Sunday Vibes | Jackie Aina, Rice Water & More…

Autumn is always a mixed bag both seasonally and emotionally. Its a time of change in weather and light levels which can have an unsettling effect. Too often it can also feel like a gloomy stop-gap between the glory of Summer and the winter festive period. That being said, Autumn is also a transitional period and a time for new beginnings. Whether its the beautiful colours spilling from trees before shedding their leaves from seasonal fruits and vegetables, this is is also a season to embrace change. In this week’s Sunday vibes, we’ve got some fantastic Autumn beauty tips, we look at rice water as an important skincare ingredient and celebrate the wonderfulness that is Jackie Aina. So pour yourself another cup of coffee or tea and let’s do this!

YouTube Beauty Channel To Check Out

Jackie Aina is pretty much Youtube beauty for us. Her Youtube channel is a blend of expert makeup pro tips and refreshingly honest reviews on everything cosmetic. What makes Jackie stand out is an incredible energy and fun spirit she consistently infuses each and every one of her videos. She’s also one of the most vocal and effective voices in beauty when it comes to diversity. Whether she calls out brands for not representing darker skin tones in their ranges or colourism in the beauty industry, she is a major force for change. There are also fun informative videos that share her experiences of plastic surgery and casual celebrity interviews. Not to be missed are her review of the first CC cream for deeper skin tones from Thrive Causmetics and is luxury skincare worth it? videos.

Hair & Skincare Tip To Try (Rice Water)

Rice or more specifically rice water is our beauty tip this week. This K-beauty staple is actually a long known about beauty ingredient across many Asian cultures. Rice water is used in beauty because it has anti-inflammatory effects, smooths and refines texture, moisturises and brightens skin. Historically, rice water has been created by storing the water used to wash rice in a container for several days in order to allow fermentation. Rice water contains Vitamins B and E, minerals, anti-oxidants, linoleic acids and Pitera. The linoleic acids in rice water provide its moisturising properties whilst Pitera is a yeast product due to the fermentation process that is rich in amino acids, proteins and organic acids. These nourish, smooth and brighten the skin. If you’ve been following us for a while now, you’ll know how strongly we believe the link is between skin and hair. All these ingredients are unsurprisingly also effective in hair care. As such rice water has also been very popular throughout time for hair to promote strength and shine.

Making rice water itself is pretty simple. Soak 1 cup of rice to 3 cups of water in a bowl for 30 minutes then strain the water and place in a clean container. Cover the container and leave overnight or for a day until it starts to sour as this will mean that fermentation has started. Boil the rice water to stop further fermentation and now its ready for use. There are many ways to use rice water on your skin but our favourite is as a toner. Double cleanse your skin as usual then apply the rice water with a cotton pad and let it soak into your skin before applying the rest of your skincare. This toner is excellent for calming acne or breakouts, smoothing skin, brightening complexion and generally giving you a beautiful glow. Use it on a daily basis and over the weekend combine it with 2-3 tablespoons of coconut oil for a gloriously nourishing and exfoliating mask for your face and neck. leave the mask on for 10-15 minutes before wiping away.

The reparative properties of rice water are thought to be due to a carbohydrate called Inositol. This is thought to repair damaged hair and thus promoting growth and healthier hair. You can either use the rice water as a rinse or make a hair mask. Wash the hair with shampoo and rinse thoroughly. You can then either apply the fermented rice water as a rinse or combine it with coconut or olive oil as a mask. Leave this on for 15-20 minutes then wash off with a shampoo again.

Makeup Technique To Practice

We’re obviously all about dewy skin and Autumn is definitely the time to embrace this. However, the cold weather outside and heating inside will make your skin look drier and possibly affect your makeup. If you want an all day look that’s easy to convert between daytime and work, you really can beat no makeup makeup. Check out our tutorial on dewy skin makeup and look out for our Autumn makeup looks post this coming week.

Beauty Guide To Read

Before you do anything, read our skincare for Autumn post first. Your makeup will only ever look as good as your skin allows it to. Better still, if you stick with a good skincare routine that targets your skin concerns, it will allow you to wear less makeup in the long run. If you fancy any DIY beauty hacks, try our brightening coffee scrub recipe.

Sneak Peek At The Coming Week In Beauty

We’re upping our blogging game this month so in the coming week look forward to more beauty tips, skincare and cosmetic guides as well as DIY hacks. Head over to our Instagram (@cityskinclinic) for more fuss-free beauty tips and tricks. We’re also putting up our first skincare sunday instalment on IGTV!