Rice Water Shampoo Benefits (How to Make It)

Rice Water Shampoo Benefits

Rice water shampoo is known to have a lot of benefits for the hair, but are these benefits tested and proven with tangible results? Yes, Rice water shampoo is effective and beneficial to your hair as long as the rice water is prepared properly and applied properly as well.

There are cases where it poses side effects, but almost everything has a downside.

You’re probably wondering how “rice” that is only ever known to be cooked can indeed serve as a way to help the hair derive some much-needed benefits for healthy hair? Well, you’re not alone.

After the word spread about how rice water has been an age-long secret to the long, shiny and silky hair of Asian women since ancient times, everybody became eager to try out rice water as a treatment for hair damage and a way to boost hair growth.

It has become widely acknowledged as a hair remedy for better growth and healthier hair that rice water is even being introduced as a shampoo, conditioner, and an extra ingredient for other hair products.

Rice Water Explained

Rice water is simply the water gotten after boiling rice, soaking it, or leaving it to get fermented.

It is known to be rich in vitamins B and E as well as have antioxidant properties that make it a great ingredient for the prevention of hair damage and bad hair conditions such as dandruff.

It is also popularly known to be an easy and affordable means to grow longer and healthier hair owing to the presence of amino acids, a protein that works by nourishing the keratin present in the hair to boost hair growth.

How To Make Rice Water Shampoo At Home

It’s one thing to find out that rice water has a lot of amazing benefits that can be reaped by applying it to the hair, it’s another thing to wonder how to prepare rice water in such a way that it takes the form that brings out its nourishing potentials.

Here, you will not only be taught the steps necessary to make rice water but also how to turn it into a shampoo and it’s a DIY guide!

To make your very own batch of rice water shampoo from the comfort of your home, you would need the following ingredients;

  1. A cup of rice (whatever type of rice you have readily available at home).
  2. Two cups of warm water.
  3. 1/4 cup of aloe vera extract ( make sure you have extracted the aloe vera juice from a fresh aloe vera plant, so it is free from any additives).
  4. Any scented oil of your choice.
  5. One cup of liquid castile soap (it is a versatile and inexpensive soap, which is also great for the skin and not harmful to any hair type).

After making sure you have the previously mentioned ingredients ready, these are the directions you would need to follow the instructions outlined below;

Step 1: Wash The Rice

Pour out your cup of rice into a bowl of water, rinse the rice thoroughly to get rid of dirt, you do not want any sort of dirt creeping into your shampoo which is meant to wash the dirt off your hair, it would defeat the purpose.

Is Rice Water Good For The Hair?
Image: Envato Elements

Step 2: Soak The Rice

Next, you would need to soak your rice in warm water. Put your properly washed rice into a bowl with two cups of warm water, this amount should be suitable for a cup of rice that is being used to make shampoo in this instance. Leave the rice in warm water to soak for about thirty minutes.

Step 3: Allow The Rice to Get Fermented

After this, pour the rice into a strainer and set the water aside in one bowl and the rice in another. Leave the water in the bowl at room temperature for one or two days to get fermented and suitable for use.

You can also choose to not strain the rice, instead, you can leave the rice in the warm water it was soaked in to ferment, then after fermentation, you can separate the rice and use the water.

Step 4: Add The Scented Oil, Aloe Vera, and Liquid Castile Soap

Lastly, you would need to finish off the rice water shampoo by adding a few drops of any scented oil that suits your taste to the fermented rice water.

Your aloe vera should be blended smoothly into a juiced form and also added to the mix of scented oil and fermented rice water. Also, add your Castile liquid soap to make your shampoo have a soapy nature since you need it to get your hair washed. Your homemade rice water shampoo is ready for use!

Rice Water Shampoo Benefits You Should Know

The rage about rice water has not gone unnoticed by the hair and beauty industry, everyone wants to try out rice water and it’s easier to embark on this trial since the main ingredients can be found in your kitchen cabinet.

However, the real question that should be on everyone’s lips is “does it really work?”.

Rice water shampoo was birthed from the knowledge of rice water being used by Chinese and Japanese women to grow long and healthy hair, according to some studies, the use of rice water was effective in growing out long hair for these Asian women because it was compatible with their genetic makeup.

If your main reason for picking up a rice water shampoo is because you want hair as long as the Asians, you may be disappointed since your genetic makeup and hair texture as well requirements may differ from theirs, you may notice some hair growth but not as impressive as theirs and that is completely fine.

Aside from that, rice water shampoo is an effective hair product and is beneficial to your hair in the following ways;

1. Rice Water Shampoo Improves Hair Growth

Rice water is known to have amino acids present in it, it so happens that the hair is made up of large amounts of keratin which needs amino acids for hair maintenance and growth.

Rice water provides protein for the hair which in turn stimulates better hair growth. Rice water is also rich in vitamins B and E, these vitamins also help with hair growth, and in the maintenance of a healthy scalp. Just as it improves hair growth it also helps in the prevention of hair loss.

Is It Bad To Wash Your Hair Every Day?
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2. Rice Water Shampoo Helps Reduce Split Ends

As earlier mentioned Rice is rich in amino acids which is a form of protein that is great for the hair and skin. With a rice water shampoo as your routine product for wash days, you are certain to notice that your split ends would have impressively reduced.

Asides from using rice water shampoo to avert split ends in your hair, you can simply soak your split ends in some fermented rice water as an easy home remedy to keep split ends away.

3. Rice Water Shampoo Promotes Stronger and Healthier Hair

Using Rice water shampoo is a great way to ensure that your hair stays healthy and stronger. While using it to wash your hair, it also helps to detangle and make the job of combing afterward much easier.

In an event where you use rice water to also rinse off the rice water shampoo, it results in better hair texture, an increase in hair volume, and smoother hair as well. It also strengthens the roots of your hair, gives it a silky smooth feeling and an added shine.

4. Rice Water Shampoo Prevents Hair Damage

Consistent use of rice water shampoo is an effective way to protect your hair from damage. The presence of rice water in your hair helps in boosting hair elasticity.

When there is greater surface friction in the hair, it is prone to a lot of damage as the hair cuticles are lifted in the process of undergoing surface friction, rice water is known to aid in the reduction of surface friction thereby preventing it from damage. Rice water shampoo helps fight hair breakage and fixes already damaged hair.

5. Rice Water Shampoo Kills Dandruff and Prevents Lice in Your Hair

Rice water after fermentation is also rich in antioxidants, vitamin B, vitamin E, and minerals whose presence in the hair is an effective way to kill dandruff and prevent the appearance of lice in your hair.

If you notice dandruff in your hair, a proven and healthy home remedy is rice water shampoo, use it to wash through and you would feel the irritation and discomfort that accompanies dandruff gradually leaving your scalp.

Rice Water Shampoo Side Effects
Image: Envato Elements

The starch also presented in rice water is known as an excellent ingredient that prevents the presence of head lice in your scalp. If you are prone to head lice or you have just treated a case of headline, the use of rice water shampoo can serve as a means to prevent a recurrence.

Summary

Rice water shampoos are undoubtedly a great addition to every girl’s natural hair journey, for those who do not experience a noticeable boost in hair growth, they achieve healthier and more protected hair.

Rice water shampoos are an ideal and effective way to shield your hair from any sort of hair damage from split ends, dandruff, low elasticity to head lice.

It is particularly great for natural hair, it does just as much good as a healthy conditioner would do as it makes for better texture, it detangles the hair while you wash it, and it gives a healthy shine as well as strength to the hair after usage.

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