Beauty experts wax lyrical about the benefits of rice water!
How often do you use Google? We use it multiple times a day because it’s just so handy! We gratefully use the search engine when we need to know something about washing machines or when we want to read more about the British royal family. Lately, a very popular search term is ‘rice water’; its frequency has increased with 2,000 per cent over the past couple of months! So, what are the benefits of rice water?
We’ll tell you about all the things you can do with rice water and the great benefits.
Rice water
In Japan, rice water has been in use for hair care for years and years already: it helps to let your hair grow and makes it softer as well. This Japanese tradition goes by the name of yu-su-ru. The Japanese women wash their hair with the rice water to make it stronger. The tradition has now blown over from Japan to the rest of the world and blogs and vlogs about washing your hair with rice water have been appearing all over the place. Apparently, rice water has many benefits for your hair and skin.
Why is it so effective?
Rice water is full of vitamins, minerals and amino acids that can contribute to healthy and pretty skin. It also contains an antioxidant called ferulic acid, which is a substance that can soothe and heal skin when it has been burned. Besides all of this, it also contains inositol; a carbohydrate that can strengthen your hair. After hearing all of this, we totally understand why so many people swear by using rice water!
How do you make rice water?
It’s very easy to make rice water. You’ll need about 100 grams of rice and 480 millilitres of water. Rinse the rice and then put it in a bowl and add the water. Stir it and then let the rice rest for 20 to 30 minutes in the bowl with water. Then, drain the rice but keep the water (obviously). Transfer the water to an airtight container if you don’t want to use it right away; it’ll keep for about a week. As for the rice; you can still cook it and eat it – no need to throw it away.
Facial cleanser
Clean your face with rice water to get soft and glowing skin. Pour a little bit of the water onto a cotton pad and use this to massage your face with. Repeat this a few times a week to give your skin a boost. It will also help to minimise your pores.
Acne
The calming effect of the water is one of the reasons why it works very well against acne. It reduces the redness and it will also cause you to get fewer pimples in the future.
Eczema
Rice water can soothe the irritation caused by eczema. Drench a clean washcloth in rice water and dab this onto the irritated skin for a few minutes. Let your skin dry.
Sunburnt skin
Rice water doesn’t just help to soothe eczema; you can also use it to soothe sunburn. The water will reduce the redness of the skin and provide coolness. If you want to cool it even more you can first put the water in the fridge and then apply it to a cotton pad and dab it onto the sunburnt skin.
Hair
As we said before, you can use rice water to strengthen your hair and make it healthier. Wash your hair like you would normally, using shampoo and conditioner. Then, pour a generous amount of rice water over your hair. Massage it into your scalp properly and then rinse it out with water.
Conditioner
You can actually also use rice water as a conditioner. Add a few drops of lavender oil to the rice water and then pour the water over your hair. Massage it in and let it sit for 10 minutes. Next, rinse it out with lukewarm water.
