Back in March Olivia sent in a really cool recipe request—a request for a cleansing hair mud. Huh. Intriguing. Colour me interested (both in the mud and in cleaning my shower, apparently). The original she linked to was basically just a runny herb-infused clay mask that was used to clean the hair. Cool!
I started moreso with the idea than the ingredient list from the original. I settled on a clay base of detoxifying bentonite and cleansing rhassoul clays for a good cleansing kick.
At first I was going to hydrate the clays straight away, to make for a mud-in-a-bottle experience. But then I started thinking about mould, and how much mould would love to set up shop in a bottle of herb-spiked mud in my warm shower. So, I devised a dry solution.
Aloe vera juice became powdered aloe vera concentrated. I ground the herbs I wanted to include (shavegrass root to help strengthen hair, and marshmallow root to add slip to keep long hair from tying itself into knots). I also added some yucca root, which contains natural saponins to help combat the greasies.
That left me with a bunch of just-add-water hair mud (or dirt, I suppose). From here it’s easy to make up single-use batches to avoid bacterial fuzzies.
This will definitely make a mess. Do it in a your tub, preferably directly before you were planning on scrubbing it out anyways. I sat in the tub water, wet my hair, and then poured out palmfuls of the mud mix, which I then massaged into my hair and scalp. I tried pouring the bowl over my head, but it turns out my aim isn’t that great. I ended up with splatters of mud all over the tub and shoulders. I took a selfie with the intentions of sharing it, but it’s entirely too sad and gross looking to ever be made public, so I’ll leave you to your imagination there.
The mud has a bit of grit to it, which feels nice on the scalp, and as you rinse it out you get a bit of a mud bath as well (so be sure to rinse off all of you before climbing out of the tub).
Cleansing Herbal Hair Mud
1/3 cup bentonite clay
1/3 cup rhassoul clay
1 pinch 200x concentrate aloe vera powder (or 2 tsp aloe vera powder)
1 tsp powdered shavegrass root
1 tsp powdered marshmallow root
1 tsp powdered yucca rootTo mix: ½ cup water + 2 tbsp mud mix (double for long, thick hair), essential oils of choice
Combine all the ingredients in a jar, seal it, and shake to combine.
To use, mix one part clay with four parts water to make mud in a plastic bowl, and add any essential oils you’re craving that day. In the tub, scoop palmfuls of mud into your already wet hair and massage it in before thoroughly rinsing your hair (I did a tub rinse and a shower rinse to be certain).
What a coincidence! I’ve just started experimenting with clay hair washing, too! I’ve just been mixing up a single batch right before I wash with bentonite, apple cider vinegar, aloe vera gel, rosewater, and honey. I’ll have to remember marshmallow root next time because my hair is a little tangly. And you’re right about rinsing well; I found a bit of dried mud behind one ear when I got to work this morning!
Ha, how funny! The muddy things we go through for our DIYing 😉 How are you liking the washing after another 2 weeks?
Marie,
With regards to the hair mud…
Is this a “replacement” for shampoo, or is it an additional step–a once in a while treat, so to speak?
Inquiring minds want to know!
-valeria
It is intended as a replacement for shampoo, though it won’t be as strong.
Love it! I’ve been using a similar mud concoction to wash my hair on and off for a year… Here’s a tip: put the runny mud mix in a condiment bottle. You can squirt it directly onto your hair, especially down in the roots. That way its much easier to use!
For the sake of inquiring minds, I personally use mud as a shampoo substitute. The upside is that your hair gets cleaned thoroughly, naturally, and without soap. The downside is that mixing it up every time you want to use it can be a little annoying if you make this your primary hair washing method. Oh! and one other thing – the length of time that you leave the mix in your hair significantly affects how it works. If you have dry hair, rinse it out fairly quickly. If your hair is pretty oily, leave it in for longer. I forgot what I was doing once, left mud in my hair for about 30 min, and ended up with a dry, curly explosion – my long and normally wavy hair didn’t quite know what to do with itself 🙂 Happy mudding 🙂
Thanks, Abby!
Great tip—thanks, Abby!
I’ve seen this before, mostly on YT. never thought to use in until now, since my hair is so much shorter than it was. As the other commenter asked, Marie do you use this as a substitute for shampoo or as an accompaniment?
Also I am wondering why you did not add oils or/butters after adding water.
Thanks!
It is intended as a replacement for shampoo, though it won’t be as strong. The general weakness is why I didn’t add any oils—you’d be very likely to finish up with oilier hair than you started with. If you have very dry hair it might be a good idea, though 🙂 If you give it a try please report back!
I make a mud hair cleanser similar to this via the hippie homemaker, and I just keep mine in a squeeze bottle (from a beauty supply store) in the fridge. Mine has everything already mixed in (including distilled water) and seems to last for months. You can also add some drops of silver or grapefruit seed extract to help keep the mold fuzzies away 🙂 I only wash my hair about once per week so I just remind myself on that day (usually on the weekend) to grab it out of the fridge.
Thanks, Sam!
Just an FYI—GSE will not do anything to keep mold away 🙂
Let me just take a moment to thank you for fueling my quest for homemade products. The information you share is fantastic! I look forward to making a muddy mess soon. 🙂
Thanks, Tracy! Enjoy!
This is uber weird, the main objective of my afternoon was to send you a request for a suped up version of the clay wash I am currently using. Guess you have magical potion powers!
To answer the question, I use a clay mask instead of shampoo or soap. I used Marie’s (your) soap for about a year and it’s a bit too harsh for my curly hair. Rhassol clay plus a tiny bit of argan aoil works really well and leaves me with perfect ringlets for about a week. I use ACV rinse after with a bit more oil on my ends.
My husband is black with dreads, he uses the clay mask every other week. Instead of ACV, he uses aloe juice and lavender EO. Perfect (and really clean) dreads.
Thanks so much, Kate! What a happy coincidence 🙂 It sounds like this hair mud is great for curls!
Would French green clay work as a substitute for bentonite + rhassoul clay?
Not particularly—the entire recipe would have to be re-worked as French Green has a very different water:clay ratio. It’s also not as cleansing, so the mud wouldn’t work nearly as well as it does (which isn’t hugely effective compared to shampoo in the first place).
Thank you for all of your lovely posts! I look forward to seeing what you will put out every week for us! I’ve been doing clay hair washing for about 2 weeks now and love it! I’ve tried other no poo recipes and was about to throw in the towel. This concept has worked wonders for me!
I am a bit concerned however if this is good for my shower drain. Have you found any issues in the past with continuous use of clay based products? Thanks!!
That’s awesome! I’m so glad this is working for you 🙂
My long hair is much harder on my drains than the clay. I haven’t had any noticeably problems yet, but I also don’t use as much clay as is required for a hair wash on a regular basis.
Hi! Could you just add less water to make it more of a paste, then smear on and scrub?
Definitely! I think that approach would work best for shorter hair, though, but that’s just a hypothesis 🙂
I just did a version of this with horsetail, slippery elm (marshmallow root), French green, rhassoul, and a touch of SLS and some tea tree, Rosemary, and peppermint essential oils. I love it! Light cleansing action, clay, tingly scalp from the peppermint and tea tree oils… The only thing I don’t like about the herbs is the smells (another reason I added some fragrant EOs) — my boyfriend frequently complains about the smell of my hair when I use any homemade hair product with those herbs in it (except my hair gets tangled without it!).
Anyways, if you know of any other herbs with those nice, detangling properties, but that don’t smell as bad please let me know!
So cool! And thanks for sharing the photo of your herbal dreads on Instagram 😛 I would 100% agree that those herbs smell pretty awful, and I’m afraid everything I’ve tried to cover it up has just resulted in nice EOs with an undertone of herbal… vomit… lol. Bamboo is really rich in silica, so you might be able to use that instead of the horsetail, but the marshmallow is thus far the only thing I’ve found that is all slippery 🙁