The Art of The Bath

We reviewed in a previous blog post about effective ways to take baths. As a follow up, we’re introducing some customized bath treatments to fit your skin’s needs. Check out these creative and soothing soaks:

Milk Bath: Cleopatra was famous for her beautiful skin. Her beauty secret was that she soaked in baths of fresh milk. The lactic acid in milk is an alpha hydroxy acid, a natural material that dissolves the glue that holds dead skin cells together. Milk cleanses the skin down to its deepest layers. Soak for a good 20 minutes. Gently rub your skin with a washcloth to slough off the dead skin. Rinse your body thoroughly after soaking.

Sake bath: Sake cures dry skin issues by deeply moisturizing and reducing fatigue. Japanese Sake contains koji acids that can brighten the skin complexion and prevent skin from aging. Fill your bathtub with hot water; add two or three cups of sake, then stir.

Rice Bran bath: Rice bran, which is rich in oil, makes an effective exfoliant and contains phytic acid, a B-complex vitamin that can help improve blood circulation and stimulate cell turnover when used topically. Renowned for its skin smoothing and lightening properties, rice bran powder can be purchased at any natural foods stores. Put 1 cup of rice bran into a cotton bag and place it into hot water. Gently rub on the face for lightening blemishes, freckles and brown patches, and for elbows, knees, feet, and hard skin areas – for extra-smooth skin. Rice bran is used in our Geisha facial at Shizuka NY!!

In addition to the above, you can put your favorite essential oil or herbs wrapped with gauze into the bathwater. Also, at Japanese grocery stores, you could buy a variety of bath agents like those shown below.

From the top: Placenta bath agent, Onsen ( hot springs) bath agent and Sake bath agent.

Left : Chamomile  powder with Japanese bath agents.

Here are a few of the many other unique bath methods performed around the world: In Ireland, seaweed baths treat rheumatism and arthritis. In Korea, “Dr. Fish” baths (where fish nibble off dead skin) are considered a folk remedy for skin conditions such as psoriasis. Also, salt baths (when correct amount of salt is used) can promote the healing of psoriasis and eczema, as well as help relieve muscle strain, rheumatism and arthritic pain.