Dry brushing, an ancient ritual once performed in Japan and Greece, has been updated for the spa crowd. The practice, which entails natural bristles being run over the skin in short, quick strokes, is being promoted as a way to purge unwanted substances from skin (along with other benefits: Glamour.com promised a good brushing would render skin “uber-touchable” before sex). Some say skin brushing can eliminate up to half a kilogram of toxins a day.

Such claims irk Dr. Tina S. Alster, a clinical professor of dermatology at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, who said, exasperated: “It sounds trendy. Everyone wants to flush toxins from their skin. Give the body more credit than that.”
For the record, the liver, not the skin, is the body’s largest eliminator of waste, Dr. Alster said. “Regular environmental exposures and toxins, does your skin eliminate those?” she asked rhetorically. “No, it doesn’t.”

Yet word is spreading about the joys of dry brushing, stoked in part by erroneous claims that it can improve the look of cellulite. And you don’t need professional help: beauty products like the Ultimate Detox set ($50) from Elemental Herbology, a British company, sold at Spacenk.com, include exfoliating sisal mitts. Eight Body Moisture, a body-product line from Edmond, Oklahoma, offers a ginger lime dry brushing kit ($43) that includes instructions imploring users to stroke “toward the heart.” The International SPA Association doesn’t track how many treatments feature dry brushing, but it has been done quietly in European and American spas for years. “

Dry body brushing is a fantastic technique to improve detoxification,” said Annet King, 41, the director of global education for Dermalogica, a skin care company.

Mama Mio skin care now offers two spa treatments that begin with dry brushing, said Ann Marie Cilmi, a spa consultant in Manhattan. More than 50 spas in America offer such treatments at roughly $150 apiece.

“People are becoming more aware that ‘If I eat a bunch of cheese, and eat a bunch of chocolate cake, it will go to my face or my rear,’ ” said Wendy Allred, education manager at Bliss spas. “ ‘I kind of need to go detox.’ ”

Dry brushing does get rid of dead skin cells, increase circulation (as a brisk walk would), help the lymphatic system work better and decrease bloating (as a massage would), Dr. Alster said. The grander claims are more suspect.

The claim that body brushing reduces the appearance of cellulite is unlikely, said Dr. Carolyn Jacob, a dermatologist in Chicago. Cellulite involves thin skin and fibrous bands that hold in women’s fat. Dry brushing “won’t change fibrous bands at all,” Dr. Jacob said . And she warned that avid brushers put their skin at risk for inflammation and an itchy rash.

Indeed, it’s remarkable that a practice that can be agonizing is offered by spas that purport to pamper. Said Steve Capellini, a spa consultant in Miami: “It’s pretty intense.”


By CATHERINE SAINT LOUIS