Best Homemade Shampoo and Conditioner Recipe?

[Yell]

I'm aching for a good recipe! I have been searching for a GOOD homemade shampoo and conditioner recipe.

[mamaboogie]

I wash my hair with a very dilute baking soda and water mixture, then rinse with even more diluted lemon juice. My kids' shampoo is liquified (unscented) castille soap, like most homemade "shampoo" bars are made of. I find I no longer need conditioner since I quit damaging my hair and scalp with commercial shampoo products. Every now and then I'll use a tiny bit of raw unrefined cocoa butter, just melt a teensy crumb in the palms of my hands and then rub my fingers through my hair.

[Yell]

Thanks so much for your help! I'm ready to get this crap out of my hair!

[Yell]

I bought some Hemp Peppermint Pure Castile liquid Soap today. I want to start using it tomorrow. What should I rinse with afterward? I heard vinegar is good??

[mamaboogie]

I wouldn't rinse with vinegar unless you are certain you have soft water. If you have hard water, a vinegar rinse after using soap will leave scummy residue behind, but lemon juice might work well. I'd just use the liquid soap, and give it at least a few weeks for your scalp to adjust before deciding how well it works for you. I'd probably dillute it way down first, too.

I dunno... here's an interesting link or two:
http://reactor-core.org/shampoo-scam.html
http://motowngirl.com/no_shampoo.php (yes, it works on "white girl" hair as well, unless you have really oily hair like I do)

[Yell]

How much baking soda and water do you use to make the mixture?

[mamaboogie]

I use like a rounded tablespoonful of baking soda in a coffee mug of really really hot water. It took some adjusting to figure out the right amount for my hair and the local water supply. I scrub that in real good, massaging my scalp all over and then rinse. Then I take the same mug and fill it up with water and a few squirts of lemon juice. Pour that over my head, massage it in and rinse it out real well. Before I bleached and colored my hair, I used more baking soda and less lemon juice, it takes some experimenting to find the right combo.

[dilligaf]

last year i was given a bottle of hemp oil tea tree shampoo, hippie made,,, and i absolutely loved it,, havent found anything since that i can compare to it and am looking for the recipe in order to make some,,,, it just left my hair n me so awake n didnt need conditioners n such anymore,,,(like mamaB said,,,, it aint something ya need once yer hairs get all the crud out from commercial crap).... i just gotta find me the recipe for this so if anyone runs across it please lemme know...

[yarrow_sun]

I'm gonna try the baking soda and water thing mamaboogie. I hope it works well for me. I have a hard time getting past not having suds. We are so conditioned to think that suds= clean.

[nimh]

i used to do the baking soda thing, and it got my hair and scalp really clean. i'll still use it from time to time to clarify

BUT

and this is big

both my ex and i started loosing a lot of hair after using it for a few months. if it was just me, i'd say it was probably my pcos flaring up again, but he was loosing handfuls of hair too (he's not balding, he has super thick, luxurious hair)

i think it was clogging the follicles or something.

there's an herb called soapwort that's supposed to make a nice suds. havnt tried it yet, but i want to
or the castille soaps,
or soap bars made from 'real' soap

a lot of homemade conditioners use honey and egg yolk, a smidge of light oil (like jojoba), that type of thing

i love to use a can of coconut milk (the kind for baking with the thick coconut oil) as a conditioning treatment for my hair. it smells lovely and is so nice in the bath

[dilligaf]

i been using just my home made soap lately,,,, tried it just for kicks one day to see n is pretty decent n need no conditioner,,,, i have a tangly mess of hair that starts to knot up every evening if i dont keep it patrolled several times aday ,,,,,,,, the tea tree just seems to have an invigorating aroma n mixes with the water n smells the house up, too. :)

[mamaboogie]

I'll admit it did take my scalp about three weeks to adjust to not shampooing anymore. At one point I was convinced someone had been pulling my leg and it was some sort of horrible mean joke. But when I used regular shampoo, it literally burned my scalp and left itchy blistery pimply bumps all over my head. I'll never do that again. I haven't used commercial shampoo (except for some "natural" stuff I got at the health food store that contains no SLS or SLES) in over two years.

[smiling_mama]

mmmmm - coconut milk sounds HEAVENLY!!! thanks for sharing that great idea!!!

[sarahstar]

the cleansers in regular shampoo are actually pretty harsh. i haven't used it at all, either, since last fall. my hair - and definately my scalp - are in so much better condition now. i have curly hair, so washing with baking soda on a regular basis wouldn't work for me. what i do is use suave aloe conditioner as a cleanser, i scrub the scalp to clean, and i use a thicker conditioner afterwards, and usually don't rinse it all out. every once in a while, if i have a lot of build up (which i usually don't) or if i've sweat a lot and my scalp just feels like it, i'll use a natural cleanser that i have. i do that probably less than once a month.

and like mamaboogie, my scalp took some time to adjust to this. when you shampoo with regular shampoo, you are washing away all of your natural oils with the dirt. your scalp will produce as much of that oil as you was away, so if you wash your hair with regular shampoo twice a day, eventually you will NEED to wash it twice a day. on the other hand if you only wash with regular shampoo once a week, your scalp will adjust.

everyone finds thier own routine that they are happy with, but i'm glad i tried this method :)

eta: i didn't *know* i had such curly hair until i started taking care of it like this. when i did use regular shampoos, it was wavy and pretty frizzy. well, i should have figured out that the frizz was a sign of more curl ;)

[*josai*]

hey all
i love these ideas. i will definately have to try the baking soda. i really like the simplicity of it & it would be great for travelling - less to keep up with!
i posted an herbal do it yourself recipe on another thread that's fun to make
http://www.hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=176097&page=2&pp=10

[*josai*]

last year i was given a bottle of hemp oil tea tree shampoo, hippie made,,, and i absolutely loved it,, havent found anything since that i can compare to it and am looking for the recipe in order to make some,,,, it just left my hair n me so awake n didnt need conditioners n such anymore,,,(like mamaB said,,,, it aint something ya need once yer hairs get all the crud out from commercial crap).... i just gotta find me the recipe for this so if anyone runs across it please lemme know...
hey there!
how are you north ga folks????
i just noticed your post about the hemp shampoo. i love to make herbals & just posted a recipe (check out the link in the post above). i have made a hemp/tea tree version that was nice. it might be similar to what you're looking for?????

[Kinky Ramona]

I actually tried the baking soda/lemon juice idea today and so far so good. It's a damp day outside, so my hair's not drying too well (only been a couple of hours, though, lol). But it's way softer than when I shampoo it, and a lot cleaner, too. I'm really impressed with the results. My hair was sooooo oily before I showered this afternoon (hadn't washed it in a couple of days and I have oily hair), but now it's just...clean and soft.

I do have one question, though. What do you guys suggest to add some fragrance to my hair after washing it? I like it smelling good because I spend a lot of time around smokers. Does anyone have any method of getting stale smoke smell out of hair? There's not much option of avoiding it.

[TurquoiseRose]

I do have one question, though. What do you guys suggest to add some fragrance to my hair after washing it? I like it smelling good because I spend a lot of time around smokers. Does anyone have any method of getting stale smoke smell out of hair? There's not much option of avoiding it.
Well, baking soda itself is a natural deodorant. Also, if you want to keep on the nature-track, ylang-ylang essential oil smells really nice.

[Make Mangoes Not War]

I just tried the baking soda and lemon juice on my oily hair (6 days without washing), and my hair feels so soft, there is no frizz and my hair looks lighter! It's amazing! And I felt so much better getting out of the shower after washing in what felt like plain water...So natural.... I'm in awe! Thanks Everyone!

[General Electric]

Thanks for the baking soda and lemon juice idea, I tried it last night and my hair feels great this morning!

[drumminmama]

Like Nimh, I had BIG problems with baking soda.
It is too alkaline, even with the acid rinse (vinegar or lemon juice- I think it's a personal preference thing: or a dilution problem)

I did condish only(CO), and water only, and my hair needs a cleaner other than itself most of the time.
When traveling, CO is fine, and easier to pack for.
back to the recipies,
long ago, we'd refer people to Pioneerthinking.com
it's of limited value, but the aromatherapy board in their forums has some good posters.
http://www.pioneerthinking.com/hair.html
or this:
http://onibasu.com/blog/2005/05/homemade-shampoo-conditioner.html

[lucyinthesky16]

so would you say that the baking soda treatment is bad for pple with frizzy hair? (my hair is frizzy frizzy frizzy!) i'm a conditioner-only veteren, ive been doing it since like middle school-but it still leaves my hair frizzy. would it be alright if i used like a baby-bit of baking soda and a little more lemon juice? (oily hair is NO problem for me!)

[nimh]

best thing i've found for the frizzies is a vinegar rinse. 2 tbsp of vinegar and about a liter of water, use as a final rinse, and dont rinse out. the slight acidity closes down the cuticles, and gets the hair to sit flat and shiney. :) beauty!!

ps, bs made my hair fall out :(

[lucyinthesky16]

wow, thanks ill try that! i tried the bs-i think it made it even more frizzier X_X but it did feel EXTREMELY soft! (now thats an oxy moron...)

[sweetdreadlover]

i just use tea tree oil hemp castille soap by dr bronners. it doesnt leave a residue, just very shiny very clean hair.

[happykoala]

hmmm, I've been using baking soda for a while and I haven't lost hair. I wonder why it caused your hair loss, nimh.

[Blonde_Revolutionary]

Seaweed and mediteranean sea salt. I swear by this.


If you want to be lazy, lush has a bar made from this.

If you have really dry hair, add a few drops of olive oil.

[drumminmama]

koala, I think the shedding is simply more noticeable when you use soaps over detergents and even more mechanical cleaning over anything. using shampoo-soap bars or baking soda or even water only is more elbow grease than actual cleansers.
It's shed you'd lose over a couple days, but you are getting it all out up front.

[Unkle_John]

My wife sells Arbonne. It's an all natural body care line, no chemicals, just plants. I use the shampoo and conditioner and have noticed that not only it got rid of some split ends (not all), it also brought out the natural color in my hair (which I thought was brown, but more of a red/brown). If anyone is interested in becoming a seller, PM me and she can set you up. I'm a firm believer in this stuff, it works great.

[drumminmama]

sorry John, no shampoo "gets rid" of splits, most likely the formula has a -cone in it which glues the splits together temporarily.

[Unkle_John]

Your right, I mistyped what I meant. What I was trying to say was that I found fewer breaks and split ends. It just seemed to fix the problem. But yes you'll stil have to trim your hair.

[drumminmama]

you only have to get the splits themselves: it's called dusting or search and destroy.

[ratgirldjh69]

have any of you tried egg shampoo? i use it sometime. what i do is take 2 or 3 egg yolks and then put them in a bottle with a little lemon or lime juice and a bit of water and shake it til it gets frothy and then pour it onto your wet hair. rub it all around and then rinse. that's it! sometimes i would just add the water and some rosemary oil (so you don't have the eggy smell) and use the lemon/lime/water rinse separately.
just make sure you rinse with cool water so you won't cook egg into your hair. of course this is only for people who don't mind using eggs...
plain lime juice and water also works pretty good once you are weaned off shampoo.
lately i have been water only or shampoo bars - depending on how i feel.
i think i am going to do the egg thing and add some virgin coconut oil and let it sit and then wash it out with a shampoo bar....
djh