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Skin
Deep
Detox & Tone Your Skin With Dry Brushing
by Amy Bauer
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 Austin, though beautiful in countless ways, is still a city. This means that with each walk down Guadalupe, each Metro bus ride to Central Market and each jaunt down Sixth Street comes the absorption of much unwanted dirt, grime, smoke and other pollutants by our skin. In addition, such common influences as improper pH levels in body soaps, skin creams and antiperspirants also can accumulate under the skin’s surface.
The skin is the largest organ in the body and is responsible for 1/4 of the body’s detoxification each day, which makes it one of the most important elimination organs next to the lungs and the kidneys. We all know that it’s important to exfoliate the skin regularly. If you are looking for a simple, inexpensive way to not only exfoliate, but also detox and increase circulation to your skin — all in the privacy of your own bathroom, dry skin brushing is likely the best, most effective option for you.
Dry skin brushing improves the surface circulation on the skin and keeps the skin’s pores open, encouraging your body’s discharge of metabolic waste, resulting in an improved ability to combat bacteria while helping to protect your skin allowing it to look and feel healthier and more resilient. In addition, it also helps with better digestion, increases cell renewal and strengthens the immune system. However, one of the most popular benefits of dry skin brushing is that it helps to tighten up loose skin and contributes to better muscle tone by distributing fat deposits within the skin’s tissues. Donna Hunter, an endermologist and owner of the Endermologie Clinic of Austin, is a big advocate of this technique and suggests it to her patients as maintenance with endermology, a nonsurgical process of reducing the appearance of stretch marks and cellulite. “The skin’s job is to filter out the toxins. We build up so much dead skin and products ... that it becomes easily clogged and can’t do its job,” says Hunter. “Dry body brushing has been known to help smooth out unwanted cellulite and wrinkles. It’s so much more effective than the loofahs and scrubs used in exfoliation.”
Dry brushing is just about as simple as it sounds. Purchasing the correct brush is the first step. The brush should be made of natural, not synthetic, fibers, so as not to scratch your skin. And long-handled brushes are the best for reaching your back and other hard-to-reach places.
Always brush dry skin (skin actually stretches if you brush it when it’s wet), in both up-and-down and circular motions. Start with the soles of the feet, as the nerve endings there affect the whole body. Next brush the ankles, calves, thighs and buttocks/hips. Then brush the abdomen, using circular, counter-clockwise motions. Do lighter strokes over and around the breasts, avoiding the nipples altogether. Finish by brushing the back, then the hands up to the arms. Pay careful attention to pressure and apply a consistent, upward motion. Brushing upward toward the heart has been known to increase circulation.
According to experts from the Ageless Foundation Laboratories (A.F.L.), we make a new top layer of skin every 24 hours. Skin brushing helps to remove the old top layer and make way for the cleaner, newer layer. A.F.L. suggests a twice daily regimen of skin brushing for three to five minutes each time, followed by a warm bath, then cool rinse, to invigorate blood circulation and stimulate surface warmth.
Dry skin brushes can be purchased at locations such as Walgreens for around $4.99.
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