From giving your body a good exfoliation to relieving you from stress and reducing those unsightly cellulites, dry brushing is an age-old beauty secret that many people should try.

by Nejla Matam-Finn

Let’s start by saying that I am all for exfoliation. I know some beauty lover avoid mechanical exfoliation or even extractions when having a facial. Well I come from a school of beauty thoughts where extractions (done right) and exfoliation is one of the simplest yet the best thing you can do for your complexion. You see I grew up in a household where going to hamam (aka Turkish bath/ Steam Room) once a week was a must. As a child I remember my mum exfoliating my body with a special glove (called a Kheisa) after I played in the steam room, seeing the dead skin leaving my body I use to ask her how is that possible I do take shower everyday and still so much dead skin was shed. Apart from that I also remember how I felt just after a hamAM session, reenergised, content and I had such a soft skin. Till now I still miss this and whenever I travel to place where I can go to hamam I do.  

Missing this meant I had to find a solution to the proper conundrum of exfoliating my body. However, getting my shower to produce enough steam to make an a like ham exfoliation possible is one a complete waste of water and in fact time. This is when I started looking for an alternative that will be good enough. Hence I tried buying some off the counter scrubs from different cosmetic brands high and low, but also trying different texturised gloves and washcloth from the Japanese to the Korean one to even a Finnish one, all where good but not good enough. Then I discovered the dry brushing thanks to an article on Goop.
I have been now dry brushing every other morning for almost 3 months and I am hooked to it. It became a part of my morning routine just like you brush your teeth every morning I brush my body before heading under the shower.
 
So what is really dry brushing? 
With the help of a brush made of natural bristle you literally brush your body when it is still dry. I recommend you do that inside your shower or bathtub as some skin will be shed. Start at by your feet and move upwards, the strokes should always be in the direction of your heart. It’s that easy. 

Why is dry brushing good for you? 
The skin being the largest organ but also an organ of elimination means that by stroking it (gently) with a dry brush you will be boosting the elimination of dead skin, boosting blood circulation and stimulating the lymph nodes. This is obvisouly all good things but the result that you will see the most is baby soft skin. Some say that it has improve the appearance of cellulite and that it has helped their digestion but by doing some research I did not find anything conclusive on this and have not noticed on my end either. 
What I have noticed though is that my legs feel lighter and my skin is much softer, but also that the body cream gets really absorbed by my skin quickly. So one I don’t need to wait to dress up and two it means I can splurge on a body cream because it is being better absorbed (any excuse is good :-)) 

How and When do you dry brush
Some do it twice a day. I personally rather do it in the morning as I feel that it really energises me at the beginning of the day. Not sure if it is a side effect of the dry brushing or just the satisfaction that every morning I can do something good for my self in less then 5 minutes. Plus there is something very nice about the dry strokes of the brush, not pleasant at first a bit rough but you get use to it very fast. I know some people do it on their face with special brushes but I find that a little bit to harsh. 

Which kind of dry brush should you pick? 
There are many brushes on the market with so many different kind of bristle. You have the long ones that are good for brushing the back of your legs and back, some simple round ones and some just made for the face. I personally prefer the round ones as I find them easier to handle and to store. You have a better grip and hence can apply different pressure strength. I will highly recommend trying a small one and then splurge on others if you get hooked. Some brushes can be very expensive depending the type of wood and bristle. I personally don’t think it makes any difference just make sure its natural bristle. I purchased the Mio one on Net-a-porter for about 25 SGD and I am happy with it.

How about you do you have tip to get baby soft skin? 
Leave me comment.