Maintenance

When you look tired and your body feels off, exfoliate.

Especially when the weather gets cold and you are buried under layers of clothing a lot of the time, I love dry brushing my body. Not only it gives me back my soft skin but it also reminds me of my outlines.

This may sound odd, but I did not make this up myself. An osteopath I used to see always talked about the importance of not losing your outlines, letting them get blurry – first energetically and later on physically – by constantly wearing loose clothes, for example.

Dry brushing is best done in the morning because of its refreshing benefits. It boosts circulation, sweeps away dead skin cells and stimulates the lymph nodes.

I hear some people like brushing with an oil, but I have never tried that. I just use a clean brush on dry skin.

Start at your feet and brush upward towards your heart. Same thing with your arms: start at your hands and work upward towards the heart. The lymph systems drains on the chest area.

I dry brush before my morning shower. To continue the ‘look radiant in 20 minutes’ ritual I exfoliate my face with the cleansing clay by May Lindstrom Skin and use some kind of scrub on my hands, feet and body.

Marine Crystals Body Scrub by the French natural cosmetics brand Patyka is great for the job. It has a fresh scent with mineral and woody notes that really wake you up.

The fine grains of sea salt and poppy seeds cleanse impurities and remove dead cells for a soft and smooth skin.

I finish off with a little botanical mist and then oils – hydrating serum for face and oil for body – and just like that, I feel more myself again.