I wanted to put this out there in hopes that someone googling for this info will find my post. So yes, topically it’s a bit outside my beaten path here on this blog.

I made my own citrus peel powder + rice grains powder face treatment to deal with hyperpigmentation and texture concerns, applied it twice daily for 100 consecutive days, and am now sharing my thoughts.

The Premise

Citrus Peel Powder

In Vedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine, there’s a belief that finely ground sun-dried orange (or in general citrus) peels applied topically to the face will mitigate acne, reduce hyperpigmentation, and brighten and even out the complexion.

If you get into a routine of using orange, pomelo, or grapefruit peels in your skincare before wrinkles form, then they also reduce the signs of aging.

According to this research report, orange peels contain a ton of phenolic compounds, vitamin C, and antioxidants, and grapefruit peels contain even more, with lemon peels trailing at third place. Orange peel has about as much Vitamin C as the part you eat, and significantly more than the pulp and seeds combined. Grapefruit is richest in Vitamin C.

Plant phenolic compounds prevent premature signs of aging, allegedly, and help even out pigmentation disorders. And Vitamin C… like every beauty guru right now is going nuts over expensive Vitamin C serums.

Like naturally occurring collagen in food, there’s always the question of whether applying it topically to the face conveys the same benefits as eating.

So by that logic, there’s probably great benefit from eating orange peels (if you can stomach the bitterness), but are there benefits to be had to putting it on your face? Good question. Folk wisdom (Vedic and TCM) says yes. So we shall see.

Rice Powder

Since time immemorial East Asians have talked about the beauty benefits of applying rice powder (or rice flour) to the skin. Rice powder is made by washing raw rice grains, sun-drying it, then grinding it into an ultra-fine powder.

Back in the day, the outer husk (the bran) was saved, sun-dried, and ground into a powder to use as a face powder due to it being rich in antioxidants, such as phytic acid, and its anti-inflammatory properties. The ferulic acid in bran is a natural skin brightener that can help reduce hyperpigmentation.  But in the present day, it might be hard to get access to the bran, so you’re probably out of luck on this front.

Rice grains are believed to help reduce UV damage via its concentration of para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) and possess some natural sun-blocking properties, though scientific research has never been able to verify that claim. Antioxidants in the rice help to lighten hyperpigmentation. Phytic acid, an alpha hydroxy acid similar to glycolic acid (folks in the beauty community know what that is, I’m sure) exfoliate the skin and improve overall skin texture. It also contains many of the antimicrobial properties similar to citrus. Finally, the allantoin in rice is believed to help heal wounds.

The ferulic acid in the rice grains plus the Vitamin C in the citrus peels in combination are believed to be intensely healing and rejuvenating for the skin. For those who tend to be oily and acne-prone, the starch in the rice flour helps to absorb that excess oil.

East Asians claim that if you regularly apply rice powder on your face (and/or use rice water toner) in your late 30s and through your 40s, then it will slow down the signs of aging, especially reducing the appearance of age spots.

The DIY Recipe

The most critical point here, in my opinion, is to make sure there are no pesticides or any other undesirables on the citrus peels you’ll be using for creating this face powder. I’d call that a deal breaker, so if you can’t source– for certain– organic pesticide-free citrus, then I wouldn’t even bother. =/

Same goes for the rice grains. In theory brown rice should have more of the antioxidants and allantoin you’re looking for, except commercial brown rice tends to have a lot more inorganic arsenic (some say double the amount white rice has, some say 80% more) than white rice. This is due to the chemicals often used in commercial farming.

The Citrus:Rice Proportion

I experimented with different proportions of the orange peel powder and rice powder, and ultimately my go-to is: 60% rice powder + 40% citrus peel powder. For some monthly batches I went with grapefruit peels and other batches I went with orange peels.

You do want to combine both the rice powder and citrus peel powder together because there’s some purported alchemy or chemistry that happens with the combination.

And I tested it out for myself. While my personal experimentation can’t be formally called scientific, per my anecdotal experience, using citrus peel powder mixed with rice powder is noticeably better for my skin and improves my skin texture faster than using only citrus peel powder by itself.

DIY Citrus Peel Powder

I would strongly recommend only using organic fruits. I used home-grown oranges, grapefruit, and pomelo. You really really don’t want any traces of pesticides on these peels. Whether you choose to go with oranges or grapefruit is best answered by what’s more readily accessible to you.

You can sun-dry the peels until they’re crisp or bake them low and slow to dehydrate.

If you are going to bake low-and-slow, go with something around 90 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 hours. At my 3-hour mark, half the peels were dried to a beautiful crisp, so I took those out, while half still retained some water, so I continued baking low and slow for a total of 4+ hours. They should be crisp like chips when you’re done.

Monitor it every 30 minutes. If there is any browning, you’re using way too much heat. Heat above 100 degrees Fahrenheit destroys Vitamin C.

And make sure the peels are completely dehydrated. Like I said, crisp as chips (but don’t burn it). This step is very important to get right. Fully dehydrated. Then break up the crispy pieces into bite size chunks.

Initially I tried to grind them with a coffee grinder at the finest grain setting. It worked well. But you know what works way better? Mortar and pestle.

Seriously. Going the old school route of mortar and pestle yields a much finer powder. It’s just going to be a workout. 

Ideally the final consistency of your orange peel powder should be the consistency of loose makeup setting powder. Yep, that fine.

Store in an airtight jar. Exposure to air can also reduce the efficacy of Vitamin C, so I like to keep it somewhere that the sun won’t shine.

DIY Rice Powder

Ideally I’m assuming it’s better to use brown rice since allegedly it has more nutrients, but since it’s more common for my household to have just white rice, I just go with white rice grains.

You want to start with uncooked rice grains. Whether to and how to rinse your rice is an amusingly controversial topic, and I’m not here to tell you whether to or how to rinse your rice. You do you. Here’s how I learned it: Submerge all the rice grains in water and swirl around rinsing, then drain the water. Do this a total of 3 times. But on the 3rd rinse, reserve the water. That reserved water can be used as a toner for your skin and for spritzing onto your hair.

Then sun-dry the rinsed rice grains until totally dry. Once fully dried, I grind it into a fine powder with mortar and pestle.

Topical Application

There are many ways to use this citrus-rice powder for skincare– as a face mask, as an exfoliant, as a face powder, mixed with other ingredients to form a serum or lotion, the possibilities go on.

I’ve been using it as a face powder.

But be forewarned that there is a lot of dusty fallout and I’m guessing you don’t want citrus peel and rice powder dust everywhere. And I don’t recommend continued rinsing of it down your sink. I don’t technically know better, but I reckon it’s not that great for your drain pipes.

So what I like to do is stand over a trash can or stand outside over my backyard garden every morning and every evening (so the dusty fallout becomes compost) to apply the powder to my face. Not to mention, citrus contains nootkatone, which is a natural pest repellent, keeping the bugs out of your garden.

You can apply onto your face with clean hands or opt for a sanitized powder brush. I alternate between the two.

I keep a stainless steel 1/4 teaspoon measuring spoon by the powder container. So each application was 1/4 teaspoon of the powder at a time.

Shelf Life of the Powder

If you leave the dehydrated orange peel powder on its own, not yet mixed with liquid or fresh ingredients, then in theory (and per experience with dried fruit) it should last at least 1 year, if you store it at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. At 80 degrees Fahrenheit, shelf life reduces to 6 months.

However, that’s a very different metric from how long Vitamin C will be shelf stable, and since I think the magic ingredient in this treatment is the Vitamin C, this is going to be a big question mark.

Allegedly the addition of rice powder extends the shelf life and stability of the Vitamin C, but who knows.

As a general best practice, I only make 1-month’s supply at a time. After one month, any leftover powder I have goes to compost and I will make a fresh, new batch.

The Trial

I applied this powder onto my face every morning first thing while my coffee was brewing and every night right before bedtime, always 1/4 teaspoon at a time. When putting on makeup, I’d also mix in another 1/4 teaspoon of the powder with my base layer makeup routine.

I kept at this daily for 90 days before writing up this blog post.

FYI, for context, nothing else about my regular routine changed during this trial. I wash my face with Kose Sekkisei Treatment Cleansing Oil, Hada Labo Gokujyun Premium Hyaluronic Acid essence, and every so often apply fresh aloe vera (from the aloe vera plants I grow in my yard).

My Results & Findings

I sincerely believe I saw substantially improved results by using the citrus + rice powder combo compared to when I used citrus powder only or even when I kept the citrus powder and rice powder in separate containers to use one after the other. So…the combined citrus + rice powder in one container, mixed together, for me at least, produced significantly better results. Like, the two ingredients are better together than used separately. A positive chemical reaction happens when you blend the two.

The first thing I noticed after about 2 weeks of consistent daily use was improved skin texture, but nothing about my hyperpigmentation changed.

It took about 4 weeks of consistent daily use before I saw very slight, subtle improvement in the hyperpigmentation. And at that point I wasn’t even sure if it was actual, objective improvement, or it was the placebo effect where I believed I was seeing improvement.

However, by the 8 week mark, I was sold! Yep. This is now going to be a permanent part of my skincare routine.

For example, typically during my PMS cycle I get hormonal cystic acne. While using this powder daily, it was preventative and substantially reduced the cystic acne problem.

Whether there was actual improvement or only perceived improvement via placebo effect, the end result for me was I felt more confident without makeup.

After about 100 days of daily, consistent use (2x a day), my hyperpigmentation visibly cleared. It is definitely a slow, gradual improvement. You won’t get instant overnight results from this. But what you do get is sustainable results.

Three months of routine use, the application becomes preventative, and I can see how it has reduced my skin’s tendency toward hyperpigmentation. Both skin tone and skin texture gradually evens itself out.

Concluding Thoughts

I don’t know if this DIY citrus peel + rice powder treatment is better than really high-end skincare products, but I would make the case that it’s definitely better than any Vitamin C skincare product you can get for under $100 USD.

At one point I bit the bullet and bought this $200 serum that all those beauty gurus were head over heels in love with, used it daily until I finished the bottle, and honestly? That $200 serum didn’t give me any better or more sustainable results than this do-it-yourself home recipe.

Does making your own powder vs. just buying it ready-for-use take more time? Yes. But for me, it’s worth it.

I use this citrus peel + rice powder treatment in tandem with fresh aloe vera. Together, that’s my entire skincare routine.

That being said, I’d like to reiterate what I’ve repeated ad nauseum– ultimately, in terms of an effective skincare routine, to me it is less about what products you buy to put on your face and so much more about what you’re eating.

This means eating a lot of collagen-rich foods, Vitamin C, antioxidant-rich foods, and mushrooms, vegetables, and herbs for skincare according to Traditional Chinese Medicine, and most important of all, knowing your body well.

Generally speaking, it’s likely that there are certain types of food that, per your constitution, your body doesn’t tolerate very well. And when you eat a lot of those types of foods that your body doesn’t tolerate well, it will react badly, often in the form of skin irritation. A diet that throws your hormones off balance will also cause skin irritation.

But everything has to be in balance, so I do not believe in food deprivation. Like, at all. I never deprive myself of foods I want to eat. Instead, you cultivate a trusting relationship between mind and body so that your mind can trust what the body wants, and vice versa. When your mind and body do not have mutual trust in one another, that’s when you get food satiety problems, where you don’t know when you’re actually full, or you can’t control intake quantity.