All Natural Shampoo and Detangling Rinse-The Best Your Hair Has Ever Felt!

I'll be the first to admit-I am not your typical "earthy crunchy" person. I am motivated to do things first by my budget and wallet, and then I usually realize that the change I have made is just better for me and my husband, and the world in general. What I really love about making these switches to homemade and natural products is that I am saving money and being more healthy, and those choices also have positive impacts in other areas. I'll never drive a Prius. I'll never live on a farm and raise all of my own organic food. But I can make easy, everyday choices in my little home that reduce my spending and my impact, and that is a good thing.

Today's post is on Natural Shampoo. I have seen a whole mess of posts and ideas online (mainly via Pinterest) about going "poo free." I'm sorry, but I can't just do the baking soda in my hair thing. I am a person that has been socialized to the point that the idea of not using something that lathers just kills me. Unfortunately, the stuff that makes shampoo lather, Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate, is some nasty stuff. Shampoo, like commercial body wash and soap, are detergents. They strip your body of essential oils and moisture. The chemicals contained in them are not nice things. Basically it boils down to this for me-the FDA has tested many of these chemicals and deemed them safe in limited quantities. Large exposures in lab animals have yielded cancers and other bad things. I don't know about you, but I think that a lifetime of using chemicals directly on your skin is probably not a limited exposure. And what about babies and children? Yikes! Shampoos and conditioners are also blasted expensive! So personally, I decided to make a switch, and to try the natural route, but a route that felt more like traditional shampoo and not baking soda.

I have tried a million shampoos. I have very thick, curly hair that can be dry, but can also become greasy easily. I also heat-style it a lot. That does a number on my hair! I no longer color my hair, which helps with it's overall health, but the heat styling takes a toll. My hair is also very long right now. When it is straight, it reaches my waist in back. I have also had major issues with dry scalp over the past few years. The only shampoo I have ever used that treated my scalp well was Pureology, but at $26-$45 a bottle, I could never afford it! So I need a shampoo that  is inexpensive, will moisturize, balance oils, and maintain a nice, neutral PH for my scalp. I have tried two different recipes, and this is my favorite! It lathers beautifully, makes my hair very soft, and can be made for just cents on the dollar.


My shampoo is made of natural, cocoa-based castile soap, coconut milk, and water, and, if I choose to, some essential oils.That's it! Castile soap is vegetable based and all-natural. It does not strip your body of essential oils. I use it for body wash, hand soap and shampoo. I wrote this previous post on making body wash here, and it explains how to turn a bar of castile soap into liquid, so check it out. You can buy a 3 pack of Kirk's Castile Soap for about $3, and get 6-8 cups of soap out of that! Amazing! It goes really far, and is so multi-purpose that you will love having it around. Definitely read my earlier post on the method. I also use coconut milk. I discovered this after reading a ton of blogs about natural shampoo. I have cooked with this plenty of times, but use in shampoo surprised me. I really like the smell and silky nature of the milk, and in shampoo, it lathers and foams and is amazing.

So here is my method for creating my shampoo.

Start with an old shampoo bottle that you have rinsed and cleaned. I just use this old Garnier bottle.

In a bowl, combine about a cup of liquid castile soap (see tutorial here) and a cup of coconut milk. I bought mine for .99 a can a few weeks ago, but you can make your own. I plan to do this on Friday and will post up about that. Whisk them together until they are well combined.

Pour into your bottle. I use a small kitchen funnel for this.

Fill the rest of the bottle with water. Shake it up and combine.

You can add a few drops of essential oil as well. I like to use lavender oil. I think the lavender is very soothing and helps with my dry scalp. Shake it up. I have a lot of hair, so I need to use a good bit in the shower, and I probably need to use about two tablespoons for each shampoo.

A variation is to fill the bottle halfway with liquid castile soap and halfway with water, and to add any essential oils you want. I also use this recipe with great success.

If you normally condition, you will probably want to use a natural rinse agent in your hair. I used to use gobs of  conditioner in my hair. Now, I just use this simple rinse described below and it takes care of any tangles. Because the shampoo doesn't strip your hair, you don't need to condition much anymore!

The ONE complaint I have personally, and have seen others have in posts and comments, is that castile soap leaves their hair feeling sticky and clumpy. If you have hard water, the minerals react with the castile soap and leave your hair feeling coated and sticky. There is an easy and inexpensive solution. Instead of conditioning (which you really don't need to do since your hair is not being stripped of essential oils, just gently cleansed), is to use a gentle rinse made with diluted Apple Cider Vinegar. A huge jug of ACV is about $3.50, and you dilute it so much that you get a lot for your money.

I take a smaller bottle, fill it with about 1/4 cup of AVC, and the rest of the way with water. I wash my hair first in the shower, and then about a minute before I get out, I pour some ACV rinse through my hair and let it sit briefly, and then rinse it out. Avoid your scalp, and use it on the bottom 2/3 of your hair. The rest of your hair will get some of the rinse on when you rinse it out. ACV is a natural detangler, and it neutralizes any effects from the castile soap. My hair smells very, very faintly of AVC, but by the time it dries, the smell is gone. My hair is always soft and smooth, and tangle free when I brush it out after the shower. It dries quickly, and I need little to no product to tame my curly hair. I will usually smooth a little bit of coconut oil through it, and that's all I need! If I need some deep conditioning, I smooth some coconut oil on the ends of my hair, wrap it in a towel for an hour, and then shampoo my hair and style as usual. I do this every 2-3 weeks.

My hair is always soft, it is tangle free, and my dry scalp is gone! I have been using my natural shampoo for two months, and I love the results, both financially and cosmetically. There is a bit of an adjustment period. I spent about a week with my hair feeling a little greasy and having some trouble with going multiple days between washes (us curly haired girls can do that), but after the first week, my hair balanced out and got used to not being stripped of oil by detergent. Now my oil production has normalized and my hair is in fabulous condition!

Try the natural shampoo route, and the body wash too. If you give it a week on the shampoo, I think you'll like it! Here's to cleaning naturally and living a life less influenced by commercial marketing and chemicals!