



You know you are onto something special when your other half (whose routine consists of simply washing his face with a random facial foam whenever he remembers) asks when is the next appointment for his Makgeolli face mask!









Honestly, I have been very skeptical about the idea of using alcohol masks since alcohol itself is renown to cause drying and to be relatively harsh on sensitive skin. (That is also part of the reason why I tested it on my hubby first haha!)





To make the mask, use a sheet mask and soak it in (refrigerated and shaken) Makgeolli for 5 minutes before applying it to face. It is important to shake the Makgeolli bottle in order to mix the residue evenly. If you want to go one step further, you can always place a warm tower on your face or hover your face over a bowl of steaming hot water to loosen up the build-up in your pores before applying the face mask. After which, using your third and fourth fingers, gently pat more Makgeolli directly on your face/mask every 5 minutes up to 3 times. Try not to over-do it by leaving the mask on for more than 20 minutes! After removing the mask, continue patting your face until all the liquid is fully absorbed.

-----

So lo and behold, here are the results thus far! (Will try to be as consistent in terms of lighting as possible!)





Test 1 (21st May)

(L:Before / R: After)





From him: Nice cooling sensation, slight "biting" sensation but nevertheless, really refreshing. His favorite part of the whole experience is actually how the mask is not "slimy and sticky" like the ones I used to apply on him. The next day after lunch, he remarked that his face is less oily than usual.





From me: Hub's skin seems fairer than before and significantly smoother. Never had much faith in DIY masks but this is looking promising!





Test 2 (23rd May)

(L:Before / R: After | T:Before / B:After)





From him: Never felt so relaxed in a long while, I could do with more of such pampering :) None of the itchy sensation experienced during Test 1.









Test 3 (27th May)



Hubs is enjoying his facial as usual. He likes the smell of the mask and how cooling it always feels. I think the whitening effects are quite obvious this time round. His face also seems smoother than usual. On a side note, I've been reading up quite extensively on applying alcohol to one's face, and it seems as though the general consensus is that alcohol will dry the skin so this mask is probably not suitable for people with very sensitive skin. So as always, YMMV! :) If you've tried it, I would love to hear from you so leave a comment below! From me: Though hubs strangely did not seem fairer this time (could be a result of inconsistent lighting during Test 1), he certainly did look more radiant. Close up pictures of his nose also seem to show a noticeably smoother texture. Certainly can't wait to observe more moving forward!Hubs is enjoying his facial as usual. He likes the smell of the mask and how cooling it always feels. I think the whitening effects are quite obvious this time round. His face also seems smoother than usual. On a side note, I've been reading up quite extensively on applying alcohol to one's face, and it seems as though the general consensus is that alcohol will dry the skin so this mask is probably not suitable for people with very sensitive skin. So as always, YMMV! :) If you've tried it, I would love to hear from you so leave a comment below!

-----

For the uninitiated, Makgeolli is a type of unfiltered rice wine made up of fermented rice, yeast and water. Since it is unfiltered, Makgeolli is typically cloudy/milky and slightly frizzy from its fermentation process. As one of Korea's oldest liquor, it used to be popular with the working class and farmers until the late 80s, after which, a combination of economic development, modernization and liberalization of the alcohol industry led to its waning popularity as imported beer, wine and whisky became more prominent. To make matters worse, rice rationing spawned unpopular variations of the Makgeolli and high profile cases of chemicals being used to hasten the fermentation process gave the liquor a bad reputation for causing hangovers.





Thankfully Makgeolli experienced a sort of renaissance around 2009 with the government investing significant amounts of money into promoting this home-ground alcohol. Additionally, with its lower alcohol content (typically 6-8%), slightly sweetened taste, and perceived health benefits, more youngsters (especially women) these days are turning to this traditional-turned-hip liquor! However, what inspired me to test this Makgeolli as a face mask ingredient is its numerous health benefits. If you are interested, here's a short video about this type of rice wine.









1. Lactic Acid for Exfoliation and Moisturizing

Around 10% of the liquor is made up of lactic acid bacteria and dietary fibre. Lactic acid is one of the mildest form of acid that is commonly used as for chemical exfoliation, cleansing and even moisturizing! According to Lu Heaney, a certified esthetician, this acid is suitable for sensitive skin since it permeates our epidermis slower as its molecular size is large and it can "simultaneously dissolves proteins to exfoliate dead skin cells, imparts hydration, inhibits bacteria production, and hinders pigment accumulations for the emergence of fresh, younger looking skin". If you are interested, you can find out more here





2. Kojic Acid for Whitening

As a rice wine, Makgeolli also contains high amounts of kojic acid which is commonly used in facial products to treat hyper-pigmentation by inhibiting the production of melanin. On top of which, kojic acid functions as an anti-oxidant by limiting the effects of free radicals in the air. This helps prevent ageing by protecting protein-producing skin cells.





3. Other Functions

Apparently, Makgeolli also possess anti-cancer agents in the form of squalene and farnesol. Squalene, an anti-oxidant and cancer fighting agent, in Makgeolli is also supposed to be 50 to 200 times higher than beer or wine. These findings were made by the Korea Food Research Institute . In the introduction write-up, you will also see other explored benefits of Makgeolli which includes its anti-inflammatory properties! (Yipee to faster recovery of pimples!)





So here's the TL;DR - Makgeolli is shown to be useful for exfoliation, whitening, anti-inflammation and moisturizing. However, one cannot say for certain that the effects of drinking it and applying it on the face will be the same.



