Using rice water as a beauty treatment has been used for centuries historically across Asian countries. Rice water is an affordable and accessible DIY way of treating and maintaining your hair health especially if you have dry hair, color-treated hair, or damaged hair.

In this blog, we will incorporate rice water into your daily hair routine, its benefits & usage, and how to prepare it. 

Benefits of Rice Water

Some of the key benefits of rice water:

  • Strengthens & Smoothens
  • Adds Shine
  • Reduces Friction
  • Improves Elasticity
  • Detangles
  • Boosts Hair Growth

Rice has always been a culinary star of Asian. One Chinese village holds the record for the longest hair in the world. Most of the women there have hair roughly about 6 feet long that almost touches the floor. Their secret is a simple hair wash with rice water. 

Rice water is awesome for strengthening your hair from root to tip and making your hair look and feel stronger, smoother, and shinier. 

It also reduces friction so your hair does not rub together which causes breakage. It increases the elasticity of each of your strands, making them stronger. Rice water seals and closes the cuticles of your strands, leaving your hair looking and feeling extra shiny.

Rice water also helps to maintain the original color of your hair and prevent it from getting gray due to high amount of Vitamin B present in it. Vitamin B produces melanin which promotes the production of melanin. 

If you use rice water, as it reduces friction, you will notice less tangling happening to your hair. Rice water is considered a great detangler because it makes your hair stronger and shinier. 

All of these hair benefits are due to the various amount of nutrients present in rice water including amino acids, minerals, antioxidants, selenium, magnesium, folic acids, Vitamins B1-B6, Vitamin C,E & K, niacin and inositol. 

Rice water has been known to help boost hair growth. So, if you are trying to grow your hair longer or grow it out, rice water is an incredible way of achieving your dream hair.

How to Prepare?

Take a half cup of uncooked rice, rinse it first, and then add 2-3 cups of water. You can use any type of rice, e.g., basmati rice, white rice, or brown rice. But we suggest you to use white rice only as the other types of rice are very high in protein. 

Let the bowl of rice be soaked for about 30 minutes. If you have time to allow it to ferment leave them for about 24 to 48 hours. Strain the water into a clean bowl and either put it into a spray bottle or just bring the bowl into the washroom as it is for application.

How to Apply?

First of all, wash your face regularly with the shampoo you use daily. Make sure that your hair is clean and fresh before applying rice water.

Once you have washed your hair, start pouring or spraying rice water onto your head and distribute it across your head so it touches all the strands from root to tip. If you feel that some of your hair is super dry, concentrate more rice water on those areas.

Massage your scalp and hair with the help of your fingers. Scalp massage is also a great way for hair growth. 

Leave the rice water on your hair for 30 minutes so that it absorbs and soaks in all the nutrients and proteins. Meanwhile, you can wash the rest of your body, exfoliate or shave.

After 30 minutes, rinse out your hair with lukewarm water. Make sure that you are thoroughly rinsing out all of the rice water. As if it will remain on your for a long time, the abundance of protein can dry out your hair. 

You can finish off with a good conditioner after rinsing out your hair. We suggest you use a conditioner with colder water. 

The natural ingredients of rice water will be gentle to your scalp. Studies have shown that rice improves elasticity, and texture and gives freedom from frizz. It also helps to give your hair a sleeker appearance. 

How Often?

How often should you use rice water? It totally depends on how greasy or dry your hair is. If your are greasy, you should use rice water more than 2-3 times a week. But if your hair are dry, you should stick it to 1-2 times a week only.

Rice water can easily go bad so make sure to keep it at a cool temperature with the airtight container in the fridge. We also recommend using homemade rice water within 2-3 days after it has been made. 

Conclusion

Incorporating rice water into your daily or weekly hair care routine will leave noticeable differences on the overall health and strength of your hair. 

The reason why it has been widely used all over the world especially in Asia is that it is very easy and quick. It is also affordable and accessible to do a DIY treatment.Â