8 Skin-Perfecting Techniques From Around The World

History: Black soap has been around for at least several hundred years and is believed to have originated with the Yoruba people of Nigeria.

Contains: Vitamins A and E, iron, and natural oils.

Used for: Acne relief, soothing of irritation, and skin softening.

History: Visiting the bania (bathhouses) has been a cultural institution in Russia since the medieval period. These communal spaces were considered centers for healing, cleansing, beautification, and ritual in Russian villages, and they are still widely used today. One of the activities in the bania is venik massage, which involves being stroked, brushed, and even beaten with a bundle of twigs.

Contains: Venik bundles can be composed of oak, eucalyptus, birch, nettle, or fir branches, each of which is suited for particular conditions.

Used for: Detoxification, cleaning, smoothing, invigoration, and healing.

History: Essences are lightweight, easily absorbed, skin-perfecting fluids that have been used since the late 19th century in Japan. They have been developed from diverse sources and have gained significant international intention since the 1980s.

Contains: Natural extracts, amino acids, vitamins, enzymes, and minerals.

Used for: Moisturizing, exfoliation, luminesce, anti-aging, and pore minimization.

History: The use of powdered pearl was touted as a skin enhancer as far back as the Ming Dynasty, and it has been used as a beauty product for skin lightening since and perfecting ever since.

Contains: Amino-acids, signal proteins, and calcium.

Used for: Improving dry and damaged skin, lustrousness, and dark spots.

History: The earliest use of rose water can be traced to1200 BC in Mycenae, and it later became a valuable export for Shiraz Persia in the 9th century BC.

Contains: Vitamins A, C, D, E and B3, flavonoids, anti-oxidants, and tannins.

Used for: PH balancing and alleviating irritation, acne, oily skin, dryness, and wrinkles.

History: Argan oil is sourced from Argan Tree kernals, and has been used as a skin and health care treatment by people in the Moroccan region perhaps as early as 1550 B.C.

Contains: Anti-oxidants, fatty acids, and vitamin E.

Used for: Combating dryness, wrinkles, and acne.

History: Turmeric has been used for almost 4,000 years in Southeast Asia (including India), has since been employed for Ayurvedic healing, flavoring, spiritual practice, and skincare.

Contains: Beta-carotene, anti-oxidants, flavonoids, vitamin C, calcium, iron, niacin, potassium, zinc, and curcumin.

Used for: Alleviating eczema, rosacea, and acne.

History: Camu Camu is native to the Amazonian Rainforest on the Peruvian-Brazilian border. While any early history of human use of this berry is fairly vague, since a study was conducted in 1957 by the Ministry of Public Health of Peru revealing camu camu to have the highest amount of vitamin C of any botanical, interest in the fruit has grown tremendously since.

Contains: Vitamin C, beta-carotene, potassium, calcium, iron, niacin, phosphorus, protein, serine, thiamin, leucine, and valine.

Used for: Brightening and anti-aging.