Like White on Rice

 You'll hear nothing but rave reviews from me about Japanese or Korean skin care. One of the reasons being their integration of rice into products. Asian cultures have known for centuries what we as Americans are just now learning… that rice can radically change your skin! 

That's because rice has an extensive list of healing benefits. And it doesn't just stop with your skin. Here, I will show you how to incorporate this beauty-secret-weapon into your routine— and explain why it's definitely something you want to try out. 

FOR CRYSTAL CLEAR SKIN: Wash your face and use the rice water as a toner by applying it in upward strokes with a cotton round. The B Vitamins in the water improve blood circulation on the face, tighten pores, and promotes cell growth (which slows down the aging process.) Rice water also has a property in it that binds to the trace amounts of copper naturally found in the human body— this binding helps prevent the formation of melanin in the skin. Which in short— means that you'll pigment less easily during the times that you are in the sun. 

BODY BENEFITS: Homemade rice water sheet masks can help to relieve chronically dry skin. It can also heal lesions of eczema on the body and soothe the itching associated with it. Just soak a paper towel in cold rice water and apply over the areas of concern for anywhere from 15-25 minutes. You can repeat this 2-3 times daily until healed. You may notice a tingly, cooling feeling as it's drawing impurities from the skin and nourishing the wounds. 

HAIR RESTORATION: After shampooing and conditioning, douse hair in the rice water solution and saturate well. Leave on the hair while washing the rest of your body (or shaving your legs). The rice proteins work to fill in the gaps in the hair shaft. (This is especially great for those of you who use bleach on your hair.) Filling in those gaps helps to repair hair that's easily broken…making it strong enough to grow nice and long. Not to mention, it gives it a killer shine. Don't forget to rinse the rice water out of your hair before getting out of the shower! 

HEALTH BENEFITS: If you can stomach it, drinking rice water actually has tremendous health benefits as well. It's filled with 8 different amino acids, which are essential to muscle repair, energy levels, and tissue regeneration. A great time to try this challenge would be a shot glass of it before going to bed….as nighttime (sleep) is when we do all of our regenerative healing anyway. If anything, it seems to me that it would help to give our ZZZ's a nice boost. 

You can use any kind of rice that you'd like, however, organic is best. I'm personally from a half-Filipino family, so rice is ALWAYS being served at mealtime…and white or jasmine rice is what I usually use just because that's what I EAT. But, there are several different kinds of rice you can choose from. Using black wild rice is actually more beneficial for the skin. I normally choose not to use it because I do not enjoy the taste of it and I hate wasting food. But feel free to try these tricks using black rice or brown rice. Brown rice has more antioxidants than regular white rice…and black rice will have the MOST antioxidants out of them all. In fact, it's antioxidant powers are pretty strong— on par with blueberries and blackberries. So it's really up to your discretion. 

Let me know how adding rice into your beauty routine helps!! And if you like these tips and tricks, don't forget to share them and add them to Pinterest so that you can revisit them often! 

xoxo, B.