I’ve been watching lots of hair tutorials on YouTube lately, and I can’t help but notice how many of them use dry shampoo to achieve a bit of added texture and volume for updos. So, a few weeks ago when I was wandering the aisles of Costco a pack of Batiste dry shampoo caught my eye. The ingredients were simple enough—mostly rice starch, and then a lot of things that ended in “-ane”. Butane, propane… hold on, don’t those things fuel my BBQ? A quick check on Skin Deep confirmed my worries—most of those “-ane” ingredients are pretty harmful with concerns like immunotoxicity, irritation, and organ system toxicity (!). So I made my own natural dry shampoo spray, of course.
I started to wade into the world of natural hair care about five years ago, and as part of that I worked on stretching out my washes. That is, gradually washing my hair less and less often so my scalp would produce less oil and I could graduate a few more levels up the low-maintenance scale. For a while I was washing my hair about once a week, but these days I hover around every four or five days, depending on what’s going on in my life. To help out with all this not-hair-washing, one of my earlier DIYs was this awesome dry shampoo. It’s basically an eraser for greasy hair, but has one major downside—it’s brown. That’s great for matching my hair colour, but less awesome if anything that’s not brown (like a hat) touches my head. It’s also a dust-on-and-leave-it dry shampoo that doesn’t really work for leaving my hair down.
So, all that is to say I wanted to create a dry shampoo that 1) would not stain my hats; 2) could not be used to power a BBQ; 3) let me leave my hair down if I wanted to; and 4) would add volume and texture to my hair for updos. It sounds like a long to-do list, but I managed to check everything off really easily with just a handful of ingredients!
These are the non-optional ingredients.
You can include these if you have ’em.
Because I wanted this dry shampoo to be a spray, the vast majority of it is alcohol. This is because alcohol will dry quickly, meaning our dry shampoo is still (at least sort of) dry. The shop bought ones use a lot of “-ane” chemicals because they’re very volatile and dry/evaporate pretty much instantaneously, but I wasn’t about to go tap my BBQ gas tank for ingredients for anything I’m putting on my head, so alcohol it is! You might be thinking “but, isn’t alcohol drying?”, and you’d be right, but that’s actually a bonus here—our hair is looking a bit dirty, so some drying action is beneficial to the whole dry-shampooing thing.
And now to absorb the excess oils in our hair. For this part I pulled out the best oil absorber I know of; calcium carbonate. Powdered calcium carbonate absorbs oil like a superhero—it’s pretty amazing. Just a small amount of it dispersed in this spray erases the appearance of greasy hair. BAM. Calcium carbonate is quite basic (its pH is 9.4), so it also helps give the hair some body around the roots by lifting the keratin scales that compose our hair a bit.
You can make your own calcium carbonate powder from egg shells, but you’ll want to purchase a commercially made version like this one for this project (and some stuff in my book… hint hint!). Purchased calcium carbonate powder is much finer than anything you’ll be able to grind up at home, meaning you’ll actually be able to spray it without immediately clogging your spritzer. Make sure you buy an unadulterated powder that’s food or cosmetic grade; calcium carbonate pills usually have binding agents added to them, so they’re not a great choice.
I also included two other good-for-the-hair ingredients, but they’re both totally optional. Silk helps add sheen and manage moisture, and phytokeratin adds shine and bounce. Add one, add both, add neither—the dry shampooing effect will be the same!
A blend of lavender and cardamom essential oils cap the whole thing off, though you could really use any essential oils you’d like for this spray (though you might want to avoid citrus essential oils if you don’t want to lighten your hair right around your roots). The shampoo definitely smells like alcohol when you apply it, but that dissipates quickly and the essential oils remain.
I tested this shampoo on a Thursday, after last washing my hair the previous Saturday. Since then I’d been to three hot yoga classes, so between being on the fifth day of my wash cycle and some serious sweating, my hair was looking none too lovely. After a dozen or so spritz’s of my new natural dry shampoo spray and a few minutes of dry time you’d never know, though!
Before—looking pretty piece-y and greasy.
Natural Dry Shampoo Spray
1/2 tsp powdered calcium carbonate
1/8 tsp silk powder (optional)
1/8 tsp phytokeratin (optional)30mL | 2 tbsp high proof alcohol (I used 99% isopropyl alcohol)
30mL | 2 tbsp water10 drops lavender essential oil
2 drops cardamom essential oilUsing a funnel, measure the calcium carbonate, silk, and phytokeratin out into a 60mL (2 fl oz) spray bottle. Add the alcohol and water, and shake to combine.
To use, shake the bottle thoroughly (make sure there isn’t any powder resting at the bottom) and mist it over your hair, mussing everything up/tossing your hair around with your fingers like you might when blow drying to get the dry shampoo spread about evenly and encourage it to dry. You’re done once your hair no longer looks dirty!
I chose a trigger-top spray bottle rather than a mister bottle as the calcium carbonate is insoluble, so there’s going to be some solid (though tiny) bits going through the spray head, and I was concerned a mister would clog. I got my spray bottles from Saffire Blue, but they’ve since discontinued them. I found some similar ones on Amazon (that are glass instead of plastic, which is always nice!), though they’re 2x the size. No worries—you can either double the recipe or have a bit of extra space in the bottle 🙂
If you don’t have a super high proof alcohol like the one I worked with, you can just use all alcohol and no water. I ended up with a solution that’s approximately 50% alcohol, so if you’ve got some vodka or some other clear grain alcohol that’s around 50%, you could just use 60mL (4 tbsp) of that. If you’ve got a 70% alcohol you could use 45mL (3 tbsp) of that and 15mL (1 tbsp) water.
Shelf Life & Storage
Because this spray is so high in alcohol it shouldn’t need a broad spectrum preservative.
Want to try a powdered dry shampoo?
OMG Marie!
No idea how excited I was to see this!! I’ve been trying to come up with a dry shampoo spray for the last few months, but everything I tried was just so-so.
I’d never even considered calcium carbonate!
Wheeeeeee! Another awesome recipe to try! 😀
Thanks!
Woohoo! Happy to be riding the same brain wave 🙂 Hope you love it!
Thanks Marie for another awesome recipe!
Thanks for reading, Mary! 😀
Would bentonite clay be an acceptable substitute for the calcium carbonate? I have SO MANY ingredients around here with so few uses, I’m just wondering if any I already have would have more than one use, bentonite clay being one of them. Thanks!
Guarantee you that Marie will say no to this one. Bentonite is a funky monkey and is pretty limited in it’s abilities to be a sub for other ingredients.
100% correct, thanks Liz! Bentonite = weiiiiiird haha.
Sadly not—check out this experiment for more info 🙂
Thank you! I can only stretch my wash out every other day, but even that can be a bit of a struggle when it comes to my hairline (ahhh….hormones. Magical things).
You’re welcome! Hopefully this spray will help 🙂
I’m not sure what I think of dry shampoos….lately i have simply made a tea of fresh comfrey leaf and fresh nettle. chopped them up, poured boiling water over it all, and let it sit until it cools off to warm/hot. then pour through my hair, vigorously massaging. save some for the last rinse. that’s it. fantastic. and i would think twice before using isopropyl alcohol anywhere near my body (anything ‘propyl’ should not go on the body. very toxic chemical. look it up. maybe substitute vodka. =)…
Your herbal rinse does sound nice, though you certainly couldn’t walk out the door three minutes after using it, which is a major bonus of this one 🙂 And of course you can use any high proof grain alcohol you have if you don’t like isopropyl alcohol, but for what it’s worth, I have looked it up and it’s really quite safe—the EWG gives it a 2/10 (the same score they give castor oil). You obviously shouldn’t eat it or bathe in it, but most of the concerns around isopropyl alcohol (irritation to the skin, toxicity) are identical to the ones for ethanol (aka vodka). Remember that the dose makes the poison!
Marie – thanks for providing links for the powdered calcium carbonate and the silk powder. I have silk that I bought for the rose cardamom lotion. I see that you have phytokeratin from New Directions (label). When I search for that on their site, I find a phytokeratin mud. Is that the product? Or can you recommend one on Amazon where the other 2 ingredients were from? This sounds super easy and I can’t wait to make it!
Hey! Unfortunately I can’t find pure phytokeratin on Amazon, and NDA has since discontinued theirs. Lotion Crafter has VegeKeratin, which should be more or less the same thing, or you can just leave it out—it’s not necessary, just nice to have 🙂
I’m excited to try this dry shampoo!
I’m equally excited to learn where you buy those cute little trigger spray bottles! Do tell Marie!
Thanks, Denise! The bottles are from Saffire Blue, but it looks like they don’t have them anymore. Crap. I hate it when that happens! These ones from Amazon look like a good alternative, though, and they’re glass instead of plastic, which I like 🙂
Oof I ordered these from Amazon and on all of them they stopped working after a few sprays! This was such a great dry shampoo also, and now I don’t have a way to put it in my hair without just dumping it 🙁 darn. Still looking for a spray bottle that won’t clog up!
Aww no 🙁 Mine are from Saffire Blue, but I know that’s a pricey shipping option if all you want is bottles.
I am new to your blog and wanted to thank you for the great things you share. This recipe looks wonderful. The before and after photo’s really help to get an idea of how effective it is. Definitely want to try it.
Thanks so much, Ann! Taking all those dirty hair selfies definitely felt a bit weird, but I’m happy with how they turned out 🙂
I found a source for liquid phytokeratin, but can’t find the powder form. Do you know a source in US for powder, or can I simply substitute the liquid?
The metal bottle in the photos is labeled phytokeratin, so it likely is a liquid. I’m in the us but ended up ordering it from Safire Blue. They had quite a few things I wanted and could not find other places at the time, so the shipping was worth it. I believe the exchange rate is in our favor currently too.
You’re right, mine is liquid 🙂 And yes, all of Canada is about 20% off for you guys right now—lucky!
Mine is liquid as well 🙂
I have Silk Powder Raw Material from New Directions Aromatics left over from mineral makeup making – will that work for this recipe?
Yup!
This looks awesome- I’ve been wondering about natural dry spray shampoos. Could the water be substituted with hydrosol to tone down the alcohol scent? How thick is this shampoo spray? Can I put it in a normal spray bottle (non-trigger)
Hey Kim! You could definitely use a hydrosol instead of plain water for some lovely scent, or even some witch hazel to make the spray extra astringent (though that won’t do much for the smell, haha). The spray itself is not thick at all, but because the calcium carbonate is insoluble it will settle out so the spray does need to be shaken before use. I haven’t tried it in a mister spray bottle, but I’m inclined to think the trigger is a better choice because there will be some (albeit teensy) solid bits coming through it.
i’ll for sure try this one , i have not all ingredients but i’ll do it with what i can find out right now ; thank you
yasi
Happy DIYing!
Another winner! I had to make this right away as soon as I saw it. I’ve tried so many other dry shampoo recipes and none of them were useable. Thank you! Thank you!
Woohoo! So happy to help and that my recipe is the one that ended up working for you 😀 That always makes me feel like a champ 😉
Did looks awesome! Would this work in coloured hair? I wonder also on using Apple cider vinegar instead of the alcohol if the hair is naturally brown or witch hazel!
Hey Paula! It should—I can’t think of any reason why it wouldn’t. I wouldn’t use anything that’s not alcohol for the alcohol—the volatility of the high proof alcohol is part of what makes the spray work, and the entire reason it dries quickly 🙂 My hair is naturally brown and the alcohol is perfect!
I accidentally bought the liquid silk amino acids from Saffire Blue the last time I ordered – could I just sub that in for the silk powder?
And thank you so much for all of your amazing recipes!
In this recipe, yes, because it is liquid. Read this for more info 🙂
Are there other ingredients you could sub for the phytokeratin and/or silk powder to add shine without greasy look or feel?
Those are both really unique, effective ingredients that don’t have any good alternatives. You could try adding some bamboo bioferment or infusing the liquid with some shavegrass root to add some extra silica, but that won’t be quite the same. You’ll still get the cleaning effect without them, though 🙂
Thank you so much! Love your posts!
Me..AGAIN Marie. I found these bottles on Amazon. They say “fine mist”, and your directions say “spritz”. Think they will work?
http://www.amazon.com/Fantasea-Fine-Spray-Bottle-Ounce/dp/B000NIY7QM/ref=sr_1_8_m?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1463410233&sr=1-8&keywords=spray+bottles#Ask
Mary – I know what you mean, we always want to use what Marie uses! I found these on Dollar Tree website – they’re 5 oz and spritz rather than spray:
https://www.dollartree.com/Small-Spray-Bottles-5-oz-/p303651/index.pro
Those look good, too! That’ll sure be a lot of dry shampoo, though 😛
Hey Mary! I’d probably check out these ones instead—I’m not sure how the fine mist ones will work with the calcium carbonate since it isn’t soluble.
Fab recipe! Love receiving your news. I have a cream base that I’ve purchased (organic) but I need to add my own essential oils. I don’t want to use the wand/stick blender due to air bubbles, I was wondering if I could decant the cream into jars and drop the oil in then stir carefully with a spoon? What would you suggest? Thanks in advance!
Hey Jane! There’s no need to use an immersion blender if the cream is already emulsified, so I’d just use a clean whisk to blend in your essential oils. Unless the cream is ridiculously thick any air bubbles you might make should settle out on their own in a day or so 🙂
I’ve been meaning to email you but keep forgetting. I figured out the perfect rice flour; don’t try using rice in the coffee grinder, because it never gets fine enough. Instead, pick up a box of baby food rice cereal. It’s already in flakes, and turns into rice flour in the grinder like a flash. I wouldn’t dissolve it in water but I did add it to the airbrushing powder in lieu of some of the arrowroot for better oil absorption and it’s working awesomely.
Anyways, DIY tip shared. The cereal is cheap, keeps well, and would make a ton of rice flour to play with. Happy DIY’ing!
Very cool, thanks so much for sharing! The flakes would probably also make nice wee bits of exfoliant in soap without turning them into flour 🙂
Just got my calcium carbonate! I have everything else, including my trusty jug of 190° . (do not even ingest that last drop out of your measuring cup! Good golly don’t do it. Fire is all I know to describe it) (misery is another word)
Thank you much Marie. Your hair looks amazing after spraying it and I want that too.
You’re still awesome. I’ll buy your book cause you’re awesome.
Cj
Woohoo! Enjoy your new “dry” shampoo 😉 Thanks so much for reading, DIYing with me, and supporting my various endeavours 😀 It’s hugely appreciated!
I made it and have used it twice so far. It’s summer in Georgia and stretching out washes is sadly getting shorter.
Anyway, it works! I love it and especially that “lift” you spoke of. Reminds me of my mom’s old can of aquanet she used.
Another great recipe girlie.
Woohoo, fantastic! I love the lift/texture, too—it makes doing “messy buns” and other things mucho easier 😀 My hair is so silky that styles like that often don’t work for me (lol first world problem if there ever was one!) so it’s nice to be able to do some of those messier styles without resorting to bleaching my hair enough to have that texture permanently 😛
This is an awesome idea and recipe, thank you Marie! The powdered dry shampoo is great, butSO MESSY, I look forward to having this clean alternative. Is the phytokeratin liquid or powder?
Thanks, Colleen! Mine is liquid, but if you have a powdered version that is water soluble, that’ll work as well. Happy making!
Hi Marie,
Will this recipe work on black hair too? I have black hair and I am worried that calcium carbonate may leave residues in my hair.
Hey Tanny! As you can see I’m certainly not blonde, and I was just using this yesterday and didn’t notice even a hint of residue—no greyness, no dulling of colour, nothing. I’ve found that calcium carbonate goes on fairly sheer, for both skin and hair, even in fairly high concentrations—it’s just not very opaque, despite being very white on its own. When applied to the skin at 100% it’s only a bit grey on very dark complexions, so with this dilution level it’s invisible. Annnd, once you’ve applied it, let it dry, shaken your head around, and styled it, you’ve probably shaken most of it out anyways. Hope that helps & thanks for reading 🙂
Thanks Marie… This one is in my to do list now 🙂
Happy DIYing and thanks for reading and making things with me 🙂
Having patiently waited for all my ingredients to arrive I’ve just made this and tested it out this morning. It’s so so good! Thank you so much. My spritzer bottle didn’t spritz beyond the first couple so I’m thinking it can’t cope with the fine powder but my hair still looks good
Thanks for reading and DIYing with me, Sally! And thanks for reporting back on the spritzer bottle not working—was it something like this or this?
It is like the first one Marie. It beautifully spritzed x3 and hasn’t worked since! Do you think I need a different bottle?
Yeah, I think you’ll at least need a new top; look for one like the second link, which is a spritzer/spray instead of a mister. The misters are really only suited for straight liquids 🙁
Hey Marie, I’ve decanted it into an old Neals Yard bottle and it’s now working beautifully thank you
Awesome! 🙂
This is definitely effective! I was a little over zealous when I applied and ended up with fried looking eighties hair. A little flax seed hair gel and your hair milk had me sorted; grease and eighties free in 5 minutes. I am eagerly awaiting day 4 of my wash cycle to play with it again!
I used moonshine instead of rubbing alcohol, but everything else the same.Thanks Marie!
Woohoo! Glad it’s de-greasing your follicles like a champ 😀 Thanks so much for reading & DIYing with me 🙂
Made this Dry Shampoo and it worked GREAT, though the rubbing alcohol was a bit drying to my scalp and got it a little irritated. Maybe next time I’ll aim away from the scalp.
As far as Hair care goes, will you be creating a recipe for hair gel? I tried one on the internet with agar agar flakes and it was utter fail. I ended up with a “jelly fish blob” no matter how much water I added… So far in my experience, only your website recipes can be trusted to work.
Hey Coreen! I’m glad this dry shampoo worked so well for you 🙂 If you’re finding the alcohol irritating you could try using more witch hazel and less alcohol next time around as well; it won’t dry as quickly, but if that’s not a worry for you that should reduce any irritation.
I currently have one hair gel experiment posted; it didn’t work great for me, but some readers with curly hair commented to say that they love it. The reason there’s nothing else is, well… nothing else I’ve tried has been worth sharing :/ I want to maintain your trust, so only the good stuff goes up!
Wow! Thanks! I didn’t see that Gel “experiment” before (or I would have made it)! Appreciate the hints on the Witch Hazel too! I will definitely do that next time! Thanks again for all you do and this wonderful website!
Thanks so much for reading and good luck with the gel!
Those cute little spray tops you had said were discontinued, I found a website that sells them at abundanthealth4u.com. I don’t know if they ship to you but it doesn’t hurt to check it out.
Thanks! It looks like they’re in the US so I won’t be ordering from them, but some of my US readers might 🙂
If I wanted to make this more travel friendly and just be a powder in a sifter jar, would I just make the powder portion and leave out the alcohol? I tried the deluxe dry shampoo recipe of yours but I find it to be quite heavy and leaves my fine hair very tangled and dirty looking.
Eh… the alcohol is one of the active ingredients. It helps dry out the oil and disperse the powder. I think you’d have to completely re-formulate the recipe/start from scratch if that’s your aim.
Hi Marie! What kind of silk powder do you use?
I am new to making my own hair products and am very excited to have found your blog!
I use silk peptides, but in general any sort of dry hydrolyzed silk powder will work 🙂 Happy making and welcome!
Hi Marie!
I tried this recipe and it worked great! Unfortunately my spray bottle was too open and saturated my hair. I dried it with the hair dryer and my hair looked great! But I couldn’t get my fingers through my hair – it was like it had been hairsprayed like crazy. Trying it again today with less product!
Thanks so much for the great recipe
Shannon
Thanks, Shannon! Happy it worked, even if perhaps a bit too well LOL 😛
Please what’s the lifespan of this?
I’ve got an FAQ on this 🙂
I don’t have any calcium carbonate, but do have silica microspheres. I see you recommend those as a substitute in the encyclopedia. Would that work in this recipe as well?
Similarly, I don’t have silk or phytokeratin, so am considering just leaving those out. I do have the following ingredients: shavegrass root extract, hydrolyzed wheat protein, squalane, and panthenol (all liquid formulas). Would it be worth it to add any of these instead?
Silica microspheres should work! I’d keep all add-ins dry 🙂
Aren’t silica microspheres dangerous if inhaled? So if you’re spraying it around your head regularly be potentially a bad idea?
The recipe as is with the calcium carbonate is terrible. My hair feels gross and after not long look and feels greasy.
Hi Marie – every time I look at your blog I find new and exciting stuff (even the old entries). Could you tell me why you chose calcium carbonate instead of tapioca starch, arrowroot powder or baking soda? I noticed calcium carbonate has a high ph. Thanks.
I chose it because it absorbs oil incredibly well—better than any starch or baking soda. These days I’d use silica microspheres instead, though 🙂 Lower pH and similar performance!
Hi Marie
I can’t wait to try this, have just ordered my calcium carbonate. Did you ever notice hair damage from this ingredient having a high pH?
Hey Theresa;
Calcium Carbonate does have a high ph, it is one of the reasons silica microspheres are a better alternative for they have a lower ph. I haven’t heard of anyone have any hair damage due to this recipe.
Hopefully this helps!
Barb
I’ve been using this for about 6 months and it’s delish. A different result from the dry shampoo with cornstarch and cocoa (and cinnamon and mint EO, for fun) that I’ve been using for years, but I like it. It’s perhaps closer to a commercial dry shampoo? Never used the stuff. Anyhoo, I love the lavender fragrance, but was thinking I might make a second with a different fragrance, so I came back to check whether it uses EOs or hydrosols (which is what I thought). I only have half a dozen hydrosols, but have dozens and dozens of EOs, so I have lots of options there. But, that got me thinking….what if I used a hydrosol to replace the water in the recipe? That ought to be fine, no?
Yeah, that’ll work! Great idea 😀 Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂
Hi,
I’m looking for an effective shampoo spray. When I cam across this recipe, I was confused. Calcium Carbonate is usually avoided when it comes to hair ie., hard water contains it and causes all sorts of problems including hair to fall out. Also, working with the powder form of this mineral requires the user to wear a mask for safety. Do you have an effective replacement for the Calcium?
Hi Marie!
I find that I have to keep shaking the bottle every time I go to shower end of day as the calcium sinks to the bottom. Is this normal? Will the same happen if I swap it out for arrowroot powder? Thank you! Reading about your DIY work and attempting to formulate myself has been such a light throughout this pandemic.
That is normal, and will likely happen with arrowroot as well. Happy making!
Hi, I was wondering, is there anyway to reduce the PH of the dry shampoo without replacing the calcium carbonate?
Since this is totally dry, I don’t think so.
I know this is an older formula, so I’m not sure if you’ll see this. But I use this dry shampoo quite regularly. I have hair to my butt, a toddler and a teenager. Washing every day is a pain. I was just wondering if you might consider doing a Bee Better version of this dry shampoo? I know you now use a lot of ingredients that you didn’t use at the time you formulated this. As much as I love it, you may be able to build upon it now and turn it into something even better!