I’ve been hearing a lot of noise about the benefits of rice water for hair and skin lately, and well, it caught my attention. First, because you can never miss rice in my kitchen, and two, my hair has been acting up a lot lately; maybe it’s all this desalinated water we have over here (but I found a solution for that, which is coming up in the next post). Additionally, a rice water hair rinse is all-natural and really easy to whip up.
Rice water is packed with vitamins and minerals, and it has been used for several centuries (it’s not something new). Women in Japan and China had floor-length, healthy hair and they attributed this to the rice water hair rinse. Back to now, the Yao women who live in China are famed for having an average of 6 feet long hair. In addition to this, they say their hair starts greying when they are in their 80’s (now isn’t that incredible? But hey, a little salt and paper goes a long way). They have also attributed all this to rinsing their hair in rice water.
Now, rice water hair rinse is trending, thanks to product developers and some beauty advice websites (I don’t know which rock I was under, but here I am) who caught wind of it.
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But before we get to it, what are the benefits of rice water hair rinse?
Rice water benefits the hair in the following ways;
- Smoothens your hair
- Detangles your hair
- Makes hair stronger
- Increases its shine
- Helps hair grow longer
- It’s an active protein treatment
- Reverses the negative effects of heat or color on the hair
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How to make rice water
There are 3 ways you can make rice water hair rinse, and these include:
- Boiling
- Soaking
- Fermenting
Boiling: This is actually the easiest way, and it’s the one I use (because I can cook the rice after and eat it).
- Take half a cup of uncooked rice
- Rinse thoroughly
- Double the water typically used for cooking
- Cook the rice in the boiling water
- Strain the rice water into a clean bowl
- Let it cool before using
Soaking: This happens to be the quickest way to make rice water hair rinse.
- Take half a cup of uncooked rice and rinse
- Place the rice in a bowl, and add 2 cups of water
- Soak the rice for 30 minutes
- Strain the rice water into a clean bowl ready for use
Fermenting: Fermented rice water happens to have more benefits than the two above. It contains more antioxidants which help in combating hair damage. If the smell won’t bother you, and you want more from your rice water hair rinse then this is for you. Personally, I’m not a fan of the smell.
For fermentation, follow steps 1 and 2 in soaking then leave the rice water at room temperature for up to 2 days. This allows it to ferment. Then strain the rice water into a clean bowl before use.
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How to use rice water
I used the rice water hair rinse instead of a conditioner but one thing about rice water is that your hair has to be clean before using it. These are the steps that I followed;
- Shampoo hair and wash it thoroughly
- Rinse with normal water
- Pour rice water onto the hair
- Massage it into the hair and scalp
- Leave it in for 20-30 minutes
- Rinse hair with warm water
Storing rice water
You can make a batch of the rice water hair rinse and store it in the fridge. Only take it out when you need it. If you do not store it in the fridge it would ferment more, or go bad if you used the boiling method. You can also add a few drops of coconut oil or your favorite hair oil after straining the liquid. I added a few drops of castor oil because it’s my go-to hair oil.
My take away
I absolutely loved the results of rice water hair rinse and will definitely be using it again, at least once a week is recommended. My hair came out shinier, smoother and it detangled without much effort. Also, it seemed to have an added oomph. I can’t wait to see if it’ll grow longer and keep the greys at bay as I continue using it. Also, just to note, I used Basmati rice.
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2 Comments
This sounds amazing! I did a rice water toner. I agree about the smell after one day. xx
Yeah, that smell is not the best. But it works … 😉