I don’t have perfect skin by any means, but I do swear by these two tips! Let me know if you’ve found anything else that really improves your skin!!

1) Wash Your Face With Rice Water

This is an old, old, old Asian trick that I first learned years ago from my Chinese cousin and Aunt. When you wash your white rice, you’ll see that there is a lot of white residue that comes off of the rice. Don’t let that magical powder go down the drain!! Rice water is well known for its brightening effects and is used in a lot of Asian skincare products.

I don’t do it as often as I should (because I am lazy) but every time I come back to it I end up saying, “Man, why did I ever stop doing this?!” For me, I have a lot of discoloration and acne scars – the rice water lightens my dark spots and makes my face more radiant overall! I also find that it keeps my oily skin at bay.

What to do:

1. Wash your rice and pour the milky white water into a container.
2. Wash your face using this rice water and let it sit on your face (don’t wipe it off immediately).
3. Rinse off your face with cold water when you feel your skin start to tighten. Pat dry.

2) Vitamin Sea

I don’t know what it is…the salt water, the vitamin D, the lack of makeup, the copious amounts of sunscreen, or probably the combination of all of the above. Without fail, my skin (and hair) always improve after a beach day. just stayed 5 days in the Maldives and my skin is significantly better. The salt water’s cleansing properties really clear my acne and back-ne. I’d like to think that playing under the sun or laying out on the sand also helps – compounding the killing of acne-causing bacteria. I find that even the texture of my skin improves. Just make sure to layer on the sunscreen and to properly wash it off at night!

Photo credit: Naturalhairchiquita