What happened when I raided my kitchen to find a facial wash

While we have an entire series of budget-friendly beauty picks that fit into my student budget, I’ve been curious about which products I already have at home can also be used for beauty purposes. I remembered how my mom used to apply oatmeal to her face to make it soft to touch so I decided to try three kitchen staples to cleanse my skin. I had heard that olive oil, honey, and rice water supposedly works and offer great skin benefits as well, so read on to see how they worked for my combination skin!

Olive Oil

At first, I was really unsure about using oil on my face because I was worried it would clog my pores. A lot of people swear by this as a makeup remover though so I decided to give it a go. I poured out a small amount onto my palm and applied it all over my face a little at a time. Eek, my first thought was about how gross it felt! It was sticky and heavy, and I did not like how it smelled!

Even so, I continued massaging my face and found that it easily melted my makeup. When I felt that it was okay to stop, I tried rinsing my face with water but it was so hard to remove the olive oil! I had to eventually use warm water to get the oil get off of my face but even after flushing my face with warm water, my face still felt like it had oily residue on it. I decided to let it be since olive oil is also supposed to be a good moisturizer. My face really did feel soft and look dewy! But a pimple on my face felt itchy and irritated.

Later on, I found online that using a face towel soaked in warm water would help remove all residue, which is best for people with dry skin. In my case, double-cleansing would have been a better option since my skin has been problematic lately and olive oil is still considered moderately comedogenic. I think I’ll stick to using commercial oil cleansers, which are usually formulated with emulsifiers to make removing the oil easier.

Honey

I didn’t think twice about using honey on my face because I had read that it has antibacterial, healing, hydrating, nourishing, and probiotic properties. It was SUPER sticky and thick so I had a hard time applying it! When I finally managed to spread it to all over my face, I let it sit for about 10 minutes before rinsing. Fortunately, it washed right off using just water. After drying my face, my skin felt clean, soft, and smooth. The redness of my acne was also reduced!

It was honestly an amazing feeling to use honey on my face, and I’m thinking about making it a weekly masking ritual. Application was such a hassle though so products like the Manuka Health Manuka Honey line would be a more practical option.

Rice water

Considering that this is something that we just normally throw out, I wondered how the water from washing rice could possibly have any beauty benefits. It’s a Japanese beauty hack though, and considering how Japanese women are serious about their skin care, it seemed worth trying out. I made sure to wash the rice grains first, to remove dirt and other impurities. Then I replaced the water and allowed the grains to soak for 30 minutes before transferring the rice water into a different container.

To use, I just scooped a generous amount of rice water and washed my face as usual. It felt just like water but it seemed to make my skin feel softer and smoother. I noticed that my redness also subsided and my pimples did not get irritated. I think I’ll need to try this for a longer time to actually see if this will make my skin look better.

A quicker (and probably more effective) route would be to use skin care products that feature rice as the star ingredient! Japanese and Korean brands usually have products or even entire lines devoted to rice, like The Face Shop’s Rice Water Bright collection. Locally, the Oryspa brand incorporates rice bran oil in their products. Rice bran is rich in vitamin E and vitamin A, and I’m guessing this would even work better than just washing my face with rice water.

While everything I tried here is food-grade, it’s still possible to get a negative reaction when applied to the skin. Do make sure to do a patch test first to see if your skin will react to the application and discontinue use if you get any allergies or rashes.

Have you tried any of these beauty hacks? How did they work for you? What other kitchen ingredient have you tried using to cleanse your face?

Sources: Lab Muffin, Stylecaster, Bustle