There are endless trends in the beauty and natural hair industry and the use of rice water for hair growth and flawless skin is one of them. But really, does it actually work?

Rice water is the leftover starchy liquid after soaking or cooking rice. It is said to make your hair grow faster as well as making it soft and shiny for better maintenance.

Does rice water grow hair?

Rice water is believed to contain essential vitamins like amino acid, Vitamins B and E as well as other antioxidants and minerals which are present in rice itself. 

The origin of this belief is from the Japanese, where women centuries long ago used rice water to grow floor length hair as well as retain their hair colour without greying until they got   as old as 80 years old. Whew! That would be a good one though.

There are benefits to hoping on this trend and baptising your hair in rice water, according to people who have used it. Some include:

• It helps to detangle your hair better
• It makes your hair smoother
• It increase your hair’s shine
• Increases your hair health and makes it stronger
• Helps grow a lengthier hair

There are different ways to use rice water for your hair.

One way is to soak the rice before sieving it out. Wash about ½ cup of rice to get rid of any foreign particles, soak in a bowl for 20 minutes and then sieve out the rice before applying to your hair.

Another way is to ferment the rice. Following all the above steps but instead of 20 minutes, let the rice sit for 12 hours before sieving it out. This method is said to better get the nutrients from the rice which makes it more nutritious for your hair. 

You can also boil the rice and strain out the water to use on your hair.

To apply rice water on your hair, take the following steps -

1. Wash your hair with shampoo (a good one will be the Glammed Naturally Shampoo)
2. Rinse thoroughly
3. Apply the rice water to your hair, massaging evenly onto your hair and scalp
4. Let it sit for 20 to 30 minutes
5. Rinse off your hair making sure there’s no residue left (Yuk! Heads up, fermented rice water does not especially smell so great.) 
6. Moisturize. No need to apply any conditioner afterwards

My takeaway

Should you use rice water? I do encourage you to try out new techniques that will help you grow and take care of your natural mane even better. However, do not jump in head first when trying out new stuff. If you try it out once and your hair reacts badly to it, then that is enough reason to abstain because what works for Miss A may not work for Miss B.

We all have different hair needs and you must pay attention to your hair to know what it needs and how to properly cater to those needs.

Personally, I believe that there’s nothing rice water will add to your hair health that a proper, balanced diet, good hair products and hair routine will not give you. 

But there is really no harm in discovering yours, is there? *wink*

Have you tried out rice water on your natural hair? How did it work out for you?