Rice bran, the skincare product used by Japanese women for centuries and now Chloë Grace Moretz

The American actress chatted to Vogue Magazine about her beauty secrets, with one in particular thrilling Japanese fans.

Fashion magazine Vogue’s ‘Beauty Secrets’ series of videos have featured a number of high profile guests in the past talking about their make-up routines. Fashion industry legends such as Victoria Beckham, high profile musicians like Pharrell Williams, and even Japan’s very own fashion icon Naomi Watanabe have all featured in videos talking about their beauty secrets.

American actress and star of Kick Ass Chloë Grace Moretz is one of the latest celebrities to appear in her own Vogue make-up tutorial, titled “Chloë Grace Moretz’s ‘Off-Duty’ Beauty Routine”.

▼ Watch the whole video here

The video has Chloë going through her skin care routine before showing viewers her ‘off-duty’ make-up routine. But one thing caught the attention of many Japanese viewers in particular, and that was the product that she used to cleanse her skin. It’s a product that’s been used in Japan for centuries — rice bran.

Rice bran is made using the hard outer brown layer of rice, and as well as being used in cooking, it’s been a staple of Japanese skin care for hundreds of years. It’s said to hydrate your skin, as well as even out its tone, and lessen wrinkles and fine lines. 

Traditionally, rice bran was put into small cotton pouches, dipped in water until it became paste-like and then applied to the skin using the pouch as an applicator. In fact, before the likes of soap hit Japanese shores, it was common for people to wash themselves using bags of rice bran, and there are even some ukiyo-e paintings that feature women doing just that.

▼ Those aren’t masks in these women’s mouths; they’re bags of rice bran!

先日ツイートした芳年の美人画。コメントでも話題になっていましたが、こちらの女性が口にくわえているのは、マスクではありません。「糠袋」という米糠が入った袋で、お風呂で体を洗う時に使います。他にも、糠袋をくわえている浮世絵がいくつかあったのでご紹介します。歌麿と国芳の作品です。 pic.twitter.com/5lqipijXmV

— 太田記念美術館 Ota Memorial Museum of Art (@ukiyoeota) September 16, 2020

For women who are as busy as Chloë, or who don’t have a traditional Japanese cotton pouch on hand, there is an easier and quicker way to use rice bran as a cleanser. Just mix some rice bran with some water to make a paste, and lightly massage it directly onto your skin with your fingers. Leave on for around 15 minutes before rinsing the paste off with warm water.

Getting fresh looking skin like Chloë doesn’t have to break the bank, either; if you want to try out using rice bran yourself, the very same brand that Chloë uses can be found online for just 1,100 yen (US$7.54) a bag! And hey, it’s certainly less soul destroying than the ‘wash your face 100 times’ skincare routine that geishas traditionally had.

Source: YouTube/Vogue, Wikipedia/ぬか袋, Rakuten Market
Images: YouTube@Vogue

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