Dry body brushing: Take 1

It was my doctor who first brought body brushing to my attention and I found that a lot of the sites online either assumed you knew the basis or weren't thick..which is where I came a cropper..

Thus, I've composed the noob's guide to dry body brushing going on my own experiences..

Before I start, I must say that I've only been brushing for two weeks but I've got the hang of it pretty quickly.

What it is and how you do it.

The body brush.

You get a dry, tough looking brush and brush your dry body with it.  By dry, I mean when it's not wet..anyone can do this but I find it more beneficial for those with dry skin..  The general consensus seems to say that you should brush towards your heart..something which I found difficult to do the first few times as I always rub my moisturiser and shower gels on in the opposite direction.  The bristles look tough but they're really quite soft when you get them on your skin.

(More info after the jump)..



I was a bit thick about this and thought you could only brush horizontally but vertically is just fine so this is what I do:

Torso (i.e from the boobs to the hips): brush upwards and inwards towards the heart
Arms and legs: brush upwards
Back and sides: brush upwards
Shoulders: brush inwards towards the heart
Soles of your feet: brush from the toes to the heels

So, brush upwards apart from the shoulders where you brush inwards..

I brush in the following order:

• Soles of my feet
• Torso
• Arms/side
• Shoulders
• Legs

I brush standing in the bath..the reason for this being as follows: Our bath is a corner bath and it has a seat thingy in the corner (NOT those bath chairs that old folk have!) and I usually moisturise in there and then sit down for a while and read a book whilst my moisturiser sinks in.  Thus, when I'm not showering afterwards, I just body brush and then moisturise in there.

How often do you need to do it? 
Every single day.  Getting your clothes off and standing in the bath when you're freezing isn't my idea of a good time but it takes literally ten minutes.  It's very satisfying as I personally feel the blood shooting around my body after doing it *ahem*.  You find that you use less moisturiser, your skin feels softer and it really puts a pep in your step (how old do I sound?)

The time I spend body brushing is totally worth it as I hate waiting around for my moisturiser to sink in but with the body brushing, it just melts into my skin.

What's the point? 
Quite a few points apparently..

Apparently, it gets rid of cellulite.  I don't have any so can't comment on that but there are many other things that it claims to do..

Getting rid of toxins in the skin is one of the major benefits of body brushing..I didn't believe this until my mum commented on how fair my legs were looking..I only say that because my skin looks a lot lighter and brighter when there are no nasty toxins swimming around in it, i.e. when I've been treadmilling the hell out of my treadmill..which I only started doing the day after I saw her.

It also helped me with ingrown hairs.  I had KP on my upper arms but this has totally fixed that.  I dry body brush and exfoliate in the shower and they've vanished.  Dry body brushing over my arms didn't hurt at all but I knew something was going on.

The biggest benefit I have had from it is soft, supple skin.  My skin was super dry and no amount of lotions and potions kept it moisturised for a longer than two days.  Now I don't need to moisturise so much..

Do you need to shower or bath after doing it? 
I originally thought you did have to but was told by fellow beauty bloggers than it's not necessary.  After body brushing myself, I find that a shower isn't totally necessary so you can skip that step if your bathroom is too cold *ahem*.  I shower in the mornings before work and I've had no problems brushing in the night and showering the following morning.

My skin is very dry and you can't see any flakes fall off but they're not there once I'm done and they don't fall out of the brush either so I don't know where they've gone..they're just off my body.  Re. cleaning the brush, I don't suggest get it wet but I turn it upside and tap it and that seems to clean it well enough..

Where can you get a dry body brush from? 
Mine is from The Body Shop and cost me £7.  Don't get them wet as they have wooden handles and I've been told they won't work as well once they've been soaked.  I have to stress that you shouldn't even store it in the bathroom as the moisture can do things to it.  Mine is kept safe and secure in the bedroom.  You can pick them up from all over the place but I'm more than happy with this one.

Has anyone else tried dry body brushing?  Was the experience good or bad?  Got any tips?