“This round wooden brush has soft bristles to gently massage and exfoliate the skin.
- Removes dead skin cells
- Helps stimulate skin microcirculation
- Ideal for dry skin that needs regular exfoliation”
After hearing about the multiple benefits of dry body brushing I saw this brush in Body Shop and couldn’t resist buying it there and then. For those of you reading who don’t know about dry body brushing it’s where you use a hard bristle brush and use circular motions to ‘brush’ your body. You’re supposed to start furthest away from your heart and move inwards (although often when I’m stuck for time I just target specific areas). The supposed benefits are:
- Exfoliation to remove dead skin cells
- Stimulate the lymphatic system
- Improve digestion and kidney function
- Increase circulation
- Relieve stress
- Reduce cellulite
For me I found that dry brushing worked wonders for giving me smoother skin and it worked well as an exfoliator before shaving especially. I’ve noticed I get not as much of shaving rash or none at all when I dry brush regularly before showering. As the circular motions are quite rhythmic and routine-like I find that it works almost like a massage so if I’m having a shower before bed it definitely helps to calm me down and get ready to sleep. I believe the calming effects could help stress relief but often when I am stressed such as with university exams or essays I reduce my skin routine a lot and don’t include body brushing so I’m uncertain with this benefit.
Its immediate effects are plumping the skin and so cellulite does look better for about 30 minutes after brushing. The problem is the skin then falls back to its usual self and cellulite is there as normal. This may not be helped as I don’t really do anything else to combat cellulite as it’s not one of my big worries; I have heard from other blogs and reviews that with a good exercise plan, diet and body brushing then it does greatly decrease visibility.
For the circulation, digestion, kidney functions and lymphatic system benefits I can’t really measure and so I can’t really discuss those possible benefits. I think my favourite benefit though, which I hadn’t read about beforehand is that it works wonders on my eczema patches! Not only is it an amazing scratcher it also gets rid of the dryness so my moisturizers, emollients, and hydrocortisone cream can really sink in and help treat the patch. It also doesn’t irritate the skin as you might think as long as you use it fairly gently – ensure you don’t make it bleed as the scabs are awful at healing and make the eczema even itchier.
I would definitely recommend dry brushing as a regular part of your routine as it’s amazing at exfoliating and making skin look amazing! The Body Shop brushes are really good and they also do a long handled brush which I bought my mum so don’t worry about not reaching places like your back and feet. You also don’t have to use them as dry brushes and you can use them in the shower with shower gel which is what my mum uses hers for – although the wooden handles may warp with the water and heat.
For £8 you can Buy it Here