It’s a bit unsettling to think about, but shampoo has a lot more in common with dish washing detergent than that oh-so-gentle cleanser idea advertising agencies like to sell you. I don’t know about you, but my hair has very little in common with the pan I made pasta sauce in the other night.
Nope, definitely not a pan.
Modern shampoo popped into wide-spread use out of nowhere close to a century ago, when most everyone switched from well water to tap water. The pH/hard-soft changes necessitated something that would lather under any circumstances, and chemistry was more than happy to oblige. Over time, shampoo drifted further from it’s soap roots, twisting and changing to meet a wide array of requirements: lots of bubbles, easy on the eyes, pleasing scent, luxurious texture, ease of use, and more. If you go read the ingredients on whatever shampoo happens to be hanging out in your shower, I doubt it will simply be made of water and a selection of saponified oils. It’s going to be… long. Suspicious. Mostly unpronounceable.
In addition to the long list of iffy ingredients in shampoo, I’m also not a fan of how strong commercial shampoo is. It trains your scalp into producing oils like a BP oil spill (too soon?). When I used commercial shampoo, I had to wash my hair every second or third day. No avoiding it, or I wasn’t leaving the house.
When I started making my own soap, I started making my own shampoo bars as well. Shampoo bars are pretty similar to straight up soap, and can easily be used for both—the shampoo bars just tend to have a bit more lather and a higher superfat percentage for extra moisturizing properties. More about those in a future entry. When using shampoo bars, you don’t need conditioner. I just finish off with a quick apple cider vinegar rinse (about 1/4 cup of vinegar in a cup or two of water). You do, however, need to be a bit more thorough. You get used to it pretty quickly, but when you have as much hair as I do (past waist length), you have to learn to pay attention to the entire length of it. This stuff isn’t strong enough to clean your hair by just drifting past it, which I see as a good thing.
Since I’ve started using shampoo bars, I’ve also started stretching my washes out, adding a day at a time. Over the last three months I’ve gone from washing my hair every third day to every sixth day, and I’m about ready to move up to every seventh day. You might have read about the no-shampoo movement. It certainly has a lot of supporters, but there’s an unfortunate month or so where you look pretty darn… slick. And I like washing my hair. So I’m weaning myself. We’ll see what happens.
Your hair will love a good boar bristle brush and some hair balm.
Something else I’ve started doing is using exclusively wooden combs and boar bristle brushes. The wood is supposed to be better in terms of tangling and snagging. Not sure I’ve noticed a huge difference, but it’s certainly much more romantic than some flimsy nylon comb. Boar bristle brushes are great for smoothing and re-distributing oils in your hair, as they’re made of natural bristle. They do need to be washed, but a good, long boar brushing can really help with stretching out your washes.
My results? I love that I don’t have to wash my hair so frequently. It’s shinier, and smells nicely of, well, nothing. I think the coffee shampoo bars I made enhance the colour. And it’s nice knowing what I’m rubbing on my head.
So, any stories with natural hair care? Tried it? Liked it? Hated it? Planning on it? Hey, your comment just might win you a bar of my all-natural handmade shampoo in this month’s draw!
wow… this was really interesting to read. i wonder if homemade soap would actually do anything for my hair… i have really oily hair, and i have to wash it every day. some days, if i shower early in the morning, my hair is actually oily by the time i get home at night, which is so ridiculous.
your blog is so cool! i’m learning quite a bit 🙂
Thanks Meghanne! I’d bet that a bit of a stretching would work for you, but there will be greasy times towards the end of each wash cycle. I’ve found one of the best ways to temporarily de-grease (as a brunette) is to lightly dust my roots with a bit of cocoa powder and brush it in. It smells great, and leaves you looking a lot less… old… than the oft-suggested cornstarch. I’d definitely recommend doing your washes in the morning so you can use your nights as a sort of freebie. Also, find a few updos or cute hats, just in case 😛
I love shampoo bars, I sometimes use the ones from Lush. They last heaps longer than liquid too!
WOW! Finally someone I can relate to! I just found your site and feel like I’ve found a long lost sister! Thank you for such helpful information. I remember my grandmother telling about coming across the Plains in a covered wagon. They used bar soap that they made for bathing and washing their hair. She said it made their hair soft and shiny and her face would just glow when she related these stories. I’m attempting to get back to my roots and learn how to do these things myself. It’s going to be a great adventure! Thanks again for a great site! —-Judy
Thanks! I am loving getting back to the basics with all of my products. I just love knowing what’s in them. I started with making all my own food (even marshmallows!), and now I’m moving onto everything else in my life. I won’t be done until I don’t need to buy anything but ingredients!
Thank you for your posts. I had been looking for better natural care for my hair… Well , overall lifestyle as well.
I still use a commercial shampoo once every 2 to 4 days depending on daily activities and hair condition. Although it is the most gentle product I found, I don’t leave it in my hair very long and extend my days with a rinse of tea. The tannins in the tea refresh and take edge off “the 4th day
“greasy” feel. I look forward to exploring with the natural options you and some of the commentators have shared. I too have relatively long hair, below my shoulder blades. I look forward to reading about care options for the ends.
Thank you again,
Eric
Thanks for stopping by & reading, Eric! I love the idea of a tea rinse, I think I’ll be experimenting with those in the near future, I’ve got a massive cupboard of tea and some of it isn’t as delicious as I thought it would be when I bought it 😛
For dry ends you can try my hair balm and my ultimate hair serum. They’re both great for dry hair when you brush them in with a boar bristle brush.
Hi Marie… amazing stuff.
I’ve only just discovered your site actually and i’m in awe. Thank you. 🙂
I was wondering about the Black-strap Molasses and coffee shampoo or rinse i came across. How do you go about making that?? I couldn’t find your special recipe on it.
Please feel free to direct me when you can as i am now one month into my natural hair care. 🙂
Cheers and thanx again.
Anya
Hi Anya! Thanks for reading 🙂 The molasses shampoo can be found here, and the latté shampoo here. I’d recommend starting with the latté bar if you’re not an experience soap maker as the molasses can cause the batch to split if you aren’t careful. Have fun & feel free to get in touch with any questions you might have 🙂
I found your blog yesterday and I love it. I’ve been reading all your hair recipes. Some years ago I tried the no-poo but was afraid of just washing with baking soda and ACV so I washed my hair with neutral soap. A total mess, so tangly and awful that I quit. This year I tried again making some DIY shampoo with Castile soap. I didn’t like it. Finally I tried baking soda and white vinegar. Much better. After I rinse with white vinegar my hair is soft and detangled. But when it is dry it gets tangled in some parts.
I’d like to try some of your hair recipes like the shampoo bars though I read somewhere awhile ago that in places with hard water, the hair do not like shampoo bars. Do you have some recommendations to hair care when having hard water? Also, I don’t feel comfortable at not washing my hair everyday. Am I damaging it by doing so if not using shampoo?
Anyway, hope to make your hair recipes. I’ll see if I’m able to get all ingredients. I have them most of them but Camelia oil, walnut oil, phytokeratin and bioplex. THANKS!
Hey Libier—yay for natural hair care! I would really recommend reading this article about using baking soda in your hair, though. I’ve never tried it myself, but she makes some good points that have scared me off of trying it. What do you mean by “neutral” soap?
I use handmade shampoo bars with very hard water, and my hair is happy. If you feel like you need to get your hair wet everyday I don’t see that being a problem—you could also try a tea rinse to do a bit of something on your off days.
You can probably skip the bioplex (I haven’t noticed it does much, plus I think my supplier stopped carrying it so I don’t even know where you’d get any) and the walnut oil (use something like safflower or grapeseed instead). The camelia oil is awesome, though, and I do quite like my phytokeratin 🙂
Hi!! I found your site a week ago and I think I already read half of your posts, hehe. I’m beginning to make my own soaps, and my goal was to make some good homemade shampoo, I hope I’m doing it fine! I wanted to ask you… have yo ever tried the “tangle teezer”? not so romantic as wooden combs, but it’s said to be really gentle with your hair, I just bought it, I hope it works for me >_<'. I'm a huge fan of henna and cassia obovata too, have you tried them?? they make my hair look soooo shinny and soft, and a little bit thicker too! they're great :D. I hope I'm not making huge mistakes, as english is not my native language… in any case, excuse me!
Awesome! Thanks for reading 😀 Did you know that over half my posts would be over 200? Makes me sound very industrious 😛 I’d never heard of a tangle teezer so I looked it up, and they look kind of terrifying, haha. Sort of like a dog brush… and my dog has never enjoyed being brushed, haha. I’ve never tried henna or cassia obovata because I’m not crazy about colouring my hair, but I’ve certainly heard great things about henna and I do recommend it to readers who want natural hair colouring options.
Feel free to ask if you’ve got any questions about your homemade shampoo efforts 🙂
ooooooh!!! yes yes yes! I would like to ask you a question: how much do you “super fat” and “condition” your shampoo bars? I haven’t been able to try any of the bars I’ve done, because they aren’t ready yet, but I’m worried because I superfat them around 1%, and I don’t know if they’re going to make my hair feel greasy, or too dry… Soap calc drives me crazy @__@’. I’ve read so many different opinions that I don’t know what to do, I’m so confused.
OMG! I hope then that I didn’t read half of your post, because that would mean that I was a liiiiittle bit distracted from work! ooops! By the way, congratulations on your two year celebration!! I hope so many more are coming.
I enjoy your blog so much, I love the way you make things look easy to do, (ok, not super super easy but they don’t look like chemistry neither, haha) and the looks of it too, I like the simplicity of it, the nice photos, it’s so… “cozy”? I don’t know how to explain it, >_<' Anyway… nothing "industrious" about it.
I know!! tangle teezer looks weird, but it's not! try it if you have the chance, and then you tell me, hahaha. I wasn't crazy about colouring my hair neither, but cassia doesn't really colour your hair, unless it's totally white! It just gives you like a golden glow… but is subtle. The thing I like about it is that -like henna- it conditions your hair and makes it shine increeeedibly.
I'm buying calendula oil next time, you convinced me! And now I'm gonna read throughly your new post 🙂 (again, please excuse the mistakes, I'm not used to write in english, sorry!)
Hey Mai! So, to start with… 1% is a SUPER low superfat percentage. It really leaves you with next to no margin of error. I always superfat 5–7% for everything (7% is more on the shampoo side) to be safe, and to ensure there’s actually some fat leftover for my skin/hair. So, be careful with those bars. Be sure to do a “zap” test on them, and don’t be too surprised if you find them to be drying or even irritating 🙁
Thanks for the congrats on the two years 🙂 It’s been a whirlwind of learning and doing and making messes 😛
Gotta say… I likely won’t try the tangle teezer 😛 My hair isn’t really all that tangly, and I don’t really need anymore hair stuff. I might try the cassia, though—I’ll have to look into it. I’m always a little wary of anything sold in a box that calls itself “natural”.
Thanks for reading!
I recently came across your site as I was toying with the idea of making my own soap. Lately I’ve been getting more and more sensitive to household cleaning products so I’ve been switching everything over to natural ingredients, why not for our body, face, and hair?!? Thank you for providing such a wealth of information and your recipes! Question though, do you sell what you make?
Hi LeAnn! I’m so glad you found my wee little corner of the internet 🙂 You should definitely start making your own soap, it’s super fun & nowhere near as scary as some sources make it out to be 😛
I don’t actually sell anything I make—I simply don’t have the time. Maybe someday, but for now I work more than full time in addition to all the stuff I like to do in my sadly limited free time. Oh well!
Thank you again for sharing all of your wonderful recipes!
No worries—thanks for reading them! I’d really encourage you to dive right in and start making your own stuff. I’ve got an article on DIY for Beginners coming out soon that will walk you through the basics and some starter recipes, so that might be just the thing for you 🙂
As I posted on your all in one soap post, I’m really digging the natural skin care kick I’ve been on this spring. I got started because I got obsessed with this rpg called Skyrim, and the wonderful Viking basis for the main culture of the world. So I bought some really wonderful locally hand made goat’s milk soaps from a Christmas fair and began using them. And I love them! My skin is happier, feels softer and is less dry.
I’m currently in the process of polishing off my bottled shampoo, and plan to try using hand made soaps instead once it’s gone. I’ve tried it a couple times and will have to get used to the changed texture of my hair – probably trying out some more Viking braids in the process – and for me, dealing with knots will probably be the biggest issue. I tend to abuse the hell out of my hair anyway and the slip the shampoos give my hair between washings is a blessing ’cause I hate hate hate brushing. I do a lot of running my fingers through it… But I anticipate that once I get past the initial transition it will be fine… …And I have no issue with grease. I’ve always been more tolerant of greasy roots than most people, which will hopefully be a blessing so I can pass on using any kind of dry shampoo…
Hi KM! How funny that Skyrim was your inspiration—it does tend to come from some of the strangest places, though 😉 You will definitely love braids once you start going natural with your haircare, especially once the silicone starts to peel out (ewwww). I find that braids hold a lot longer now that my hair has more texture, which is nice. If tangles are a trouble for you, you will definitely want to make sure you have my shine & detangle ACV rinse on hand as well—it’s a lifesaver for tangles! Have fun & good luck!
Hi again!
I wanted to drop in an update on my bare hair care transition – and re to your response which I never checked back to see. 🙂
I never did end up using up my bottled shampoos. By the end of April, I was already starting to use bar soaps on my hair and loving the scent of the almond glycerin bar from Sappo Hill soaps I was using, so I just switched. The next week I ordered some lovely wooden combs off of etsy – one in a medium tooth width as my hair is very straight, and a wide tooth for more common use. I love my combs! About a month later I had to clean them for the first time – ew – I just use an old wash cloth to run between the teeth and work out all the junk though, and it works great.
I don’t, however, have many, if any, issues with tangling. This actually surprised me. The first soap I used on my hair was one of those goats milk bars and it kind of had that waxy, squeaky feeling afterward. It was less so with the glycerin soap, but I was still anticipating issues with knots. Nothing. No problem whatsoever – other than needing a long overdue trim due to the drying bottle shampoo.
Also, I’ve been on bar soap for over 2 months now and have seen absolutely zero evidence of silicon beginning to flake out of my hair at all. I wonder if that’s because I had already long before switched to, claimedly, more gentle formulas – Garnier, and then a Landers Essentials 3-in-one in an attempt to corral the number of bottles in my shower… But, anyway, no silicone yet.
My hair is clearly happier and softer without the oils stripped out. It’s gets greasy more slowly and gradually, and I enjoy combing it out knowing it’s *doing something for my hair rather than just untangling it and causing more breakage. My ends also do indeed look and feel way healthier! Yay! 😀 Plus, I now only need a singling bar of soap in my shower, so it’s cut down on all those bottles too!
Also, a fun note I noticed: I’ve been trying to rid my hair of red dye from over the winter and noticed that the tea tree bar I began using was greatly lightening my hair, not just leaching out the red. I’d heard lemon and other citrus oils would lighten hair, but apparently so does tea tree.
The tea tree soap also makes my hair feel super soft. 🙂 (this soap: http://shop.vermontsoap.com/Tea-Tree_p_85.html)
Thanks again for all the recipes and advice!
-KM
Hi KM! I’m so thrilled to hear your transition is going well 🙂 I did find it took close to six months before I started seeing the silicone come out, so that may be still to come for you 😉 Are you doing any ACV rinses? I started to find that I really, really needed them after a year or so of going all natural or my hair felt very coarse and tangled really easily.
No rises, no… I’m really lazy and low maintenance. But I’m keeping a close eye on how my hair feels so I can mix up a rinse if I decided I need one. I love the idea of your chamomile honey rinse in particular. c:
Ha, fair enough! I’ve tried ditching them and can’t, but it’s always nice to know just how lazy one can be 😉 😛
From what I have read, it is the detergents in the commercial shampoos that strip the oil from our hair and scalp, and force us to wash more frequently. It actually causes us to have oily hair where as normally, we would not. My personal journey involved a terrible scalp itch from this over-stripping. I joined the “no-poo” movement, and have never looked back.
I started with baking soda wash and apple cider vinegar rinse. At first I loved it, but I could never quite get consistent results. However, I DID get rid of my scalp itch and cleared my hair follicles. Now what this did was actually make me look like a porcupine for a few months as TONS of new hairs sprouted in the previously clogged follicles. WIN, WIN in long term. More hair for me!
I then went to water only washing for a few months. This I absolutely LOVED until I got really busy for about a week and was not as consistent as I should have been with my nightly brushing.
Ultimately, I found Marie, and learned to make my own shampoo bars. Now, I love my hair. I only have to do the vinegar rinse about once a month. My hair has never looked better.
Hi Tina! Thanks so much for sharing your bare hair care journey 🙂 I’m so thrilled to have been a part of it, and so happy that you’ve rather revolutionized your hair! Yay for natural hair care!
Now that I have made my makeup using your recipes, and I have gathered essential oils and facial oils, I am looking to venture into making shampoo and conditioner! I currently use a silicone free conditioner, its an original herbal essences conditioner, and I added lavender and rosemary to it. I use Organix Tea tree and Willowbark (not really organic) shampoo I get at any store like walmart but I have added rosemary and lemongrass along with aloe vera when it was half gone. It seems okay, but I would like to make my own. I tend to have normal/dry hair, no oily scalp, but some flakiness. What might you recommend I start with? I have a lot of bentonite clay, can this be used for any shampoo recipes?
Thanks Marie =)
Honestly, my all in one bar is awesome—I use it, as the name suggests, for everything. And it includes clay 🙂 My hair is about the same description as yours, so it should work well for you, too!
Hi Marie,
Absolutely fell in love with your website! Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I am very interested in looking at DIY recipes for body, skin, and hair care. I am on keen on making my own hair soap/liquid shampoos but I am wondering what about greying? Is there a specific ingredient/recipe that can help with the dryness that comes with grey hair?
Thank you!
Elaine
Hey Elaine! As somebody who does not have grey hair I’m afraid I can’t offer much advice—certainly nothing I’ve tested myself. For dryness I’d definitely look at using a lovely conditioner (this one is great!) in addition to shampoo and and ACV rinse, and giving it a good five minutes to soak into your hair before rinsing it out 🙂 You may also find you can use the conditioner up closer to your roots; that makes my hair look dirtier than it was before I washed it, but it might be great for you!
I have read several of your articles and I LOVE your wit! Your shave cream recipe was one of the only ones I could find that calls for both tallow and clay (I use bentonite clay). However, I’m not a fan of lye. I AM a huge fan of Dr. Bronner’s castile soaps (I buy by the gallons and use it in almost everything soap-like. So, my question is this: if I use castile soap instead of using the lye, what would be the substitution ratio?
Hey Jeannine! Thanks so much for reading and DIYing with me 🙂 From reading your comment it sounds like you’re not familiar with what lye does in a soap recipe—you cannot, in any way, use already made soap as an alternative for lye in a soap recipe. I recommend giving this a read, it explains why you really need lye to make soap and why there are no alternatives 🙂 Happy reading and making!
Your recpies are awesome Marie
Could you suggest a recipe for shampoo using liquid castile soap instead of making the soap paste
Making the soap paste seems very difficult for a person like me who is new in this Diy stuff
Hey Nina! Thanks for reading 🙂 any of my liquid shampoo recipes can be made with liquid Castile soap, just start after the paste soaking step (so don’t add the extra water to soften the paste) and add all the other ingredients like the EOs and herbs 🙂 Happy making and don’t forget your acidic rinse 🙂
Thanks Marie
but i understand using an acidic rinse strips hair colour and i colour my hair every two weeks so Can i add something in shampoo so i just go on to the conditioner step and skip the rinse?
The liquid soap i understand is also basic?Can i add something to make it Acidic?
You can try adding acid to your liquid soap to lower to pH, but I do worry about that impacting the shelf life of the soap; part of soaps ability to self-preserve is the high pH, which creates a hostile environment for bacteria. Let me know if you try it!
Hi Marie, commenting on such an old post, I wonder how your hair care is going these days? Im one of those people who washes her hair daily with shampoo. I do use low or no SLS types tho.I have REALLY fine hair and not a lot of it, and it is somewhat oily at the roots. If it isnt washed I look like a witch. I think I have taught my hair to behave this way.
The idea of not washing it for even a second day seems further than I can reach. Any tips for someone like me?
I dont think you have made a moisturising conditioner have you?
SO inspiring, always look forward to your posts and most for the videos.
Hey! I could/should probably write an entirely new article on hair care as my habits have changed a lot since this post was written 🙂 I am now using surfactant based shampoos that don’t require pH adjustment, including some conditioning shampoos (I have quite a few moisturizing conditioners if you use the search function). I am not as fixed on stretching out my washes anymore and probably wash my hair every third or fourth day, depending on what I’ve been up to and what the weather is like. If you’d like to stretch out your washes I’ve written more on that here 🙂 Happy hair-care-ing! 🙂
I am just starting out on the natural hair care journey. I have just made the Rose cardamom cleansing conditioner (been a bit nervous about making the liquid soap paste) and loved it. I have greasy hair and at the moment wash my hair every day. After washing it still feels a little oily the next day. I am going to try stretching out the washes to every second day and so on. Do you think using the greasy hair acv rinse would help along with a dry shampoo to get me through that icky phase? Or should I dive into the liquid soap paste making and make some other types of shampoos?
Hey! Wow, my hair care philosophy has changed a lot since I wrote this. I think you’re on the right track where you are. I’d recommend starting with surfactant based shampoos rather than soap based shampoos—the high pH isn’t great for hair (read the comments on that page, too!). Some people do fine with it, but you are more likely to have good results with a more pH appropriate product (that said, I had perfectly fine results with soap based shampoos for years!). The acidic rinses are really just to counter the high pH of the soap shampoo, so if you aren’t using a high pH shampoo product you don’t need an acidic rinse.
After years of stretching out my washes I guess I’ve got to a point where I care a whole lot less about how often I wash my hair. I probably wash my hair every 3–4 days, and that’s fine for my lifestyle and my hair. I do find that cleansing conditioners do not keep my hair looking as clean for as long as something like a shampoo bar—I probably drop down to every other day or so if I’m just using a cleansing conditioner. They are designed to be more gentle, which means they aren’t taking off nearly as much sebum as something “clarifying” would, so it makes sense the clean look doesn’t last as long. I tend to alternate between shampoo bar and a cleansing conditioner to get the best of both worlds—especially if I’ve used a lot of hair product in the previous wash cycle.
I use dry shampoo as required, as well as lots of messy buns. I also care less generally as I now work from home, ha. That’s obviously not hugely useful to everybody, and moreso just insight into how I am a bit gross if left to my own devices LOL.
I hope that was somewhat helpful!