Last year, I replaced my VO5 Hot Oil Treatment with olive oil. Since then, I’ve been thinking about some other products I’d once used, but have long forgotten.

Back when I was in high school, I loved The Body Shop. I still do, actually.
In the early 1990s, they had a product called Japanese Washing Grains. It was a grainy powder that could be used with a little bit of soap to exfoliate your skin. If I recall correctly, the suggested regiment also involved elderflower toner and cucumber moisturizer. I’m not sure when I stopped using these products but I suspect they became too expensive when I went away to University. When I moved away from home, I had to make room in my limited budget for more important things – like beer…err, I mean, books. Ya, that’s it, books.

I wanted to revisit the Japanese Washing Grains because I remember how much I once loved them. Apparently, they were simply ground rice and adzuki beans and the effect was similar to the microdermabrasion products that have been popular in recent years.

The Body Shop does carry a product similar to my old favorite. It comes in a 4 ounce jar, and retails for $22.00, plus tax. That just seems like a lot to me for a half cup of beans and rice. After a visit to the bulk barn, I discovered a scoopful of adzuki beans can be purchased for only $1.50.

I’m sure you can see where this is going.

Using an old coffee grinder, I keep around for projects like this; I ground up a few handfuls of dry beans and rice and put it in a jar.

This container holds just over 8 ounces of grains. My University degree was neither in math nor business, but it certainly doesn’t take a financial expert to figure this one out.