8 Homemade Shampoo Recipes For Gorgeous Looking Hair

Here’s how to make homemade shampoo from scratch, it’s a great way to start experimenting with using essential oils and the healing properties of natural organic ingredients.

4 Best Shampoo Recipes

How To Make Clarifying Shampoo At Home

A gorgeous diy clarifying shampoo that's packed with amazing ingredients to keep your hair smelling, feeling and looking fantastic.

Check out this recipe

A Gorgeous DIY Shampoo Bar Made Without Using Lye

If you’ve not tried making a shampoo bar with surfactants before, this is a great place to start. It’s a super easy diy shampoo bar that lasts for around 8 washes.

Check out this recipe

DIY Dry Shampoo Recipes With Beautiful Fragrances

These quick and easy DIY dry shampoo recipes are super easy and contain only natural ingredients, and not too many of them so they’re super simple. In fact, you can make it with just one, baking soda!

Check out this recipe

Therapeutic Cold Process Shampoo Bar Recipe

This cold process shampoo bar is one of the best soaps I’ve ever used. It has a delightful aroma that lasts, and it really does revive flat, dull hair.

Check out this recipe

Many Shampoo Recipes Use Culinary Herbs

Some of which are available right in your own kitchen!

And once you have the basic homemade shampoo recipe down, you can start experimenting with different scents to create calming, stimulating, or rejuvenating shampoo that suits your mood and personality, and cleans your hair without using harsh, dangerous chemicals.

So, let’s take a look at some of these…

A Simple Herbal Shampoo 

This is a very simple and easy way to make your own shampoo, designed to give your hair a complete herbal treatment, tailored to your very own hair type.

You’ll get all this at a fraction of the cost of named brands especially if you use some of the leftover decoction as a final rinse.

Ingredients:

(Use within 2 months)

• 5 fl oz (150ml) baby shampoo (store brand is ok)
• 1 teaspoon dried or 3 tablespoons fresh chopped herbs (chosen from chart below)
• 10fl oz (300ml) water

Method:

1. Place the herbs and water into a saucepan and bring to the boil, place the lid on the pan and gently simmer for about 10 minutes.
2. Remove from the heat and allow the decoction to cool.
3. Pour the baby shampoo into sterile bottle or jar.
4. Strain the decoction, then pour 3fl oz (100ml) in with the baby shampoo and Shake well.
5. Don’t throw the remaining decoction away; this can be poured into a fresh bottle and used as an herbal rinse for an extra boost.

How To Use Your Herbal Shampoo

Give it a good shake before each use, then use as you would any shampoo. Rinse off with clean water and then with an herbal rinse.

Which Herbs And Oils To Choose

It’s a good idea to make a larger amount of the infusion/decoction that’s mentioned in the recipes. This way you’ll have plenty left over for a finishing herbal rinse, giving your hair a double herbal treatment.

Most of the natural herbs for the recipes below can be found on our organic herbs guide.

For normal hair type:

Chamomile (for light hair)
Sage (for dark hair)
Elderflowers – fennel – horsetail – nettle – rosemary

For dry or damaged hair:

Chamomile (for light hair)
Sage (for dark hair)
Comfrey – elderflowers – linden flowers – marshmallow – parsley

For oily hair:

Lavender – lemon balm – peppermint – rosemary – southernwood – thyme – yarrow

To give extra body:

Nettle – rosemary

To give added shine:

Sage (for dark hair)
Cleavers – linden flowers – marigold – nettle – parsley

To tone the scalp:

Cleavers – fennal – lavender – linden flowers – nettle – rosemary

To stimulate hair growth:

Nettle – rosemary – thyme – yarrow

To repair the acid balance:

Raspberry leaves

Adding Essential Oils

Adding a few drops of essential oil will not only give it a pleasant aroma but can help to nourish the scalp too.

These particular oils have been chosen for their wonderful and long-lasting aroma and their calming effect on the mind and soul.

• Jasmine essential oil
• Lavender essential oil
• Rose essential oil
• Rosemary essential oil
• Thyme essential oil
• Violet essential oil

Homemade Dandruff Shampoo

This homemade dandruff shampoo doesn’t foam up like commercial shampoo, but don’t worry. Use a small handful and rub it through your hair for completely clean hair and scalp. When your hair dries, it will feel so soft and wonderful.

This is very quick and easy to make (in fact it takes less than 5 minutes). And what’s more… it’s easier on your scalp and your pocket!

Most commercial anti-dandruff shampoos work by striping the top layer of the scalp completely, so as not to leave any flakey skin behind. This can be very drying to your scalp and will eventually only cause more problems.

By mixing a few essential oils to a mild baby shampoo you will not only have dandruff free hair but you will probably save quite a few dollars too.

Apart from leaving your hair shiny and dandruff free, this will soothe and tone the scalp too.

What you will need:

• 10 floz (300ml) mild baby shampoo (any brand will do)
• 10 drops lavender essential oil
• 5 drops tea tree essential oil
• 5 drops rosemary essential oil

Method:

Simply add the essential oils to the baby shampoo and shake.

If the baby shampoo came in a clear bottle it’s best to store it in a dark place to protect the oils from losing their qualities.

Itchy Scalp Recipe

Apart from having dandruff or psoriasis an itchy scalp could be a result of a mild allergic reaction. Or simply just from the scalp drying out, this being the case you could try putting a humidifier in your home or using this homemade dandruff shampoo that’s been specially designed for an itchy scalp.

This recipe is very soothing if you suffer from an itchy scalp.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons (45ml) chamomile flowers
• 2 tablespoons (30ml) unfragranced shampoo base (readily available online or from some pharmacists and beauty stores)
• 1 teaspoon (5ml) calendula tincture
• 1 teaspoon (5ml) wheatgerm oil

Method

1. Cover the chamomile flowers with the shampoo base, in a small bowl and leave overnight.
2. Remove the flowers.
3. A bit at a time, add the tincture and wheatgerm oil.
4. Pour it into a Stoppard bottle.
5. Use this as you would normally, rubbing it into the roots of your hair, and make sure to
6. Use within 1 month.

Soapwort Shampoo Recipe

Soapwort is a naturally frothy herb; it makes a very mild yet effective shampoo that can be used every day without harming your hair.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon either crushed Soapwort Root or soapbark
• 1 tablespoon chosen herb
• 2 1/2 pints (1.5 liters) water

Method:

1. In a pan of water, place the soapwort root and herb and bring to the boil.
2. Then cover and simmer for 4 minutes.
3. Take the pan off the heat and leave it to cool down.
4. Strain the mixture pressing down on the soapwort root to release as much liquid as possible
5. Transfer into a clean bottle, and use within a month.

How To Use:

1. Massage about 6 1/2 fl oz (200ml) of the DIY shampoo into damp hair.
2. Rinse off with clean water or with an herbal infusion (rinse) to match the shampoo.

If you want to go super-duper basic, just buy a box of plain borax (20 Mule Team) laundry soap. Make sure it is 100 percent borax with no other added ingredients.