Cooling Rice Powder

Hello bies,

Today, I would like to share "my blemish treatment" trilogy will be this traditional beauty product called Bedak Sejuk ( Cooling Rice Powder ). For me, I would fondly call it 'Sui Fan' - literally translated to powder water because I remember when I was young, my mom would apply them all over my face.

Then, I wasn't sure how this product will do any good to my face because I looked ridiculously ghostly when applied at night. Now, being older and wiser *cough*, I really have to thanks my mom for this because I think, it gradually helped me as I don't have severe acne problems when puberty hits. I am very blessed with a good skin condition (up until now) and my friends would always praise me for my fair and glowing skin.

Read more to know how is it made, the benefits of it and my experience with it.

The Ingredient;

I bought mine, which is homemade using the traditional method. The high quality of rice grains first cleaned and soaked for 3 months or until dissolved. ( Some even keep it for a year ) The filtered rice paste is then poured into a clean container and filled again with clean water. The water must be changed every 2-3 weeks to get rid of the unpleasant smell.

To make it into the pastilles, they would then fill some rice paste into a cone ( made of pandan leaves or mango leaves ) From the cone, they will drop the tiny droplets unto a large clean surface and place under the sun to dry ( with pandan leaves ) for 3 days or more. During the packing process, they would place the dried pandan leaves or jasmine flowers together to get rid of the bad smell. During the olden days, they would usually present this as a gift to relatives or passed on to their grandchildren.

Since mine is homemade, I think they omit the fragrance during the fermentation process. In modern times, usually the process takes only 2 weeks and they may use fragrance to rid the smell. Some pastilles may be white in color ( means they are using normal bleached rice ) vs organic ones.

Rice powder has been used for centuries as a natural beauty aid by Asian women. It’s natural anti-aging and oil-absorbing properties make them good for oily or acne-prone and dull mature skin. It’s also a good anti-inflammatory and skin whitening agent that soothes sunburned skin and makes skin smooth and fairer naturally. Let us find out some of the miraculous beauty uses of rice powder and it’s skin benefits.

Benefits of Rice Powder;

As many of us know, rice powder has a wealth of benefits.

• It's been used in the Asian culture for hundreds of years. In Geisha's culture, rice powder is used to whiten their complexions.
• Boost UV protection as rice contains a high concentration of para-aminobenzoic acid.
• Contains anti-inflammatory properties that soothe sunburns, reduce acne and also promotes the skin's repair.  ( Many use rice powder as a natural alternative to soothe baby rashes )
• Natural skin lightener and smooths skin.
• Contains ceramide which increases collagen production to make skin more supple and free from wrinkles.
• Gentle exfoliation removes dead skin and dissolves pure clogging impurities.
• Eliminates pimples or whiteheads.

My Experience;

I was too excited to try this that I ended up testing it on the night itself.:P Coincidentally that night, I had two breakouts near my nose bridge and felt that the timing was perfect to use the "bedak sejuk" as a spot treatment since the pimples are still 'fresh'. 

I use just two pastilles and add a little bit of water to make it into a paste. However, I realized that I added too much water to it that made it pretty watery. The trick to getting slightly thicker paste is adding water little by little to reach the desired consistency. If it's overly watery, just add more pastilles. 

The colour is 'wheatish' brown and it does have a strong fermented smell to it. I apply them overnight and the next day, I realized that this product helps to slowdown the development of the pimple. A pimple did subsided and not as painful as the day before. No kidding!  I was actually very surprised by the speedy effects it gave.

To ensure that a pimple is fully subsided, I continued the same treatment for the next four days. I can happily testify that: It Worked. It subsided fully and the spot also lightens rather quickly. I am 'wowed' by the results honestly. I have used a few acne treatment products before but never one that works as good as this. The previous ones will more often than not, leave a distinctly dark spot that takes a rather long time to lighten. 

I am glad to have found a product from the past that works pretty well for me as a natural alternative to spot treatment. I am sure that it works as good too as a purifying facial mask, which I am currently experimenting now. Will update the results soon! - love, tinie