A friend and I recently went to Deer Lake Lodge on a wellness retreat/girls’ getaway trip and had an incredible time. One of the spa services we booked was a dry brushing appointment followed by a magnesium wrap.
I had tried a dry brushing experience over a decade ago
I remember thinking, “Ouch, why am I paying to do this?” Then my skin felt so soft that I happily handed over my money. I did not, however, incorporate this into my (mostly nonexistent) skin care routine. I had also tried one mud wrap when I went on a pre-wedding pampering kick. I remember thinking “OMG, I’m so claustrophobic I’m going to die!” and wanting to scream for help but having too much pride.
Benefits are said to include:
lymphatic drainage
blood circulation support
cellulite reduction
skin exfoliation
pore size reduction
I can see how all of these could be true, but there is a disappointing lack of scientific evidence (as with most wellness modalities that don’t turn a major profit…). But, my common sense brain can get behind all these claims of dry brushing.
So, here I was again with a double set of ouch coming my way.
The dry brushing was how I remembered it - ouchey in an effective way. The practitioner walked me through the importance of keeping the strokes long and directed towards the heart/chest where most of the lymph fluid is dumped (there are also squads of lymph nodes behind the knees, in the pubic area, armpits and neck). She avoided my face and lady parts, but I’d def recommend brushing your breasts and butt - that skin needs some love too!
Obviously, avoid any areas of broken skin or irritated skin or anyplace skin feels overly sensitive and use a light pressure to begin. I think there are options on the coarseness of bristles kind of like your toothbrush. . .
The wrap was as effectively miserable as I remembered.
I was sprayed down with magnesium spray which stings like a b@tch, especially after dry brushing, but feels like it’s totally doing something. I’d also heard that the degree of sting can show a level of deficiency, but I'm not sure I buy that one. Regardless, I like the trans-dermal application of magnesium to support joints, muscles, relaxation, and sleep.
After I got my sting-y spray done, I was wrapped in this big sleeping bag thing which heated up and created this super sweaty sting-y sauna situation. It felt like a gross healing thing to lay and soak in my salty magnesium sweat (how many more words do y’all think I can get in here - ha ha). I definitely had to pull my arms out of the sleeping bag wrap thing because I was overheating to the max, but the shower afterwards felt so heavenly I would do it all again!
This time I’m sticking with it
I’ve made dry brushing before my shower a routine now and magnesium spray after the shower before any lotion. Is it doing anything? Not sure. But, it feels "self-carey" and I’m into it and gonna keep it up. The skin has been referred to as our third brain (brain, stomach and skin) so I want to show it more love; especially as I get older and am more motivated by beauty-longevity things.
xo,
Jenna
Dry Brushing & Magnesium Spray