I Tried Rice Water For My Curly Hair And LOVED It!
Most of us curlies are super nerds when it comes to ingredients, products, and treatments that are good for our hair.
(Before) (After)
Well, after weeks of waiting, I finally got my styler and decided to go back to wearing my hair curly...except it had revolted. My curls looked more like my before picture and I literally panicked! I know some people will say, "It's just hair," but anyone who's been on the transitional journey from straightening and processing your hair to embracing your natural locks knows that it is so much more than that.
So what did I do?
First, I gave myself a curly trim. A-la DevaChan, I held one ringlet at a time and snipped off the end. That took about an hour, and my hair looked much better, but there were still some seriously noticeable straight pieces by my face (where I obviously straightened more frequently). Finally, I decided to try the rice water treatment and see what the hype was about.
How did I do it?
The process is crazy simple. I put one cup of rice into two cups of water and let it sit in a container overnight. I have seen a LOT of different information regarding how long to let the rice water ferment, ranging from 30 minutes to 48 hours. I guess it just depends on how much time you have and how potent you want the water to be. After 24ish hours the water looked cloudy, like very watery milk.
The next day, I drained the water, washed my hair like I normally would and then poured the water over my hair. Then I put a moisturizing hair mask over it, because most of the reviews said that the rice water can leave hair a little stiff because of all the protein.
I used Not Your Mother's Curl Talk Mask, covered my hair with a shower cap, and left it on for 30 minutes. Then I rinsed and styled as normal and THESE were my results!
It may not look like much, but let me remind you that after two weeks of straightening, my hair looked exactly like it did after I first did the Big Chop. I have no pictures to show you because, well, I wasn't trying to keep any evidence of the hot mess mop that was on top of my head.
My hair is much bouncier, shinier, and the straight pieces are almost completely nonexistent. From what I researched, rice water is a protein treatment, and different hair types require different levels f protein. Too much can actually make your hair dry and brittle, so I will absolutely be doing this again, but I'll wait 3 weeks from the first time.
Should you do it?
Yes! Everyone's hair needs protein, you just have to play around with it and see how much protein your hair type can tolerate. I think that my hair could use some extra love and would be just fine if I decided to do 2-3 treatments in the same month, but after everything I've done to try to recover from my straightening, I'm not trying to risk dryness on top of that. HA!
I'll make a post with step-by-step pictures for the next treatment, but in the meantime, leave me a comment if you tried your own rice water treatment for your curly hair. I want to know what you think!
Personally, the longer I've been on my natural hair journey, the more I've become interested in being more natural in all aspects of my life. That has lead me down the rabbit hole of research on DIY treatments and ingredients.
Early last year, I started hearing about rice water treatments. All the influencers on YouTube and Instagram were going on and on about its benefits - strengthens the hair, restores shine and elasticity, thickens the hair, and most importantly, increases hair growth.
I was pretty skeptical because I don't believe in anything that claims to make your hair grow, but after my FAVORITE curly YouTuber posted about her experience with it (which you can watch here) I was a little more convinced, but not enough to try it out.
What finally made me do a little of my own experimenting was when my curl pattern changed. How did that happen, you ask? Well...I straightened it. Repeatedly. For two weeks straight.
(GASP)
I know!! I know. It was bad and I shouldn't have done it, but we were in the very beginning stages of the pandemic, when everyone was panic-buying everything from toilet paper to jugs of water to, you guessed it, hair products. I had run out of my usual stylers and the soonest I would be able to get one shipped would be at least a week.
**Backstory: I started my natural hair journey almost 6 years ago by jumping on the "Big Chop" bandwagon. It took 2 whole years for my curls to transition from half-curly, half-straight hot messes into beautiful, coily ringlets, which you can see in the pictures below)
(Before) (After)
Well, after weeks of waiting, I finally got my styler and decided to go back to wearing my hair curly...except it had revolted. My curls looked more like my before picture and I literally panicked! I know some people will say, "It's just hair," but anyone who's been on the transitional journey from straightening and processing your hair to embracing your natural locks knows that it is so much more than that.
So what did I do?
First, I gave myself a curly trim. A-la DevaChan, I held one ringlet at a time and snipped off the end. That took about an hour, and my hair looked much better, but there were still some seriously noticeable straight pieces by my face (where I obviously straightened more frequently). Finally, I decided to try the rice water treatment and see what the hype was about.
How did I do it?
The process is crazy simple. I put one cup of rice into two cups of water and let it sit in a container overnight. I have seen a LOT of different information regarding how long to let the rice water ferment, ranging from 30 minutes to 48 hours. I guess it just depends on how much time you have and how potent you want the water to be. After 24ish hours the water looked cloudy, like very watery milk.
The next day, I drained the water, washed my hair like I normally would and then poured the water over my hair. Then I put a moisturizing hair mask over it, because most of the reviews said that the rice water can leave hair a little stiff because of all the protein.I used Not Your Mother's Curl Talk Mask, covered my hair with a shower cap, and left it on for 30 minutes. Then I rinsed and styled as normal and THESE were my results!
It may not look like much, but let me remind you that after two weeks of straightening, my hair looked exactly like it did after I first did the Big Chop. I have no pictures to show you because, well, I wasn't trying to keep any evidence of the hot mess mop that was on top of my head.
My hair is much bouncier, shinier, and the straight pieces are almost completely nonexistent. From what I researched, rice water is a protein treatment, and different hair types require different levels f protein. Too much can actually make your hair dry and brittle, so I will absolutely be doing this again, but I'll wait 3 weeks from the first time.
Should you do it?
Yes! Everyone's hair needs protein, you just have to play around with it and see how much protein your hair type can tolerate. I think that my hair could use some extra love and would be just fine if I decided to do 2-3 treatments in the same month, but after everything I've done to try to recover from my straightening, I'm not trying to risk dryness on top of that. HA!
I'll make a post with step-by-step pictures for the next treatment, but in the meantime, leave me a comment if you tried your own rice water treatment for your curly hair. I want to know what you think!
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