TikTok is full of beauty tips of all kinds, from the wackiest to the most effective, but the latest one is truly astonishing: a Korean user reveals the beauty secret of his 44-year-old mother, who moisturises her face with steam from cooking rice to prevent fine lines and wrinkles.
User Justin Yoon is behind this latest viral beauty video, in which he shares the routine of his 44-year-old mother, Lauren Kim, herself a user of the platform. In this 40-second clip, which has over 29 million views, her son explains that his mother looks more like she’s in her 20s than in her 40s, and describes her daily routine.
At the end, he points out that his mother uses a “strange” but effective beauty ritual involving moisturising her face daily with the steam from cooking rice – a tip that allows her to keep her skin smooth and plump, with no signs of ageing.
It’s worth noting that Kim’s full routine is actually based on an exemplary lifestyle in line with well-known health recommendations: regular moderate-to-vigorous exercise, a healthy and balanced diet loaded with vegetables, and a beauty routine made up of masks, massages and rice-water steam.
Indeed, she has essentially embraced the fashionable concept of holistic beauty, which involves looking at beauty as a whole – inside and out – and thus adopting a healthy lifestyle that is then reflected through the skin.
So, in this case, it’s hard to say whether the steam emanating from cooking rice is really a factor in preventing wrinkles. Plus, Asians are generally known for looking younger than their age, no?
Still, this isn’t the first time rice water has caused a stir on the Chinese social network. An age-old ritual in certain cultures, the liquid has been known for its many virtues for centuries in Asia: not only is it a great ally for combination to oily skin, it also helps combat certain signs of ageing including fine lines and wrinkles.
Furthermore, hair also benefits from rice water’s ability to make it stronger, fuller and shinier, when used in the form of a mask. This economical tip has the added benefit of being environmentally friendly, since it recycles cooking water.