More from last week:
Mari made a face treatment from rice bran powder, honey, and soy milk, then filled the tub with hot water and perfumed it with essential oils. She said it’s best if the water only reaches to just over our bellies, and to leave our shirts on and cover our necks. And stay for 15 minutes. So we knelt in the water, smeared the rice bran paste on each others’ faces, then started to sweat. The paste looks terrible in the photo, but it had a sweet nutty / oatmeal smell. (Well, also a slight hint of dogfood.)
Mari swore her face felt smoother afterward. Maybe mine did too, but unfortunately all the little bumps and black & white heads were still there. The lower 2/3 of my body attained yudedako, the “boiled octopus” look so important to serious bathers.