I would like to make you discover our latest wonder ingredient: fermented rice water. I have been obsessed with it since I read an article years ago about a village in China where Yao women have the most incredible hair, and often don’t have grey hair until their 80s. See for yourself.
Their secret? They just wash their hair with the cooking water from rice, that has been left to ferment a few days in the open air. Since then I have been sourcing the ingredient and creating our whole scalp care range around it.
Why such amazing results? The Saccharomyces yeast feeds from the rice starch and creates an array of new components: Amino-acids, vitamins, lactic acid… The water also gets a bit sour, which means it gets closer to the pH of the microbiome hair. I love the idea of the yeast being a little factory of nutrient, and I hope it will be used more and more in cosmetics, particularly to help sensitive scalps.
How to make fermented rice water at home?
- Rinse your rice once, to get rid of impurities
- Either boil it in a lot of water or let it sit in water for some time.
- The remaining water, once you sieve it, is ready to be left to ferment for 2-3 days. When it starts slightly bubbling, it’s ready! It can be a bit smelly, but it will do wonders on your hair as a hair mask for 20 minutes. Your microbiome will thank you!
Or you can use our Scalp&Hair care range! Our Serum, our Cleansing Cream, our Mask are all enriched with fermented rice water (you’ll find it under the sweet name of Saccharomyces/Rice Ferment Filtrate). They’re also at the right pH to avoid damaging sensitive scalps, sulfate-free, ultra-gentle and allow you to treat more and wash less.
We went all the way to Korea to source this wonder. Our fermented rice water is made from organic rice, and in the fields, ducks are used to remove insects, instead of chemical insecticides. The result is cute pictures of duck patrols like this.
And you, have you ever used rice water products or DIYs to take care of your microbiome hair?
