This month’s recipe is not for eating but for making your skin beautiful! In Japan sake products are well known to have a beneficial effect on the skin. Why not try making this simple sake kasu mask? Sake kasu is the remaining lees left over from the main mash once the sake is pressed. You can try to find sake kasu in a Japanese or Asian specialty food store near you.

Ingredients for 1 application:

• 1 heaping full teaspoon of sake kasu
• 1 – 2 full teaspoon of sake or water.
• Optional: a dash of honey

Mix the ingredients in a bowl, adding the sake or water a bit at a time until you get a spreadable consistency. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it for an hour at room temperature.

Usage:
After washing your face, spread the sake kasu mask on your face, and leave for 10-20 minutes. (Of course, you can also apply to your neck, arms, hands, legs too!). When done, simply wash the mask away with water and apply any toner or moisturizer as usual.

Sake kasu has a lot of Kojic-acid which works to lighten skin. If you have freckles, you may notice them lighten after a few uses.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kojic_acid

You can make the sake kasu ahead and keep it in the refrigerator, but it should be used within a week. Of course, if you have an allergy to alcohol, we don’t recommend you use this mask.