Sake as Part of the Asian Beauty Routine

 

Sake, or rice wine, is often used in Japanese beauty products. It can be a simple, cheap addition to your beauty routine. You can not only use it as a natural pink blusher by drinking it if you are Asian, but you can also use it topically to whiten your skin!

What does sake do for your skin?

Sake contains a skin lightening acid called kojic acid. It is a by-product of the fermentation process, produced by fungi. It inhibits pigmentation and works as a skin lightener, lightening spots and creating an overall lighter skin tone.

Old Day Use:

It is said that geishas bathed in sake to keep their skin young and white.

Modern Use: 

 Products with sake derived ingredients:

There is the famous story about the brand SK-II that includes sake. As the story goes, someone noticed that the hands of workers in a sake brewery in Japan looked young and soft, so scientists isolated an ingredient that they called "Pitera." 

Sana Isoflavone Toner Lotion

The Japanese brand SANA sells an isoflavone toner lotion. One of its main ingredients are soybean ferment filtrate and rice ferment filtrate (from sake). It also contains arbutin, which is a whitening ingredient. 

The ingredient list for the Sana Toner Lotion

It is a milky, watery moisturizer. I have been using it for a year. I use it after cleansing my face. I pour a little into my palm, rub my hands together to thin the product out, and then I slap it all over my face. It leaves my face feeling lightly moisturized.

 

Toner on my hand

The Japanese "dollar store" DAISO sells a Sake Skin Toner for only $1.50 USD. It is actually made in Japan! 

Daiso Sake Skin Toner

The ingredients for the DAISO Sake Skin Toner are pretty simple:

Ingredients: Water, Glycerin, Alcohol, Denat fermented rice solution, Citric acid, Sodium citrate fragrance, phenoxyethanol, methylparaben.

It actually smells just like sake, so there must be sake in it. I haven't tried drinking it though! Compared to the SANA toner, it is more lightweight and feels like nothing when you put it on. It is especially nice because I have really oily skin.

Using sake itself as a beauty product:

You can also just use plain old sake! You can soak a cotton pad to use it as a lightweight cleanser and lightening treatment and wipe your skin with it.

You can also just use it as a toner and put some in your hand and slap it into your skin.

Daiso spray bottle and orange blossom floral water mist spray

Sake can also be mixed with a floral water (such as orange blossom water, or rose water, which you can get at Middle Eastern or Indian grocery stores for really cheap) and put into a spray bottle to use as a moisturizer and skin refresher during the day. It is especially nice during hot weather.


The kojic acid is pretty unstable, so you need to store your sake in a cool, dark place, in a dark colored bottle. The best way to store it will probably be in an airtight container.