put rice on your face

japanese skincare faves from an ex-acne girl (me).

For most of my life I had an extremely complicated relationship with my skin.

For about ten years, I had severe eczema, peaking around the age of sixteen, where red patches of my skin would become so infected, and so inflamed, the skin would bleed and weep and stick to my clothes.

It was painful and humiliating and nothing came close to fixing it for years.

My problematic skin meant that for most of my life I had to be extremely careful with the products I put on my body and face. I had a ‘sensitive skin’ facial at eighteen and was unable to leave the house for days, after breaking out in red welts.

I became militant about reading ingredients and only using the ‘cleanest’ products. I used rosehip oil as a moisturiser and jojoba as a cleanser at a time where oil and skincare still seemed like two opposing forces and people would look at me as if I were completely insane to even mention such a thing.

While it was not as debilitating as my teenage years, I was still managing seasonal bursts of eczema when I decided to do the right thing for my health and hormones at twenty five and stop taking the contraceptive pill.

I was then blessed with two years of hormonal hell.

From pure rage to a complete loss of energy and terrible digestion, to what became the hardest part to deal with by far: intense cystic acne, from which I still have the scars(physical and emotional, lol)(if you know, you know).

My earliest days of teaching yoga were flavoured not only by fear and and insecurity, by stumbling through learning something new in a very public way, but by standing in front of rooms full of people pretending everything was fine, that I was ‘zen’ and healthy and the perfect yogi with huge (not exaggerating, there was one in particular that really created a society of it’s own and lived to the ripe old age of three months) pus filled cysts on my face.

And I haven’t even mentioned how I would have traded ANYTHING for my translucent, freckled skin to have the ability to hold even a *hint* of a tan.

To be at a place of acceptance, peace and sometimes even love with the place my physical body meets the air around it is a truly beautiful thing.

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If you’ve read these newsletters over the years you’ll know that I’ve released a lot of my white knuckle gripping on the western idea of health and wellness quite significantly over the last couple of years.

I also know just how safe it can make us feel to cling to ‘wellness’ when we’re struggling: if we just eat the ‘right’ thing, or use the cleanest products, or eliminate sugar completely or try harder than ever before to be good and rigorous and pure then, surely, eventually, we’ll get the result we so desperately want.

Right?!

Definitely sometimes.

But other times, maybe not.

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I am often shocked, astounded and mostly, insanely grateful that I now have what I consider to be pretty good skin. And my skin is never as good as when I’m in Japan (or swimming in the ocean every single day).

I still love natural skincare but I do feel that for those of us who tend to be more sensitive, natural skincare products can actually be on the harsher side a lot of the time. If you’re like me, you might have felt (or still feel) the desire to run in the opposite direction to any ingredient in skincare that feels like a ‘chemical’ or reads science-y rather than nature-y without actually understanding what it means. My sister calls this apothecary derangement syndrome which I find hilarious, and suffer from greatly. Just because lavender oil sounds better than a word ending in a number, doesn’t mean it’s actually better for you, or your skin.

As someone who had severely dry and dehydrated skin for most of my life, even though I used to be way more focused on ‘hydrating’ (I was a green juice girl after all), it sometimes shocks me to realise this is no longer the case.

I do not have anything close to perfect skin and I never will, but instead of flaking and tightness being my natural sate, I am happy to report that (most days) my skin is soft, bouncy and above all: happy, unbothered, staying in her lane.

These days I focus less on apothecary sounding ingredient lists, and more on how my skin actually feels using the products over time. I realised recently, without being aware of it, a lot of my skincare routine features products that contain rice and sake extracts. I apparently find these products deeply soothing, hydrating and slowly (very slowly) helping to reduce and brighten the scarring from my acne years.

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Today, because it’s venus day and taurus season and because I’m enjoying the warm air filtering through the open windows here in Tokyo, I thought I’d share a few rice and sake based Japanese skincare products my skin absolutely adores.

Maybe you’ll like them too.

1. Leaf & Botanics Cleansing Cream Sake

A very gentle cream cleanser. This is nice if you don’t wear a lot of makeup or sunscreen, or if you tend toward dry skin. If you like a deeper clean feeling this one may not be for you. It’s nice in winter or if your skin is feeling in need of a little tenderness.

2. Keana Rice Mask

The cool thing about this mask (and the other one I will introduce) is if you’re concerned about the waste of single use sheet masks you can also buy this in a pack instead. This is one of my go-to evening masks, I always wake up feeling very hydrated and glowy after using it, but it’s still very light and suitable for hot and sticky weather. It’s great if you lean oily or tend toward redness.

3. Kikumasamune Skin Care Lotion (Brightening & Hydrating Version)

While I do believe skincare is also an inside job (happiness! fulfilment! joy in life!) using a toner or lotion as it’s sometimes called in Japan absolutely changed the game for me. This one is made from sake, can be used on the face and body and has a water like texture. You can use toners as is, or soaked onto cotton sheets like a mask. Toner is 100% the most important step in my skincare and has made the most noticeable difference to my skin. I have a few on rotation, but reach for this one a lot.

4. PDC Wafood Made Sake Lees Masks

A mask for sensitive skin made from Sake lees extract. This one is more moisturising than the Keana one, and I feel as if it contains thicker serum, with more of it. Really nice for when you want to wake up plump and juicy the next morning, or you’ve been feeling a little dull and dry. May be a little too heavy for a humid summer - but I’ll keep you updated ;)

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Okay !

Thats it for today. Let me know if you’d like to see more of these little lists here, or if you have skin stories you’d like to share.

If you’d like to read more of my experience moving away from the rigidity of wellness, healing through pleasure and beauty instead, you might like to start here.

Thanks for being here :)

Emmie xo