KeiSei Magazine
  • Fashion
    • Style
    • Ethical Talks
    • Editorials
  • Beauty
    • Skincare
    • Beauty Edit
  • Lifestyle
    • Wellbeing
    • Culture
    • Home
    • Guides
  • Inspiration
    • In Conversation With
    • The Climate Optimist
    • Editors Journal
    • Book Club
  • Shop
    • Fashion
      • Tops
      • Bottoms
      • Knitwear
      • Dresses & Jumpsuits
      • Outwear
      • Activewear
      • Jeans
    • Accessories
      • Bags
      • Hats & Bonnets
      • Scarves
      • Shoes
    • Beauty
      • Skincare
      • Hair
      • Body
      • Make-up
KeiSei Magazine
  • Fashion
    • Style
    • Ethical Talks
    • Editorials
  • Beauty
    • Skincare
    • Beauty Edit
  • Lifestyle
    • Wellbeing
    • Culture
    • Home
    • Guides
  • Inspiration
    • In Conversation With
    • The Climate Optimist
    • Editors Journal
    • Book Club
  • Shop
    • Fashion
      • Tops
      • Bottoms
      • Knitwear
      • Dresses & Jumpsuits
      • Outwear
      • Activewear
      • Jeans
    • Accessories
      • Bags
      • Hats & Bonnets
      • Scarves
      • Shoes
    • Beauty
      • Skincare
      • Hair
      • Body
      • Make-up
0

Wishlist

Please, add your first item to the wishlist

  • SKINCARE

Rediscover Your Beauty Routine With The Saho Ritual

  • 6 minute read
Rediscover Your Beauty Routine With The Saho Ritual
Photo By Gerda Krutaja for KeiSei Magazine

By Beatrice Tridimas

Anne is here to show me her Saho Ritual, a skin routine originating in 15th Century Japan, for which she has spent two years developing a range of 100% organic products. Having always lived by the sea and witnessing the degradation of our shores, Anne was keen to make both product and packaging as natural and recyclable as possible.

‘It’s not just putting cream on your face. Everything has a meaning. It’s like cosmetic meditation,’ Anne Millois tells me over Zoom.

It is as intimate as a private tutorial can get virtually. On screen, Anne is literally in my bedroom, I, in the private laboratory where she manufactures all her own products. A calming, early evening gleam exudes from the window behind her, but it’s not just the lighting which makes her skin glow. She radiates health.

The Saho ritual was originally created together with the Kobido massage for the Empresses of Japan. Anne is careful to point out that Saho is a ceremony. The skin is treated with respect. Beauty is understood not as something aesthetic but as the optimum condition of the skin in its natural state. ‘They thought if you want to have nice skin, first, you have to have healthy skin,’ she says. In Saho, the skin is treated as the organ that it is and cared for as you would the heart, the liver, or kidneys.

‘Today, we are just taking care of the skin aesthetically,’ Anne says. She laughs, incredulous at the layers and layers of products that have become customary to slather onto our skin. A ‘lasagne of impurities’ she calls it. 

Anne intends, by sharing the routine with us and buyers of her products, that we forego the modern impulse to care in excess and relearn to respect our skin.

‘Listen to you,’ she says. ‘Identify your needs.’ Understand your skin, nurture its needs, and it will begin to work itself.

Saho Ritual by Anne Millois
Saho Ritual by Anne Millois

Step 1: Clean and Massage with Mon Huile

‘With the oil, first step, we’re going to be cleaning our faces.’ Anne pumps four drops of Mon Huile, an oil specially formulated to care for the eye contour and firmness of the skin, on to her fingertips.

It is a routine for all skin types and ages, she reminds us. Impressive, given the inexhaustible range of products for various skin types today. But it is because of the range of products that we have developed such an array of skin types, Anne says. ‘We have created so many skin types that didn’t exist before.’

This first step is her favourite, she later tells me. ‘You just close your eyes, massage your face, you just destress. You’re emptying yourself. You’re emptying your mind.’ The oil restores balance to the skin, dissolving makeup, pollution and toxins. 

Even without makeup, cleaning the skin with oil is the most important part of the routine. 

‘If you don’t clean your face in the evening, during your sleep, the cells are going to be fighting against impurity and won’t be able to regenerate.’

Massaging the oil into the skin for at least a minute allows the oil to warm up and work to its fullest. She brings her oiled fingertips to her eyes and presses gently against her closed eyelids, ready to massage the rest of the face whilst the oil works off any makeup on the eyes.

Massaging the skin has several functions, she says. ‘It’s going, first, to destress all of the muscular tensions in the face.’ She pays particular attention to the point where the jaw meets the cheekbone, where she feels most tension. 

‘Just listen to yourself,’ she says. ‘If you close your eyes and start emptying your mind, you’re going to start feeling where you have most tension.’

Facial acupuncture

Secondly, the massage should incorporate the acupuncture points on the face. She begins with careful, deliberate movements to massage the forehead (the heart), then the third eye (the liver). She moves to her cheeks (the gut), drawing wide, calming circles before moving down to her chin (womb), and on to the nose (lungs). 

Finally, she takes both ring fingers, the softest finger, to massage the eye contours (the bladder and kidneys), moving in both clockwise and anti-clockwise circles. ‘We are just a machine, you know. The thing is to know how it works and which are the right buttons to press.’

She moves then to massage the neck, one of the three lymphatic ‘doors’ from which we expel toxins, and ends by scissoring her fingers along her jawline. 

To end the massage, she wipes the oil from her eyes.

Mon Huile
Mon Huile - 25€

Step 2: Clean and Rinse with Konjac Sponge and Mon Savon Rituel

Now that the impurities have been drawn out of the skin, it is time to clean them away. Anne wets a perfectly domed konjac sponge. She then rubs it on her No.1 soap, which, made up of 87% fats, feels like pure, delightfully creamy shea butter against the skin.

‘No need to spend too long with the soap,’ she says. She briskly washes her face with the soapy sponge, avoiding the area around the eyes and mouth. After rinsing the sponge and her face with tap water, she returns to the eyes and mouth with the sponge.

 ‘With the sponge you’re doing micro-exfoliation and at the same time you’re getting the rest of your makeup, all of the impurities, off your eyelid.’ 

Gentle exfoliation should happen daily but only once, she warns, so in the morning only use the soap with your hands.

Mon Savon Rituel N°1
Mon Savon Rituel N°1 - 10€
Konjac sponge 10,00€
Konjac sponge - 10€

Step 3: Balance and Moisturise with Mon Eau

Next, she brings out a big bottle of rose water at which I outwardly ogle. The ingredient, which is becoming increasingly popular in beauty regimes, balances out any limescale residue from using tap water. She sprays it over her face and begins to pat it in.

‘You’re doing facial yoga.’ For a moment, we are all caught clapping our faces, three seemingly gormless fish on my laptop screen. Patting the water in exercises the muscles and stimulates blood around the face, whilst the rose water is absorbed and hydrates the skin.

Mon Eau - 18€
Mon Eau - 18€

Step 4: Moisturise with Mon Soin Visage and Mon Sérum

The cream is the hydration, serum the ‘superpower,’ Anne says. She takes a ‘green pea’ of moisturiser onto her finger tips and adds one drop of serum. Depending on your skin type, your age, and even the season, you should adjust how much, if any, serum you mix in. 

You should also pay attention to how your skin changes with your period, or if you’ve eaten or drunk something particularly dehydrating, she instructs. ‘You need to listen to yourself. From now on, your skin is going to talk to you.’

Mixing the serum into the moisturiser warms it up and allows it to work much more efficiently than applying directly to the skin. She spreads the mixture over her face, eyes, lips and neck and rubs it in with swift, brush like movements from down to up.

‘Remember that your skin has a memory,’ she says. By partaking in the same ritual every evening, we are building a pattern the skin will learn to understand; we are sending the skin a message, encouraging it to start working.
Mon Sérum 45,00€
Mon Sérum - 45€
Mon Soin Visage 59,00€
Mon Soin Visage - 59€

When I do the ritual myself a few nights later, my skin feels calmed, nourished, cared for. The morning after, I notice a certain child-like plumpness to my face. A few days in, and I’m sleeping like a baby.

 ‘You’ll see, over time, that your skin is getting better, and that you are feeling better, as well.’ 

Indeed, there is a certain feeling that only health, and doing something good for your body can achieve. ‘You just need the right product at the right time with the right gesture.’

For your own evening Saho ritual, you can buy the full range of products here. 

***

This article may contain some affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase, KeiSei Magazine receives a small percentage of the sale price. This brand have paid a small fee to be featured. We only recommend brands that match our sustainable and ethical criteria and that we truly believe in. Support our editorial work by supporting them!

Beatrice Tridimas

Beatrice Tridimas

Bea is a content writer and editor based between Hampshire and London. When she’s not diving deep into the ethics of the fashion industry, she’s writing book and theatre reviews with a steaming cuppa to hand. You can keep up to date with her writing projects via her twitter @bea_trid.

Beatrice Tridimas

Previous Article
Desavery TRIO Discovery box
  • SKINCARE

Uplift Your Mood And Nourish Your Skin With Desavery

View Post
Next Article
The Best Natural And Organic Products For You And Your Baby
  • SKINCARE

The Best Natural And Organic Products For You And Your Baby

View Post

KeiSei Weekly:

Sign-Up For A Weekly Dose Of Sustainable Lifestyle Inspiration

You May Also Like
The Ultimate Guide To Creating A Sustainable Home
View Post
  • Guides
  • Home

The Ultimate Guide To Creating A Sustainable Home

  • Cecilia Toro
  • April 6, 2022
A modern, minimalistic living room with muted, natural tones and modern furniture. Photographed by Nicole Franzen.
View Post
  • Home

We Need To Talk About Fast Homeware

  • Ellen Prizeman
  • April 6, 2022
Alicja Kwade, "Big Be-Hide", 2017. photo by Maija Toivanen:Helsinki Biennial⁣⁣
View Post
  • Culture

What Does Sustainability Mean For The Art World?

  • Eleonora Cerasoli
  • April 6, 2022
View Post
  • Home

How To Implement The Danish Principles Of Hygge

  • Raegan Rubin
  • April 6, 2022
living space
View Post
  • Home

Get Cosy For Autumn With These Sustainable Interior Trends

  • Sophie Weissensteiner
  • April 6, 2022
Intentional Shopping: How To Shop Mindfully On A High Street Budget
View Post
  • ETHICAL TALKS

Intentional Shopping: How To Shop Mindfully On A High Street Budget

  • Charlotte Hope-Shannon
  • January 11, 2022
bathroom
View Post
  • Home

How To Give Your Bathroom A Sustainable Makeover

  • Lily Corcoran
  • April 6, 2022
5 Tips for Dealing with Climate News
View Post
  • The Climate Optimist

Awareness Hurts & That’s OK, 5 Tips for Dealing with Climate News

  • Anne Therese Gennari
  • December 22, 2021

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

KeiSei Weekly

Sign-Up for more Inspiration on Sustainable Living and Style Direct to Your Inbox

⁠ 57 5
Want to be in on a secret? ⁠ 42 2
Skincare or hair care? ⁠ 36 2
Have you been invited to a Halloween party and need some inspiration? ⁠ 25 1
Are you making the most of the cocooning season? ⁠ 37 2
Have you tried rental fashion yet?⁠ 41 3
KeiSei Magazine
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Terms of service
  • Privacy policy
© 2020 KeiSei Magazine Ltd.

Input your search keywords and press Enter.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT