supported my goals of having clear and smooth skin by implementing skin brushing on a daily basis. This got me my results quicker, with added health benefits I wasn’t even aware of at the time.
What Is It?
Dry skin brushing is a simple two minute daily routine that can help you make your body healthier (inside and out), while keeping your skin looking and feeling smooth and sexy.
How? The skin is the largest eliminative organ, meaning that it’s a major release of toxins. It is estimated that one- third of all body impurities are excreted through the skin in the form of perspiration, including Uric acid, the main metabolic waste product found in urine. If the skin is not constantly exfoliated and sloughed, dead skin cells, uric acid and other toxins in the body have a harder time escaping via this pathway, making your internal detoxifying organs (liver, kidney, lungs and bowels) work harder- no one wants that!
Health Benefits
The benefits of dry skin brushing affect both the internal and external body:
Stimulates the Lymphatic System: Think of this as your body’s garbage disposal- miles long- transportation from your tissues to your blood stream. Your lymphatic system carries toxins and waste products around your body to eventually remove them via the detox organs. Your lymphatic system is only stimulated and works through movement. The more sedentary one is, the less efficient it is. This is when one can become more prone to inflammation and sickness when it becomes too congested. Dry skin brushing stimulates your lymphatic system helping to move junk through and keep it moving, in turn keeping you healthy!
Exfoliates the Skin: Exfoliation is the skins best friend. It does everything from removes dead skin cells, smoothes the texture, which enhances it’s appearance and clears pores. This allows anything you put on it afterwards to be absorbed better, and therefore it’s purpose is more effective. It also stimulates hormone and oil- producing glands which can help to provide natural moisture to the skin.
Stimulates and Increases Circulation: In other words, going back to the lymphatic system support, increasing circulation increases metabolic waste management and elimination.
Fights Cellulite: If no other reason intrigues you to begin dry skin brushing, this one should! How is this possible you say? If you look at cellulite as a build up of waste this makes perfect sense. The act of brushing these essentially hardened fat deposits softens them, reducing their appearance.
Small Investment, BIG payoff: I have found skin brushing to be a small investment in both time and money when you look at not only what the benefits are above, but also the mental relaxation it provides. The act of brushing your skin literally tingles your body and leaves you with a calm sensation that just makes you feel good.
How To Dry Skin Brush
You’ll want to invest in a natural bristle brush about the size of your hand or slightly larger. This gives you more control and coverage. If you choose, you can purchase one with a longer handle to reach all parts of your body. Although I recommend using a natural bristle brush, you could alternatively use a loofah mitt, or course bath gloves.
You may want to begin with a less stiff brush until the skin accumulates to the coarser brushes. Brush gently to start, then increase pressure to be firm but not painful. Skin will look slightly pink in color, but shouldn’t appear red. Sensitivity of the skin will vary with every individual, as well as different parts of the body.
To begin brushing, start at the soles of your feet, pressing the brush against your body in upward strokes (do not scrub). Direction should be south to north in this order: feet, legs, hands, arms, the back, abdomen, chest and neck. I don’t recommend doing your face, as your skin is more delicate in this area. Always brush toward your heart, as this will best support circulation and your lymphatic system.
I recommend dry skin brushing daily. Although the time does not really matter when you do it, I personally like to before showering or an epsom salt bath. I also recommend adding it to your morning routine as it’s a great way to wake your body and get waste moving internally that occurred from detoxing during the night.
The Ultimate Plan for Silky Smooth Skin
As you know, healthy skin doesn’t come from just one act of care, but multiple factors. Although the nice thing about dry skin brushing is that you can literally see results within the first few days, however, results will be that much better and lasting if you also take into consideration what you’re putting inside and on your body. For starters, take a look at my top ten diet tips for clear skin, as well my favorite natural skin and beauty products .
In addition, I always recommend investing in a shower filter, as tap water contains chlorine and other contaminates which can dry out and irritate your skin. Lastly, if you’re not taking a high quality fish oil, this can make a big difference for a lot of people struggling with dry skin. I’m a fan of krill oil, as this has a higher absorption rate than normal fish oil with less toxicity concerns, as well as a powerful antioxidant, astaxanthin, shown to help prevent and reverse sun damage to the skin.
