Exposed: rice water + hair health

What the heck is rice water and why do my friends have magically long hair?

Leave it to TikTok to introduce us to yet another hidden life hack. Since long hair is all the rage right now, people have taken to their favorite social media platforms to share their tricks to achieving long hair. We’ve heard of people using argon oil, hair masks-- even coffee?-- and other treatments. But the one that has taken people’s interest as of late is rice water. 

Here’s the Breakdown:

Dating back to Japan in 794 CE, women had floor length hair. What was their secret? They bathed in rice water. The new rice wash trend is a treatment inspired by the Yao women in China. Rice water baths are a practice the Yao women used to keep their hair long and luscious. 

The practice of maintaining long hair is even celebrated with a Long Hair Festival held every year in China’s Guangxi (AKA the “Long Haired Village”). Starting at 18 years old, the Yao women vow to never cut their hair for the rest of their lives. They averaged at growing their hair up to 6 feet, but they could only maintain that with their pseudo religious way of using rice water.

What are Rice Water Benefits?

Making rice water is easy! All you need is rice and well… water. Over time, treating your hair with rice water will make your hair grow faster, stronger, smoother, and extra shiny. 

Rice water is full of minerals, amino acids, b vitamins, vitamin e and other antioxidants. It’s meant to reduce surface friction and increase hair elasticity.

One of the active vitamins that rice water contains is called inositol. That is what visually strengthens the hair and restores it’s shine. A study done in 2012 showed that inositol supplements helped women who’s hair was thinning 

How to Make Rice Water:

There’s two ways to make rice water: the quick and easy way, or the boujee way.

• Quick Soak: 

The quick way is as simple as preparing your dinner. No literally, you’ll be preparing dinner at the same time as you make this water all you need to do is soak ½  cup of uncooked rice in a bowl with two cups of water for 5-10 minutes and drain it into a spray bottle.

Your ultimate goal is to make the water as cloudy as possible. The longer you leave the rice to soak, the better. 

• Fermented Rice:

I like to call this method the Boujee method because this one requires you to wait two days after making the water. This is called fermenting. Some people say fermented rice is better and it gives you the opportunity to put essential oils and boil citrus peels, which are packed with Vitamin C.

To make fermented rice water, put ½ cup of rice and boil it with 3 cups of water. Add orange or grapefruit peels and essential oils (one TikToker recommends either tea tree oil or lavender). Once it reaches a boil, let it boil for about 2 minutes and then take it off the stove. Make sure you keep an eye on it so that not too much water evaporates or gets absorbed by the rice. Leave the rice in the stand for 2 days, allowing it to ferment. Strain the rice water into a clean bowl before use.

Let the water cool and store it in a glass jar for two days, put it in a spray bottle and use!

How to Use it:

Regardless of the method you chose, the application is pretty much the same. Many people have their own way of using rice water. You’re going to want to start at your roots and work the water down to the ends. Really get the rice water in there. Your hair should be soaked by the time you’re done. 

The Yao women soak their hair for about 20 minutes and then rinse it in the river. If you don’t have a local river, your shower will work just fine. Some people leave it on for an hour but after a certain point, your hair will have absorbed all of the nutrients it could so I wouldn’t go past that. 

After letting it soak for about 20min- an hour, rinse the water out. Then, go about your normal hair care routine! Wash, condition and use your regular post-shower products. This is a great easy and affordable way to treat your hair between cuts and colors.

Remember, the best way you can get results is by doing this consistently. It won’t make your hair grow magnificently long in one session so give it about 3-5 times before you start seeing results.

If you try rice water, I’d LOVE to hear about your experience and what method you used. Comment below on what you think! Happy rice day!