Spas these days offer an array of quirky beauty treatments that range from green tea face masks to chocolate massages to caviar facials. But in Japan — and now at some spas in New York City — you can take sake baths, Condé Nast Traveler reports. These baths aren’t about getting you tipsy, though. Instead, they tout the surprising health and skin benefits of the beverage.
Sake is a rice wine that is fermented. As a result of this fermentation, it produces amino and kojic acids. Los Angeles-based dermatologist Jason Emer told Allure that kojic acid is “one of [his] go-to non-hydroquinone skin lightening/brightening agents.” These agents can do things like fade dark spots on the skin, and are used in anti-aging products. Sake is also known skin moisturizing and softening qualities.
If you want to try the treatment at home, Allure recommends pouring two 75-milliliter bottles of sake into a hot tub of water. Or, you could just buy the Rice Sake Bath from Sephora.