Skincare is one of the oldest forms of pampering yourself. Your skincare routine is one of the visible aspects of Self-care. Asian beauty secrets have always been a hot topic, be it an Asian country or western; people always rely a lot on natural techniques and compounds found in nature.
From daily practices to essential beauty items, here are a few secrets that have kept the women of Japan feeling youthful, toned, and beautiful for centuries ago. But do not confuse the gua sha with Japanese skincare.
What makes ‘Old’ Japanese skincare ways so famous?
Japan is well known for women with a rosy complexion, porcelain soft skin. Their skin ages are twice as slow as westerners’ skin. Geisha used their kimono silk in ancient times and dampened it with essential flower water and placed it on their face. This is what we call ‘sheet masks’ nowadays.
Wait, but we don’t have kimono silk to use, and sheet masks are expensive. How saddening!
Tricks to attain Japanese Flawless Skin:
Listed below are some of the methods that Japanese women have used over time.
1. Adzuki Beans Exfoliation
Vigna angularis, also known as the Adzuki bean/ Red bean. These beans are a kind of legume that are sweet and relatively easy to digest compared to other beans. As early as the Nara period (710-794), Japanese women used this red little bean not only as part of a healthy diet but also for healthy-looking skin. Adzuki bean granules have been used as Exfoliators to cure acne or blackheads, or for those who wish to diminish fine lines.
Adzuki Beans are high in antioxidants and contain a naturally occurring foaming agent known as saponin that helps to cleanse and tighten pores. They gently remove dirt, unclogs pores, and brighten skin. It heals from within.
How to prepare: Use a coffee grinder and grind ½ cup of dried azuki beans to a semi-fine powder, or you can use any other method to grind. store it in the fridge for a few hours. Then take ½ teaspoon of the powder in your palm and mix with a few drops of water and turn it into a paste-like texture. Apply the paste on your face and wash it off using water. Apply twice a week.
2. Maintain a conventional Balanced Diet
Your diet plays a very important role in how your skin turns out to be after you hit adulthood or old age. Sometimes, for some people, ageing signs are visible early on. Here is how your diet plan can save you a lot of money that you’re probably going to spend on skin treatments.
The Japanese diet is well known for being one of the healthiest diets in the world. People suffering from acne is much lesser compare to people in the west. Start incorporating food in your diet which is high in Omega 3, Protein, vitamins E, K, B and folic acid etc.
According to Japanese people, one should try to consume 30 different foods per day for numerous tyes on multivitamins and other necessary nutrients. such as Salmon. Almonds, walnuts, eggs, seaweed, sprouted adzuki beans etc
3. Nourish the skin with Rice Bran
Rice bran oil is also an excellent source of poly- and mono-unsaturated fats (“good fats”). They help improve blood cholesterol levels, which can decrease the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Komenuka, or rice bran, is full of antioxidants and several other essential nutrients which could be used in scrubs, facials and body treatments to help fight the signs of ageing, resolve blemished skin and leave the skin toned, tight, and soft. Rice bran products are also available in drugstores. But these products are even easy to make at home.
How to make: Boil 3 tablespoons amount of rice till that water becomes cloudy. Strain the rice but be sure to keep the water as this will be part of the facial treatment ‘ rice water treatment ‘. Add 1 tablespoon of milk and 1 tablespoon of honey to the rice and mix well into a paste. Apply the rice mask on clean, dry skin and allow it to dry. Wash it off using rice water or cold water.
4. Rely more on Green Tea
Green tea is high in anti-inflammatory properties which can help reduce skin irritation, skin redness, and swelling. Applying green tea to your skin can soothe minor cuts, sunburn and several dermatological conditions. Green tea is a significant part of the Japanese lifestyle. Apart from just drinking, Japanese women also utilise green tea in their daily skincare routine.
Incorporating green tea extracts in various lotions and tonics adding ground leaves{Matcha} to bath salts and adding concentrated powders to body compress treatments and hair masks helps in skin exfoliation and skin whitening.
Matcha is known for its high concentration of catechin polyphenols, which have countless health and beauty benefits and high tannin properties that help in tightening the skin.
5. Bath daily, go to onsen frequently
Now, this is a topic worth spending your time on. One of the most discussed and favourite topics for both Japanese and non-Japanese people. Bathing in Japan is more than a cleansing routine: it’s a beauty ritual. Onsen (natural hot springs) and sento (public bathhouses) are scattered throughout city centres, resorts and even random unattended open-air spots, offering people plenty of opportunities to soak, scrub, and relax in nutrient-enriched and mineralized natural waters. But apart from these, the home bath is also very important [ofuro], part of every Japanese women’s life. Actually, this is every women’s life, LOL.
Steaming bath before bed will not only leave you feeling relaxed, it will also help blood circulation, prevent shoulder stiffness and back pain, relax muscles, detoxification and prevent leg swelling. You can also infuse your bath with various relaxing oils and bath salts for relaxation and further moisturization and replenishing skin effects.
6. Eat, love & worship Tsubaki oil
Tsubaki oil or camellia oil is a powerful oil that can be used on the face, hair, scalp and body. It is rich in Oleic Acid (Omega 9) up to 80%, polyphenol antioxidants, vitamins A, D, C, & E (Tocopherol) making it excellent for skin and hair conditioning properties.
For centuries Japanese women have been using camellia oil for skin enhancement. Edible Tsubaki oil has been used to boost immunity, lower cholesterol and balance blood sugar levels. It can be applied directly to dry or acne-prone skin or on the hair.
7. Embrace Vitamin C
How does vitamin C help your skin? Point to be noted: vitamin C promotes collagen production, and Japanese beauty secrets involve a lot of collagen usage. Collagen has the potential to thicken the dermis, diminish fine lines, and is essential for firm, youthful skin. On top of that, vitamin C is rich in antioxidants, which protects skin cells from damaging free radicals caused by exposure to UV rays.
It also helps deoxidize and break down melanin, the natural pigmentation we get in our skin from tanning or ageing. Japanese women constantly take vitamin C through food, supplements, drinks and cosmetic products. Some fruit and vegetables that are only available in Japan, such as the citrusy yuzu, kaki (Japanese persimmon), and shiso (a type of wild basil), are all miraculously extremely rich in vitamins.
You can find it in any drugstore in supplement forms, while vitamin C-rich products — such as acerola, yuzu, kaki, parsley, bell pepper, broccoli, goya and kiwi — are available at any supermarket in your neighbourhood.
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