Save your rice water.

Today, we're talking rice water.

Yep, I'm talking the starchy goodness that comes from boiling or soaking white rice.

There are an abundance of benefits to using rice water in your beauty regime, a method commonly seen in the very same skincare routines that we see coming out of Asia; particuarly India, Japan and Korea.

Rather than bore you with the details in lengthy paragraphs, I figured I'd introduce you to 3 incredible benefits of adding rice water to your skincare routine whilst teaching you a little about it's magnificent powers.

There's also a little how to at the end, if you fancy giving it a whirl!

Let's get it.

1. It's a fantastic anti-aging elixir.

We've all been there; staring in the mirror as our very first wrinkle glares back at us with intimidation. Often we wonder when it got there and if this is it. Most of us have then decided to take prompt action against the single wrinkle and bought all and any anti-aging cream available in an attempt to delay the process (guilty).

And how expensive are they by the way?!

I could've kicked myself when i first discovered that rice water would've done. Never mind the day and night creams, the serums and the jade rollers. Simple rice water.

One study on the properties of rice water as an anti-aging elixir found that rice water is full of antioxidants that could inhibit the activity of elastase, which is an enzyme that damages elastin in the skin. This basically means that rice water has the potential to slow down the aging process through prevention.

A full link to the study can be found here.

2. It has the power to lighten scars and brighten the skin.

Whilst this study is yet to be confirmed, in amongst many individuals in countries such as Japan and Korea, rice water is considered a means to combat grey, sallow skin and prevent or even treat blemishes. It's thought that Betaine, squalene and tricin are components of rice, that have also been show to enhancing properties which include skin lightening.

3. It's moisturising.

Rice water has a number of benefits as we've discussed so far, but my personal favourite goes way beyond just facial skincare. A

When your skin becomes dry, we become more prone to skin conditions like dermatitis and one such study on rice water benefits shower that the starch can actually help improve and repair broken areas. This is particularly helpful for people who have dermatitis conditions such as Eczema.

You can find a full link to the study here.

So now we've covered it's benefits, how exactly do you incorporate rice water into your beauty regime?

I've got you covered.

There's three ways you can prepare rice water, and dependant on it's use there's a few ways you can use it in your routine too.

In terms of preparation you can do this one of two way. Firstly, you can boil rice and water and let it cool or you can soak rice and water for 30 minutes to get all that starchy goodness out.

In terms of application, my preferred favourite is used to tackle break outs and dark circles. Once your water is prepared, place it in an ice cube tray, freeze and use. Just be careful around the eyes as always and expect a little redness after application as the application of ice will bring blood to the surface of your skin. This is natural of all cold applications to the skin and nothing to be overly concerned about.

The second method of application is to use the water (cooled from soaking or cooled from boiled) as a toner after cleansing the skin. This will help reduce any redness, brighten the skin and reduce fine lines, wrinkles and blemishes over time as we've discussed!

And that's the downlow on rice water! Who knew rice was so versatile, huh!