Rice water with cloves for the face: benefits and risks

What are the benefits of rice water and cloves?

Rice water has a history of use in skin and scalp care, so the kitchen has been auditioning as a bathroom for quite a while. Traditional preparations include a starch gel made from washed and boiled rice. That history does not give you a dependable treatment for acne, dark spots, wrinkles or enlarged pores.2

Rice derived materials have useful roles in cosmetics. Cellulose extracted from rice husk and straw can absorb oil and water, while extracted proteins have antioxidant properties. Antioxidants act against unstable molecules called free radicals. These are processed cosmetic ingredients, not interchangeable names for water left after soaking rice. Their properties are not a reason to expect the same results from a homemade facial mixture.2

Rice starch also varies with the rice variety, isolation method and processing. Manufacturers can modify starch to change its texture and other functional properties. A homemade rice preparation does not have a standard strength simply because rice starch is used in beauty products.3

Are whole cloves and clove oil the same?

Essential oils are aromatic substances extracted from plants. Clove oil is among the oils that commonly cause allergic contact dermatitis, an itchy skin reaction triggered by contact with an allergen. High concentrations of essential oils can also directly irritate skin. Do not substitute drops of clove oil for whole cloves, or assume that dilution eliminates allergy risk.1

How should you make and use it?

There is no established amount of rice, number of cloves, dilution, facial application time or daily frequency for this mixture. There is also no established choice between morning and evening, no tested layering order and no dependable timeline for visible results. Skip the mixture as a facial treatment rather than following a precise sounding recipe with an unknown strength.2

A claim about hair does not become a claim about facial skin just because both appear in the same bathroom. Rice water hair routines sometimes involve a short soak, boiling or a longer soak for fermentation, followed by a rinse from the hair. Those hair directions are not facial directions. In particular, a hair rinse contact time should not become a suggested time to leave rice water and cloves on your face.4

A long rice soak can introduce bacteria into the mixture. Fermenting rice water at home is therefore not a useful shortcut to a better facial treatment. A safe storage period, refrigeration schedule and expiry date for rice water mixed with cloves are not established.4

Who should be especially careful?

People with atopic dermatitis, a form of eczema, have a higher risk of allergic contact dermatitis from essential oils. Avoid clove oil if it has caused a reaction before. Do not use this mixture to soothe an existing facial rash. Keep homemade preparations away from the eye area, where thin, delicate skin develops contact dermatitis more easily.15

What if you have already applied it?

Watch for itching, redness, scaling, blisters, dryness or cracking. On darker skin, contact dermatitis can look dark brown, purple or grey rather than red. Reactions can appear hours or days after contact; essential oil allergy generally develops 24 to 72 hours after exposure. An immediate lack of discomfort does not rule out a delayed reaction.16

1. 1Stop applying the mixture if a rash or irritation develops.
2. 2Rinse the affected skin with warm water and an emollient, a moisturizing preparation, as soon as possible.
3. 3Avoid the suspected trigger while the skin recovers. A pharmacist can help with moisturizers for troublesome dryness.
4. 4See a doctor if symptoms are severe, persist or keep returning. A dermatologist can help identify the trigger when the cause remains unclear.