How Dry Brushing Can *LEGIT* Tranform Your Skin
Imagine if you could combat cellulite, sun damage, and dullness all in one go.
Enter: Dry brushing, an ancient beauty ritual and a celebrity favorite for brightening, firming, and smoothing skin — as well as improving overall health.
Turns out, there are tons of benefits of dry brushing thanks to its unique ability to simultaneously exfoliate, increase circulation, and aid with lymphatic drainage.
Below, we share our tips on how to dry brush like a pro and all the beautiful things it can do for your skin.
What is Dry Brushing?
Dry brushing is a technique that involves massaging your entire body with a natural-bristle brush using upward motions. This process brightens skin, improves blood flow, and enables your creams and serums to absorb more deeply. According to scientific evidence, dry brushing can even boost your immune system by increasing blood circulation and assisting the body in removing toxins.
Celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Miranda Kerr swear by it. They incorporate this ritual into their morning routine to enjoy all the benefits of dry brushing.
The cool thing about dry brushing is its instant effects. Straight after the procedure, you’ll notice your skin looks instantly glowier.
Benefits of Dry Brushing Skin
According to dermatologists, just two minutes of dry skin brushing a day is all it takes to start seeing the benefits of dry brushing. Here’s a roundup of all the best dry brushing benefits.
Improves Appearance of Cellulite
By stimulating blood flow and supporting lymphatic drainage, dry brushing can plump out dimpled skin, reducing cellulite appearance. While it won't completely fade orange-peel skin, it will even out fat deposits underneath the skin which, in time, with regular dry brush sessions, give you firmer, smoother limbs. Even very gentle strokes can help bring oxygenated blood to the skin's surface, boosting elasticity. It's a superb ritual to add to your daily skincare regimen.
Brightens Skin
Dry brushing boasts exfoliating powers, helping to buff away dead skin cells and improve cell turnover for smoother, fresher-looking skin. In fact, you can enjoy instantly brighter skin directly after dry brushing. Yep. It works that fast! Whether you’re dealing with dullness or dryness, a short dry brushing session can help!
Fades Discoloration
Because dry brushing helps with cell turnover, it may be effective at treating dark spots and discoloration caused by sun damage. By promoting cell turnover, it encourages more evenly pigmented cells to surface, giving skin a more even-looking appearance.
Maximizes Product Absorption
By removing dead cells from the skin’s surface, dry brushing helps your skincare products absorb deeper into the skin, maximizing their effects. In other words, freshly brushed skin makes your serums and creams work A LOT harder.
Improves Your Health
Dry skin brushing is an excellent detox practice that stimulates the lymphatic system and aids in lymphatic drainage, helping to remove pathogens from the blood and ultimately strengthen your immune system. With a stronger immune system, you’ll be less likely to deal with colds and illnesses this winter.
Boosts Energy Levels
This zealous brushing action promotes blood flow and circulation, which will give you a great energy boost. For that reason, many people dry brush in the mornings, so they can feel energized from their dry brushing session. It’s the perfect way to start your day!
When to Dry Brush
Skin brushing is best done in the morning right before hopping into the shower. It only takes a few minutes and is best performed on a dry body. You can brush wet or dry skin, but experts say dry brushing is more effective. You can of course also dry brush in the evening before you go to bed, which is highly detoxifying for the body before sleeping. However, if you're looking to reap its invigorating effects, it's probably a wise idea to do it in the morning.
How to Dry Brush Skin (Step By Step)
Here’s your step by step guide to dry brushing your bod — like a pro!
Step #1: Begin with a Good Brush
Choose a body brush with a long handle to target hard to reach areas and soft but firm bristles to stimulate the skin without irritating it. You'll want to choose a natural-bristle brush that's gentle on the skin yet still invigorating enough to fire up your circulation. If you have particularly sensitive skin, opt for softer bristles that are less harsh on your skin.
Step #2: Start Outside the Shower
It's best to dry brush prior to showering, so you can wash away any loosened dead skin cells once you’re done.
Step #3: Stroke Towards Your Heart
Starting at your feet, use gentle upward strokes towards your heart to push up lymph fluid and cleanse the body, moving upwards with your technique. When you reach your stomach, use circular motions. From there, move to your hands and sweep across towards the heart, not forgetting your underarms - the home of many lymph nodes. Once you get to your neck, brush downward toward the heart. Brush strokes should always be towards your heart.
Pro-tio: For an easier glide, slather on Truly’s Blueberry Kush CBD Body Oil first. It’s made with blueberries, vegan collagen, and hydroxy acids to leave skin firm, silky, and utterly luminous.
Step #4: Shower and Moisturize
Now you can wash away those dead skin cells that came loose during your brushing session. Don't forget to use lotion straight after your shower to lock in the moisture. It's best to apply lotion to damp skin so it absorbs better.
WORKS BETTER WITH
Pair your dry brushing sessions with these cult-fave Truly bundles to maximize the benefits!
Anti-Cellulite Trio
Tone up in a flash with our Anti-Cellulite Trio, a 4-step routine featuring a polish, mask, soap, and serum powered by a blend of lipolytic, decongesting, and collagen-boosting active ingredients to smooth away cellulite on your butt, thighs, and hips.
Dry Winter Skin Kit
Combat winter dryness and glow all season long with this complete winter skincare routine featuring nine of our best handpicked formulas. Early shoppers get a FREE Mykonos Robe with every Dry Winter Skin Kit purchase!
Full Body TREATment
Sculpt your chest, abs, butt, and thighs with this deeply indulgent, dessert-inspire routine that harnesses the plumping powers of plant collagen, 2% retinol, and guarana.
Dry brushing is a simple and effective ritual for manifesting smooth, radiant skin — and well worth incorporating into your daily self-care routine!
If you suffer from a skin condition like eczema or psoriasis, make sure you check with your dermatologist before dry brushing to ensure you don't cause any further irritation to the skin. Generally, it is a skin-friendly ritual provided that you use high quality, gentle bristles. Nonetheless, it is still worth running it past your dermatologist beforehand if you do have existing skin issues.
