There are plenty of rinses known to help achieve healthier and stronger hair, but when you’ve got fragile curls like mine you would probably try just about anything to get your mane in the best shape possible. When I found out about a rinse that involved pouring beer into my hair, I was a bit grossed out. However, the benefits of a beer rinse for naturally curly hair made a lot of sense so I decided to give it a shot.
What’s in it?
Key ingredients to your typical beer are yeast, barley, water, and hops. There are essential oils in hops that are rich in antioxidants which can fortify and strengthen the hair.
Beer also contains B-vitamins and proteins which are great for conditioning. Maltose and sucrose sugars in beer help to swell and tighten the cuticle which add body as well as shine. I got satisfying results after trying this rinse! Surprisingly, my hair was softer, shinier and felt fuller to the touch even before it dried. Body is usually difficult to achieve with finer hair so this was impressive. The beer rinse is also said to improve elasticity and helps to revitalize the curl after heat damage so if this is an area that you are looking to fix, try the beer rinse!
What you’ll need
All you need is one bottle of lukewarm, flat, non-alcoholic beer. It helps if you leave the beer uncovered overnight. Depending on the length and thickness of your hair, you might need two bottles.
Directions
1. I began by co-washing my hair in the sink rather than in the shower. (I wasn’t too excited at the thought of beer running down my back”>.
2. After co-washing, I poured the beer all over my hair, coating every strand from the root to the ends.
3. Once I poured all of the beer into my hair, I let it sit for about 3 to 5 minutes and rinsed it out with warm water before rinsing again with cooler water to help get rid of the smell.
4. I tried really hard to make sure my hair wouldn’t smell like a pub when I finished so I added a bit of conditioner after the beer rinse. Believe it or not, this step is actually optional and many people go without the conditioner! I’m not quite sold on that yet since this extra step helps to eliminate the scent of the beer I used.
I finally rinsed the conditioner out with cold water to lock in the moisture and scrunched my hair with an old t-shirt to safely dry my curls. At this point, you can style your hair like normal. I only added a small amount of leave in-conditioner because I wanted to be able to tell if there was any change in texture or body and I definitely noticed a difference.
I will absolutely try this rinse again soon and maybe next time I will be brave enough to go sans condish!
Cheers!
Have you ever used beer in your hair? What did it do for your hair?
