I think it was Lombardi who said winners never quit, and quitters never win

I am happy happy happy. After an 8 year long battle with my hair I have finally won.

Pretty suddenly about 8 years ago, one side of my hair decided it was done. It felt like hay and reminded me of a really bad fur mat like a neglected dog would have. So tangled and knotty. I couldn't get even a wide tooth comb a millimeter through it unless it was just totally soaking wet and even then it was sometimes questionable without deep conditioner. I could not comb or brush it. The other side was deteriorating in quality also but nowhere near as bad as what I call the mad professor side. It also started breaking off because of my efforts to comb it and some parts on that side were less than an inch long! I couldn't run my hands through it and if I tried that side would just stick straight out from my head as if I had been electrocuted. With no products in it at all! Just naturally Super-Saiyan as my husband would say.

I tried everything. Maybe its hard water, ill get a chelating product and wash with distilled water. Nope. Worse. Maybe i need more vitamins. Maybe i did but they didn't help my hair at all. Maybe its no moisture, tried every deep conditioner, mask, oil, serum, spray. Tried honey, eggs, mayonnaise. No heat, low heat, protective hairstyles, heat protector. Zero improvement. Tried hot oil. Nope. Tried sulfate free shampoo. Maybe too much protein. Tried clarifying shampoo. Nope. Tried "chemical free natural" shampoo and conditioner. Nope. Tried trimming it and cutting it. Nope. Tried vinegar rinses. Nope. I gave all these products several weeks each to try and see if they worked in any capacity. Desperation set in. Prior to this seemingly sudden problem my hair was basically glorious. I changed nothing and yet....hairpocalypse.

I have been so down because of this at points I seriously considered just shaving my head. But then I figure with my luck it would grow back in worse than it was.

What worked? I am a hard-core skeptic of all hair products and gimmicks and "hacks" following my experience. I feel I have tried just about everything so for the past year or so I had pretty much decided that my hair could just do whatever and im done trying because it is depressing. I even considered that I may have some weird form of alopecia because this was mainly affecting just one side of my hair. As a result of my skepticism, I poo-poo'd what would end up being my savior.

Rice water. Rice water rinse and I tell you what. I almost cried when I could get an actual Denman brush through my hair when it was DAMP! Usually it was impossible to even get a wide tooth comb through when damp or mostly dry. It was like butter. It became so soft and wonderful after just one use and has remained so thus far. It is like I got a total hair transplant, but it is my hair. I can't believe it.

So the lesson is, never give up. If your hair is totally screwed, just keep putting different foods in it until something works. Hehehe. Just kidding. Seriously though. Any natural haired people who are having issues. Try Rice water. It has been so awesome for me.

a reply to: Shoshanna

That sounds like quite the journey! I'm glad you finally found something that worked for you.

I'm curious as to what made you think of using rice water? Do you boil the rice and then use the water as a final rinse, or do you let the rice water sit for a bit and rinse it out?

a reply to: Shoshanna

I'm assuming (perhaps wrongly) that you don't have caucasian fair hair, but does the rice water leave any visible residue?

I would imagine that rice starch would produce a white deposit?

Also, I'm wondering if perhaps something else had damaged and dried and/or coated the hair at some time in the past, and that it just took a while to wash out. Are you absolutely sure that the rice water was what actually returned things to normal?

By the way, kudos to you for trying such an unexpected solution.

a reply to: Shoshanna


I would just get a clippers and shave the lot of Shoshanna , the butch dyke look is the in thing at the moment and when the Chinese invade they might let you of light , they will eat your pets though so shave them as well . Or go down to the animal pound and identify as a furry and get them to do it for you , also get wormed it's been a while

a reply to: nugget1

You can do it either way. I feel it works best tto let the rice just soak in water for about 2 days and then strain it out. I do this once a week now.

a reply to: chr0naut

It leaves no residue at all! I thought it would too because yes I am black and have 4C very thick curly hair that is black. I tried so many shampoos and things that I really feel it was the rice water. This was a years long struggle I am so happy now.

a reply to: Shoshanna

I’m pretty bald, and I started noticing my hair falling out when I was about 18. Standard male pattern baldness.

Recently I’ve noticed a few hairs seem to be growing back. Not very many. I’m still quite bald.

But the funny thing is my very few new hairs are blond, but my old hairs are dark brown.

Go figure…