Small Steps to Wellness

Each year people spend billions of dollars on skin care products; everything from creams, soaps, lotions and potions.  Companies spend many millions on marketing their products promising a more youthful complexion.  Some of these products can help to moisturise the skin.  There are also products to help improve acne and smooth fine lines.  However, the best skin care product doesn’t come in a bottle but at the end of a brush.  Skin brushing is an age old practice and is a great skin cleanser.

 Our skin can eliminate up to two pounds of body waste and acids a day as part of the detoxification process.  It is the body’s largest organ but is the last to receive nutrients and the first to show signs of problems.  Because of the amount of surface our skin covers, dry skin brushing can have some amazing results.

 Since our body is always creating new skin cells and is always shedding the old ones, the surface of our skin can get rough and dry.  Often bacteria is trapped which doesn’t allow for our skin to renew itself.  Dry skin brushing can remove old skin and give a healthy glow making our skin look younger.

 Many women suffer from cellulite, especially on the thighs and buttocks.  Cellulite is caused by the improper elimination of waste products and dry skin brushing can help to stimulate the lymph system which in turn will help eliminate cellulite.  It won’t happen overnight but if you practice dry skin brushing on a regular basis you will see a noticeable difference in a few months.

 Take five minutes a day before you take a shower or bath and brush your way to smooth and younger looking skin.

 How to Do Skin Brushing:

• Buy a natural, not synthetic, bristle brush, since it does not scratch the surface of your skin.
• Buy a brush with a long handle, so that you’re able to get to the areas of your body that are not easy to reach, when doing your own skin brushing.
• Skin brush, before showering or bathing, at least once per day, and twice, if possible.
• Do not wet your skin, since it will not have the same effect, because this stretches your skin.
• Do lighter strokes over and around your breasts, but do not brush the nipples.
• Brush each part of your body several times vigorously, completely brushing your whole body.
• Brush the soles of your feet first, because the nerve endings there affect your whole body, next brush your ankles, calves, and thighs, then brush across your stomach and your buttocks and lastly brush your hands to your arms.
• Always brush towards the heart.
• Do circular counter-clockwise strokes on your abdomen.
• After, take a warm bath or shower, which should always be followed by a cool rinse at the end to invigorate blood circulation and stimulate surface warmth.
• Wash your brush every few weeks in water and allow it dry.

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