Why You Should Add Skin Brushing to Your Daily Routine – for Detoxing, Youthful Skin, and More!

What's so great about skin brushing?

It's a slam dunk treatment: it’s easy, it’s inexpensive, it doesn’t have any negative side effects, and it has some pretty significant health benefits.

I’m excited to share with you why skin brushing (also called dry brushing) should be an important part of your health and beauty routine!

In this article:

• What is Dry Brushing?
• Dry Brushing: The Benefits Aren't Just Skin Deep!
• What Kind of Dry Brush Is Best For Skin Brushing?
• Proper Method for Dry Brushing the Skin
• Any Negative Side Effects from Dry Brushing?
• Is There Scientific Evidence for Dry Brushing?
• Conclusions About Dry Brushing

What Is Skin Brushing?

Dry skin brushing is what it sounds like: You use a brush on dry skin in a series of specific movements and patterns.

While dry brushing is easy to do at home, don’t reach for your nearest hairbrush and start stroking quite yet.

Having the correct tools and brushing technique are important if you want to reap the health benefits of dry brushing. (I'll explain more after I tell you the benefits.)

Skin Brushing: The Benefits Are More Than Skin Deep!

Some of the benefits of dry brushing are straightforward (but they’re only the beginning!):

Skin Brushing Exfoliates Your Skin

Dry brushing sloughs off millions of dead skin cells, which encourages cell renewal while also tightening the skin, making it much softer to the touch, and giving it a healthy glow!

Skin Brushing Opens and Clears the Pores

Clearing away all those dead cells will open up your pores, allowing the skin to breathe and eliminate any bacteria or debris more efficiently.

If you deal with recurring acne or ingrown hairs, you may find that improving the health of your pores¹ improves both problems!

Skin Brushing Might Help Get Rid of Cellulite

While I can’t point you to a study that shows a definite link between cellulite removal and dry brushing, I can tell you that the science on adipose tissue (including cellulite) backs me up here:

While part of cellulite’s function is simply to store caloric energy, it also acts as “safe storage” for toxins and harmful chemicals.²

Your body uses the fat cells and connective tissue beneath the subcutaneous level of your skin to trap toxins, so they can’t do damage to your internal organs.

However, through skin brushing and encouraging lymphatic detoxification (more on that in a moment), you can help your body flush out these toxins, release cellulite from its job, and decrease its presence on your thighs or arms!

So those are the more obvious benefits of dry brushing your skin. Why is dry brushing so good for overall body health? Because the skin is the largest detoxification organ you have!

Running just beneath the surface of your epidermis is your lymphatic system, which carries lymph (a fluid chock-full of white blood cells) throughout your body and transports waste and toxins out of the body.

Let’s take a look at how dry brushing comes into play here.

Skin Brushing Stimulates Lymph and Helps Detoxify the Body

Dry brushing stimulates and improves circulation in the lymphatic system³ of the body.

Think of it this way: Your blood brings in the groceries (nutrients, oxygen), and your lymph takes out the trash!

Your lymphatic system is absolutely vital to detoxify, heal injuries, maintain a strong immune system⁴, support proper digestion, and prevent disease.

Since lymph travels close to the skin, stimulating the skin with a dry brush helps keep that lymph moving. Unlike blood, lymph doesn’t have a pump to move it around to do its job (even though you have twice as much lymph in your body as blood!).

Lymph moves in the body slowly, through a series of valves, gathering and eliminating toxins along the way. Sluggish or clogged lymph leads to a variety of conditions, from cellulite (yes, cellulite!) to low energy to infections and cancer.

Skin Brushing Boosts Energy

The combination of improved lymph circulation, detoxification, and stimulating the largest organ in your body all adds up to a nice energy boost.

Dry brushing your skin at the beginning of the day, before you shower, can help you feel invigorated!

[Related: The Best Breakfast Smoothies For Energy]

What Kind of Brush Is Best For Skin Brushing?

The best tool for dry-brushing has medium-firm, natural (not synthetic or plastic) bristles that maintain contact with the skin during brushing (instead of simply folding under themselves), but don’t hurt or irritate the skin.

You can scout out a good dry brush at places like Ulta Beauty or Bed Bath and Beyond, or find out the right technique and get a special offer on my favorite skin brush, here.

You’ll want to opt for a long-handled skin brush to reach your back more easily and complete each motion properly and comfortably as you dry brush (more on proper method, next!)

Like the name implies, a dry (never wet) brush on dry skin is the ticket. Once a week, wash your dry brush with warm soap water, then rinse and air dry.

Proper Method for Dry Brushing the Skin

Lymph travels just beneath the skin in very specific directional patterns. That means the order and direction of skin brushing is not just important to success—it’s crucial.

In other words, don’t start brushing until you know how.

Grab my FREE, how-to video to make sure your technique is correct, so you gain all the health and beauty benefits!

Correct Dry Brushing Technique and Skin Preparation

Before you dive in to brushing your skin, take a moment to learn proper dry brushing technique and preparation:

• Start with dry skin, preferably right before you shower. I prefer to actually stand in the shower while I brush, so I can rinse those dead cells right down the drain when I’m done.
• With each stroke, you should brush firmly but not hard enough to break or irritate the skin. Avoid any sores, varicose veins, or eczema on your body.
• You’ll want to start with the left side of your body and complete each brushing step. Then switch to the right side of your body and complete each brushing step.
• Repeat your dry brushing routine 2-7 days a week for the most benefits.
• Get ready to moisturize like crazy (coconut oil is my favorite go-to) afterward. Your exfoliated skin will be thirsty!

Correct Order of Steps for Dry Brushing the Skin

You should follow the same order each time you brush, to correctly follow the pattern of lymph moving beneath your skin.

Grab my free how-to video, so you'll know exactly what to do.

Any Negative Side Effects from Dry Brushing?

For the vast majority of people, dry brushing skin has zero side effects. However, like any healthcare routine or treatment, dry brushing can cause problems if you do it too often, or too vigorously—particularly if you have very sensitive skin.

Dry brushing should never hurt, so if your skin feels red and irritated after you dry brush, scale down on the intensity of your strokes! And, if you have any areas of broken skin or eczema, just avoid those areas.

Is There Scientific Evidence for Dry Brushing?

There haven’t yet been any specific scientific studies about the effectiveness of dry brushing. But don’t let that discourage you.

There’s not a lot of money to be made in proving or disproving holistic health claims (which generally rely on non-proprietary treatments and inexpensive materials!)

Do your own research, and give dry brushing a try to find out for yourself whether this treatment is right for you. Since it’s inexpensive and easy, there’s very little reason not to try it out!

I can personally vouch that dry brushing has made a difference in my energy levels, skin health, and overall wellness.

Conclusions About Dry Brushing

There’s a reason it feels amazing when somebody scratches your back or gives you a massage. Our bodies crave touch that stimulates our circulatory and lymphatic systems and gets rid of old skin cells.

While there isn’t (and probably won’t be) a body of research dedicated to dry brushing, the anecdotal evidence and principles behind this easy, cost-effective at-home treatment are worth a second glance.

Not only can dry brushing help you get prettier, healthier skin by exfoliating skin and de-gunking your pores, but it can help your lymphatic system circulate more effectively to remove waste and detox your body.

For easy-to-follow instructions and a special discount on my favorite dry skin brush, grab my FREE, how-to video.

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