Rice Water For Softer, Stronger Natural Hair

Rice water eh? How can our hair benefit from rice water? You're about to find out, keep reading. Fermented rice water is an ancient shampoo recipe, it has been used for many centuries by women in the Asian community to grow and maintain the long, healthy hair they're known for.

The benefits of using rice water on your hair -

Rice water can be used as a perfect alternative to store-bought hair treatments because it is packed with various benefits for the hair. The milky-white cloudy water you get from boiling rice is a secret ingredient to hair growth and maintenance. Fermented rice water restores the hair's pH balance, thereby nourishing the hair follicles and improving the hair's general condition.

Rice water has water-soluble vitamins and minerals, most especially vitamin B (which is what helps to make the hair black, by helping the hair cells produce black pigments). So rice water helps to delay the appearance of grey hair by many years.  Did you know that?
This is why the Yao ethnic women in Guangxi province in southern China is known for their striking and extraordinarily long and shiny hair which stays black (without greying) until they're well over 80 years of age. Convinced yet?

Rice water is enriched with inositol, which is a carbohydrate that repairs damaged hair and also protects the hair from damage. Fermented rice water is rich antioxidants, vitamin E, minerals and some trace amount of Pitera (Pitera is produced during fermentation).

Using fermented rice water on your hair brings out an extraordinary shine in your hair, makes it soft, strong and healthy. It decreases surface friction and improves hair elasticity. It also deeply conditions and cleans your hair properly without drying it out, unlike some store-bought shampoos are known to do.
Regular use of this recipe with stop hair breakage and thinning. It leaves your hair bouncy and voluminous, it also helps with dandruff.

How to make fermented rice water:

What you need -

* 2 or more cups of rice

* Lots of clean water.

* An airtight container for the fermentation process.

Process -

* Wash the rice properly, to remove dirt and dust.

* Put the rice in a pot and add lots of water, make sure the quantity of water is a lot more than the quantity of rice you're using, as this is where you'll get your rice water from.

* Let the rice boil for about 10 - 15 minutes, till the water turns white and cloudy.

* Drain the water into a large bowl or container and set aside. (You can wash the rice again, add more water and continue cooking it if you plan on eating it).

* When the rice water has cooled down, pour it into an airtight container and keep for fermenting.

* After about 48 hours ( 2 days) of fermenting, microwave it to stop the fermentation process. Your rice water is ready for use. Please do not boil it, you'll destroy the nutrients in it. Microwave for about 1 minute instead.

Note: Dilute the fermented rice water before using, as it is too potent to use without diluting.

* Dilute 1 - 2 cups of fermented rice water with about 4 - 5 cups of warm water.

* You can add essential oils to it if you choose; a few drops of tea tree oil, rosemary oil or lavender oil will add a nice scent to it.

        Use it as an after-rinse after shampooing your hair with normal shampoo, massage your scalp for about 5 minutes, rinse off once with clean water and you're good to go. Do not blow dry your hair after using rice water, let it air dry, any smell it has will be gone after your hair drys.

Use this recipe consistently and you'll see why the Southern Chinese women swear by it. Keep the leftover refrigerated and use within a week. This treatment can be done twice weekly or weekly. It takes some getting used to.

Fermented rice water can also be used to treat acne. I'll be writing about that in the coming posts, so look out for it.

Over to you 

So what do you think, will you be trying out this recipe? Or is it too out there for you? Don't be shy, let me know in the comments section below.