Make Your Own Shampoo

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Author: Dr Kirstie

The list of shampoo ingredients listed on the bottle of most nonorganic shampoos reads like a chemical factory.. If you spend any time reading these bottles, you can usually find two or three ingredients that are known through medical studies to be toxic to animals and man including such ingredients as propylene glycol, isopropyl alcohol, and distearate. If you shampoo every day, you may be getting significant exposure to these potential disease causing agents. Fortunately, there is a solution. You can learn how to make shampoo at home. 

It's really not as difficult to make shampoo as you might think. You can start with a standard base of castile soap and then add additional ingredients to give you shampoo the right thickness, moisturizing properties, and fragrance. Liquid castile soap should be easy to find at your local health food store. If you want to get more deeply into shampoo making, you  may want to visit the Chemistry Store, an online store where you can find a variety of shampoo formulations and concentrates. 

Here's a basic recipe using castile soap as the base:

1. Gather together fresh herbs of your choice to add to your shampoo. The herbs are mainly for scent, although some such as lavender may help a bit with flaking of the scalp. You may want to do a bit of reading about herbs and their properties. Place the fresh herbs in a jar.

2. Boil around a cup of water on the stove and pour over the herbs. 

3. Allow the herb mixture to sit for 30 minutes. 

4. Use a strainer to separate the liquid from the herbs. Place the herbal liquid into a bowl.

5. Add several drops of essential oil for scent. 

6. Make sure everything is thoroughly mixed before transferring to a bottle for storage.


There are lots of variations you can use on this recipe. Here are some suggestions:

For oily hair, add peppermint oil
For dry hair, add geranium oil or jojoba oil
For limp hair that lacks body, add rosemary
To brighten blonde hair, add lemon oil

It will probably take some experimentation with different herb and essential combinations before you come up with the formulation that best suits your hair. There are lots of books written on the topic of herbs and essential oils and their properties. If you want to become serious about shampoo making, you may want to do some reading in this area. 

Being able to make your own shampoo is a liberating experience! You no longer have to fall victim to those ads featuring ultra expensive shampoos loaded with potentially cancer causing chemicals. Plus, you can still have beautiful, naturally clean hair!