Let’s take a look at a skincare product that you’ve probably never come across before. We’ve all seen various exotic skin creams costing lots of money. Retinal, Nano and all sorts of things and then some.

Let me tell you the story about how this skincare product was discovered.

The setting is a rural factory making Japanese wine. Like a good french wine, the workers get heavily involved in the preparation and fermentation process. Remember see everyone kneading the grapes with their feet? Weill this is similar except they were using their hands

What they found was that the various lines on their wrists disappeared over a short period of time. We all tend to touch our faces throughout the day and it seems that the fermented rice erased the wrinkles where they touched them!

Many of us have tried various face creams and their results usually don’t live up to the hype. Some make your face feel smoother, but very few make any visible difference. Those that do, tend to be prohibitively expensive. There is a lot of controversy around some of the more recent “Miracle” products using Nanotechnologies to target underlying layers of your skin. Recent research has suggested that these can be toxic and we may inadvertently poison our bodies! Not quite what we signed up for.

Anti-Ageing has become a huge subject over the last ten years with real strides being made into treatments that really can turn the clock back. One branch has looked at the groups of people that have the longest lifespans to try and understand exactly why they age better. One factor they discovered is that these groups regularly consume fermented food products.

If you think of products such as Kim Chi and Kefir, these have been used for millennia. There are a number of theories around why they would help longevity, but it seems that beneficial bacteria are generated by the fermentation process as well as nutrients in easier to absorb forms.

Fermented rice is used to make the well know Japanese wine called “Sake”. This is filled with vitamins, amino acid and minerals. Who thought a tipple could be good for you! It is when this is used on your skin that the real benefits seem to appear.

Some have also reported that it can remove age spots.

As well as being able to reduce the signs of ageing, it can remove things like blemishes, inflammation, pimples, acne and even eczema. There is a long-established history of its use in Japan for exactly these purposes.

You don’t need to drink it and it can be applied topically to your skin. Its slightly acidic properties help with targeting skin lightning and dark spots.

You don’t need to apply wine to your skin either. A number of enterprising cosmetic firms have created serums using Sake. They have supplemented this with a number of other complementary products which multiply its effects.

These are sourced from both Japan and the US using good manufacturing processes (GMP) so you have certainty around how these products are created. These are made more in line with food products than conventional cosmetics.

There is little control and oversight with many skin cream products and some may contain some fairly toxic chemicals. There has also been a number that use Nanoparticles to deliver their ingredients deep into your skin. If you been reading newspapers recently you’ll be aware that particles like this are controversial and nobody really knows the long term side-effects

It is important to make sure that Sake is sourced organically. Some manufacturers product’s have been contaminated with pesticides and fertilisers. These pesticides seep deep into the plants and ultimately could end up in your body.

Pesticides build up on our bodies over time and can cause many health issues. You only have to look at the controversy surrounding Roundup recently to understand just how dangerous some of these pesticides can be.

Sake production is a time-consuming process that goes through a number of steps:

First of all, it has to be washed to break down and soften the grains. Stage two is steaming the rice.

Stage three is actually adding a particular mould which really helps this breaking down process. It is absolutely critical to get temperatures right at this point so that mould kicks off the fermentation

Stage four then mixes the rice and water together to form a mash which later becomes a paste. It is then left to ferment for around 12 months. It is mixed periodically to keep it warm and boost the fermentation process. Only at the very end does it get pressed to form the wine.

So what are the uses for Sake?

If your skin isn’t looking great, it can be used for lightly invigorating your skin without looking artificial and is a very good way of boosting your skin.

It can be used really well to remove dark spots. it’s actually been used to do similar things to lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and other natural products. It leaves the skin softer and is less harsh than some other approaches.

It’s also not toxic with no heavy chemicals, so is much more natural.

Make sure to look for a product that is organic, manufactured to GMP and look for serum as this is better than rubbing alcohol wine onto your face! Serums are normally blended with complementary products to enhance the positive effects on your skin.