My Beautiful #RedCarpetCurls Royalty,
I am so beyond excited to bring this product review to you all, just because it has made my Curly Girl Method routine so much easier and enjoyable!
Rice water is a staple in the natural hair community. That is because rice water contains an abundance of vitamins, minerals, and proteins your hair and scalp need to be nourished and healthy. Rice water is known to bring vitality back to your hair by making it longer, stronger, and shiner!
Rice water has a long history traced back to Japanese women who understood the benefits of adding fermented rice water to your hair and skincare routines. Rice water utilization can be traced all the way back to the 8th century in Japan. That is because rice water contains a carbohydrate known as Inositol, which is known to penetrate the hair strands to the deepest layers (yes, hair has several different layers in just one strand), to help repair hair from the inside out. This helps to keep cultivating a more defined curl pattern. This is very similar to the benefits of adding Bragg’s Liquid Amino Acids into your weekly deep conditioner, amino acids are small pieces of protein that are better able to work because of their small size to penetrate the hair, solving the root of the problem instead of focusing on the surface (cuticle – outermost layer of the hair responsible for your porosity.
Traditional DIY rice water treatments can be incredibly messy and let’s be honest they smell horrible! I never had the patience or the time to ferment the treatment and therefore I was always missing out, that is why I replaced the rice water rinse with the Bragg’s Liquid Amino Acids trick, but now I’ve discovered the Mi-mo-su Rice Water Treatment Kit and I am never going back!
Why Use Rice Water?
As I mentioned earlier, rice water has been used by Japanese women since the 8th century. Clearly, they didn’t need to be told twice about the benefits, over time the results speak for itself! According to the International Journal of Cosmetic Science, Rice water reduces surface friction (which would cause frizz) and increases hair elasticity which protects your hair against split ends and breakage.
Rice water contains Vitamins:
- Vitamin A – needed by every single cell in the body to grow, hair is the fastest growing tissue and therefore needs Vitamin A to stay strong and improve the overall health of hair. Vitamin A also helps produce more sebum to keep hair moisturized.
- Vitamin B – is responsible for the formation of melanin which gives the hair its natural pigmentation. The natural pigmentation of the hair reflects how healthy the hair is. It also helps prevent the graying of hair. Improves circulation to the scalp to increase hair growth.
- Vitamin E – has antioxidant properties that help repair damaged hair.
Those are just vitamins! We haven’t even gotten to the amino acids and other minerals! As you can see, from one small treatment, you are giving your hair all the nourishment it truly needs to thrive.
What’s So Hard About The Traditional Rice Water Rinse?
The traditional rice water rinse gets messy! While the exact recipe is really up to you one thing is for certain, the application is guaranteed to be smelly and messy. You just have to be willing to be okay with that. I mean let’s be honest here you are spraying fermented water onto your hair and scalp? No one said beauty was going to be easy!
When it comes to rice water, fermented is always best. This simply means you have allowed the rice to soak for an extended period of time, further infusing your water with the vitamins and minerals the organic white rice provides. To ferment my rice water, I typically allow my rice water to sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours. If you do this, please remember the water has to be refrigerated after the 24 hours to extend the shelf life to 3 days.
The smell is often the deal-breaker for most people, but unfortunately, it comes with the territory of letting the rice starch sour. Most people like to add essential oils or citrus peels to adjust the smell of the mixture. Not to mention you have to worry about measurements and preservatives. Ugh, the hassle. Well…until now!
What’s Makes Mi-mo-su DIY Rice Water Treatment Kit So Different?
Honestly, the hassle of rice water treatment has always made me hesitant. With how insane life can get, I schedule my washday routines and I just don’t have time to waste!
When @beauteseoultv (Company Instagram Handle) reached out to me asking me to try out and review this kit I was excited. The company advertised on amazon all the benefits of the treatment with none of the smells? I had to find out more about this sorcery!
This kit has truly been the easiest and most pleasant experience! They were not lying! Once I let my mixture sit on my counter for 24 hours, I was prepared to be nauseated by the fermentation smell, as I always am. But once I opened the spray bottle, to strain the rice powder out, there was no overpowering scent. It made me question for a moment…”Did I do this right?” For the purposes of your satisfaction with this product review, I can say with certainty, I definitely did it right.
I absolutely adore the fine mist, continuous hair spray bottle! It was the perfect addition to make this treatment even easier. I did struggle just a bit, in the beginning, trying to get the hang of the bottle. Just as a tip give the bottle a moment to formulate another spray. This bottle is not like most spray bottles where you squeeze the handle often. You only need light squeezes on this handle as a lot more water is sprayed with each pull. This spray produces a stream of sustained mist that lasts a few seconds, it provides the right amount of water that optimized to moisturize the curly hair. Also, the bottle design is ideal for fitting the Rice Powder Teabags to make the rice water.
Yes, you read that correctly! You are not dealing with everyday rice! This kit provides you 100% organic Korean rice powder for easier and faster absorption.
My Official Review/Thoughts on the Mi-mo-su Kit:
So far I have only used this kit a handful of times, because…well, I’ll be super honest. I need a new strainer. I had to attempt to film this for you guys and I had to get creative and used coffee strainers since the powder is so fine. Other than that and getting a hang for the spray bottle, I have absolutely no negative comments at all about this product.
Rice water rinses are usually messy and smell terrible. It’s not the most ideal treatment, and let’s be super real, there are days where we are just too lazy to take the extra step because it requires so much clean up. But this kit took care of all that. You can apply the mixture in the shower on washday after you shampoo and conditioner your hair. Just spray the treatment onto your scalp and hair and allow it to sit for 20 minutes while you shave your legs.
I love how the rice power is already pre-measured and ready to use. All I had to do was pour it in the bottle, add the cup and a half of water and let sit for 24 hours since I like my water to be fermented for added benefits and increased hair growth.
I adore the feeling you get from just one use! As I explained earlier Isositol is so small it penetrates the hair strands and remains in the hair even after you rinse it. Giving the hair a thicker appearance and feel, which contributes greatly to volume. The other nutrients in the rice water nourish the hair and help create more clumps, quench frizz, and deliver beautiful, strong, shiny healthy hair.
This is such an easy step to add into your weekly routine when you need a little extra gentle protein or even if your hair is looking a bit dull as of late and needs a little extra TLC.
This treatment is great if you are looking to add amino acids into your routine but cannot stand the smell of the Bragg’s Liquid Amino Acids treatment. It will deliver the gentleness without the measuring!
Each time I use this kit, I am left with gorgeous looking curls and I know you will too!
How to Use the Rice Water Kit?
- Pour 1 1/2 cups of water over one rice bag in a cup.
- Immerse rice bag for a minimum of 12 hours to ferment.
- Once it’s been fermented, drain the rice water into your 10 oz spray bottle.
- Wash and condition your hair, once you rinse out your conditioner, spray your rice water in.
- Aiming for the scalp, gently massage and leave in for 15 to 30 minutes before rinsing out
Company Recommendations:
- Leave it for 12 hours to be fermented, the effective nutrients will be pulled out.
- After 24 hours at room temperature, refrigerate it at a max of three days. After three days, throw the water away
- Use rice water once a week
- Check if your hair needs a protein treatment (like rice water) and if it needs, use it more frequently.
Company Cautions:
- Safe to eat but not recommended
- Clean the bottle properly after every use
- Don’t add hot water into the bottle
Any Final Recommendations From Queen Monroe?
Besides, stop what you’re doing and go purchase this product right now? Hmm…let me think.
You can still add essential oils or citrus peels to the fermented water to give it a pleasant smell, I am a big fan of Mango essential oil when I want a nice fragrance, although sweet orange essential oil really lifts your mood when used.
Oh! Another cool recommendation is to head over to their website since they are currently hosting a #Ricewaterchallenge! I just joined this week, so for the next six weeks, I will be using the treatment and document the differences in my hair growth and health! If you want to participate you can too!
If you join the challenge and post on social media using the hashtag #mimosu you have the chance to win a free rice bag refill! Who doesn’t love free haircare items?! Shoot, I know I do!
The most important thing I can tell you is to please have realistic expectations. It normally takes around 3 months to see the noticeable hair growth and sometimes even more. If it took time to cause damage, it will take time to heal it. Stay consistent with your treatments, I like to mark them down in my haircare journal, to see if the addition to my routine has been helping over time.
Other than that, just do your research, and definitely try out this kit because it will make your life soooo much easier and your curls will love you for it! Did I mention it’s on Amazon? Just another excuse to shop! Enjoy!
P.S. Make sure to use a funnel and mini strainer, it will make the straining and transfer that much easier, so you don’t have to struggle as I did with the coffee filters.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to comment below.
