While we may not know all beauty rituals from around the world, we have gotten to know some of them through television, magazines and the internet. Trying out a beauty ritual from a different culture can be a fun and exciting experience, and sometimes they are widely adopted in our own culture thanks to their great results. However, others are less known to us, yet they are so normal to those who grew up with them. Have you always wanted to step out of your comfort zone to try a beauty ritual that you’re less familiar with? Or do you need one extra push to convince yourself? Then keep reading! These 9 beauty rituals from around the world are worth a shot. You’ll never know the results unless you try…
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1. Rosemary Water for Shiny Locks
In Greece, women rinse their hair with rosemary water for shiny and bouncy locks. All you need to do is boil fresh rosemary in water, let it cool completely and pour the water over your hair. According to Yiotis Panayiotou, an LA hair stylist who grew up in Greece, rosemary water will deep-cleans your hair, as well as remove buildup. Additionally, rosemary stimulates the scalp, which enhances hair growth, so if you’re desperate for long hair, you better start boiling rosemary now. Rosemary water can also reduce dandruff and premature graying. This might just be one of the best of all beauty rituals from around the world.
2. Sake Bath for Glowing Skin
If you think sake only goes with your California roll, think again. In Japan, women add three to four cups of sake to their bath to enhance a glowing skin. Sake contains kojic acid, which exfoliates the skin and helps to lighten up spots and blemishes. Make-up artist Keiko Takagi says that sake baths are common in Japanese spas. The Japanese even say that body lotion after a sake soak is not needed, because their skin feels smooth and hydrated.
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3. Butter up for Tighter Vagina Muscles
Using butter to tighten the muscles in the vagina seems a bit farfetched, but in Ethiopia, women have used this beauty ritual for years. Here, spas offer full-body massages with butter. After the massage, women are given butter to spread around their private parts, after which they are taken to a separate room. In this room, women are covered in blankets, and while sitting down steam is released throughout the room until all butter has melted. Apparently, it’s a popular treatment among women who recently gave birth.
4. Rice Face Wash for anti-Aging
Did you ever wonder why Chinese women seem to age less quickly than others? It could very well be thanks to their rice face wash. Instead of using soap or any other face wash, some Chinese women swear by cleansing their faces with rice. Chinese rice, that is! Rice is rich in antioxidants and will help prevent premature aging of the skin. If you want to try out this beauty ritual, all you have to do is soak Chinese rice in bottled water for 20 minutes. Then strain out the water, use a damp washcloth to gently scrub the rice on your face for 10 minutes et voilà… You’ll be wrinkle-free in no time.
5. Lemon Juice to Remove Nail Polish Residue
The one thing I hate about polishing my nails in any other shades besides nude is the residue near my cuticles after removing the nail polish. The French have a solution for it, which honestly, is quite new to me. The average Française loves to polish her nails in bright red, but when removing her nail polish, she ends with a lemon juice soak. To have clean nails effortlessly, mix fresh lemon juice with warm water and soak your nails for several minutes. According to Laura Mercier, a French make-up artist, it works like a charm.
6. Threading for Perfect Eyebrows
Threading is widely adopted in Western countries and originates from India and the Middle East. A thin, cotton or polyester thread is doubled and then twisted to get rid of unwanted hair. Threading is not only used for the eyebrows; however, the results threading eyebrows are amazing. Not only does threading provide more control to shaping the eyebrow, but it's also much more gentle to the skin compared to waxing. I know that even though threading has become increasingly popular, there are still many women out there who are reluctant to try it. But really, there are very few disadvantages of threading, and once you’ll see your perfect eyebrows, you’ll never want to go back to waxing.
7. Daisy Water as a Highlight Booster
In Turkey, women with blonde or brown hair use daisy water as a highlight booster. So go outside, pick some daisies and boil them in water for about five minutes. Let the water cool down completely before removing the daisies, then pour the water over your hair and leave the blow-dryer in your bathroom cabinet. Whenever possible, try to air-dry your hair to give it a rest from all the heat and pressure of those styling tools. After you rinse your hair with daisy water, you should also not apply any hair products to let the daisies do their magic.
8. Oatmeal Bath for Sunburn
Brazilian women soak themselves in oatmeal to reduce the effects of sunburn. Take gauze bandage, put a pile of oatmeal flakes on top and twist it like a sack. Then throw it in the tub, fill it up and soak up in the oatmeal bath for about 20 minutes. You must be getting comfy thinking about a warm bath, but to reduce the effects of sunburn, a cool bath is better. According to Brazilian beauty experts, grains are anti-inflammatory thus a great remedy if you accidentally dozed off in the sun.
9. Oak-Leaf Treatment for Exfoliation
You would think that a woman doesn’t like to pay to be spanked with a broom, but in Russia, things go a little different. For the oak-leaf treatment, women enter a steam-filled room and are beaten by an in olive-oil drenched oak-leaf broom. Russians say that oak leaves contain a natural astringent, which opens up pores, removes toxins and exfoliates the skin. After you had your spanks, a bucket of ice-cold water is poured over your body to seal in the benefits of the oak leaves. Sounds tempting, but I'll just stick with a massage.
Some of these beauty rituals may sound a bit bizarre to you (butter for your vagina muscles?). Others might be worth a shot, because they are easy and inexpensive to do yourself, like rinsing your hair with rosemary water or an oatmeal bath to reduce the effects of sunburn. As long as you remember that the results of beauty rituals usually depend on your skin or hair type, you shouldn’t be risking much. And since some of these can be done together with friends, it might even be a fun thing to do during your next girls’ night in. What beauty rituals are there in your culture? Please share your success story in the comments.
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