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I s e c ret PHOTOGRAPHY BY BLACK JIK VIA ADOBE STOCK INFORMATION FROM THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COSMETIC SCIENCE
best kept
Rice water is an ancient remedy used by the Japanese as a skin and haircare panacea. Gazal Sharma examines the history behind this miracle cure and explains how you can incorporate it into your beauty routine.
22 SWELL MAGAZINE
n the ancient Chinese village of Huanglu in the Guangxi Zhuang region, also known as the ‘long hair village’, the women have hair that grows down to their feet, sometimes longer. To this 2000-year old tribe, long hair is a sign of prosperity, longevity and good fortune. The average hair length among its female inhabitants is six feet, and their hair continues to grow thick and jet black well into old age. The secret to their long, lustrous locks? Rice water. For centuries women in China, Japan and Southeast Asia have used the water left over after cooking rice as a staple in their beauty and hair care regimes. According to research by the International Journal of Cosmetic Science, courtesans and geishas in the ancient Heian period had beautiful floor-length hair, which they would keep healthy by using the water collected after washing rice. This miracle ingredient was
