Skin Files · Body
Does dry brushing help cellulite? It can make skin look smoother for a few hours, but there's no proof it reduces cellulite. Here's what it's good for and how to do it gently.
By Ashley, skincarereceipt content team · Published
Short answer: no, not in any lasting way. Dry brushing makes skin puff up slightly from extra blood flow, so dimples look softer for a few hours. Cleveland Clinic dermatologists say there's no proof it reduces cellulite, and no study we could find tested it.
It's still a pleasant way to exfoliate rough body skin before a shower. Just keep expectations in line.
Dry brushing is often sold as a way to drain lymph and flush toxins that supposedly cause cellulite. Cellulite isn't caused by toxins. It comes from bands under the skin pulling it down while fat pushes up. A brush on the surface can't change those bands.
Professional lymphatic drainage massage has been studied in cellulite. One small trial found it took about half a centimetre off thigh circumference, the same as two other massage types, with no untreated group for comparison. That's hands-on massage, not a brush.
If you like the ritual, pair it with a caffeine cream. After your shower, massage skincarereceipt Body Butter into the thighs, buttocks and stomach, working it in deeply. Caffeine creams have double-blind trials behind them, which is more than dry brushing has, and with regular use it visibly reduces the appearance of cellulite.
Brushing irritates the skin a little, which widens surface blood vessels and draws fluid into the area. That swelling fills out dimples for a short time. Once it settles, the surface goes back to how it was.
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