DIY Dry Shampoo for Dark or Light Hair

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How to Make Your Own Dry Shampoo for Light or Dark Hair
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Dry shampoos have been all the rage, and I can understand why… A beauty product that makes your hair look clean when it hasn’t been washed in the past three days that day is a tremendous help! During long days with little ones we are lucky if we get to use the bathroom alone, much less shower every day…

If you use a product (almost) every day, it’s important for it to a) work and b) have safe ingredients! But look at the label on most commercial dry shampoos and you’ll find ingredients like isobutane, butane, and propane… no thanks!

I found out it’s easy to make your own natural dry shampoo from scratch with just a few simple ingredients you might already have on hand. You’ll not only save money since homemade dry shampoo versions are about 95% cheaper, but you also won’t be putting toxic chemicals on your hair!

(And if you don’t have the time or desire to DIY, keep reading for a solution… )

How to Make Your Own Dry Shampoo at Home

how to make natural dry shampoo for light or dark hair

The basic idea of a dry shampoo (or wet “dry” shampoo, see that variation below) is to put an oil-absorbing substance like arrowroot or cornstarch on the oily parts of your hair. This absorbs the oil and leaves it looking clean and volumized.

On my hair, I use a light powder (arrowroot) since I’m blonde, but dark-haired mamas can mix cocoa powder in with the arrowroot for naturally tinted (and delicious smelling!) homemade dry shampoo. You can even use cocoa powder in homemade eye shadow.

Bonus: Dry shampoo is also very helpful if you’ll be styling hair and need it to hold. Dirty hair holds better than clean hair, but it doesn’t have to look dirty! In fact, for an upcoming wedding I’ll be sporting hair that hasn’t been washed in three days (you’re welcome for that visual!) 🙂

Here are the official “recipes” that can be customized to your hair type:

Three recipes for homemade DIY dry shampoo (or spray dry shampoos) for dark or light hair that are inexpensive to make and work as well as store bought!
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4.39 from 81 votes

Dry Shampoo Recipe

Make chemical-free dry shampoo in minutes with just two or three ingredients!
Prep Time4 minutes
Author: Katie Wells

Materials

  • ¼ cup arrowroot powder (or organic cornstarch, for dark hair use 2 TBSP arrowroot and 2 TBSP cocoa powder)
  • 5 drops essential oil (optional – I use lavender)

Instructions

  • Place the arrowroot, or arrowroot and cocoa powder, into a small jar.
  • Add the essential oil and mix to combine.
  • Apply with an old make-up brush to the roots or oily parts of your hair. Applying with the brush is optional, but it removes the need to comb through as much and is better for styled hair. If you don’t use the brush, comb the powder through your hair and style as usual.

Notes

Add 1 cup of warm water and ¼ cup of vodka, rubbing alcohol, or witch hazel to the above recipe to make a spray wet shampoo that works as a dry shampoo. Spray on roots or oily parts of hair, let dry, and style as usual. Shake before each use.
Don’t Want to DIY? You’re in luck! I started my own line of safe personal care products based on my DIY recipes. Learn more about my Wellnesse Revitalizing Dry Shampoo for All Hair Types here.

If you’d rather have a spray wet shampoo that works as a dry shampoo, you can accomplish this by adding some water and alcohol to the above recipe.

Here’s how:

Wet “Dry” Shampoo Option

A wet-dry shampoo uses the same concept but puts the oil-absorbing substance in a quickly evaporating liquid like vodka or rubbing alcohol.

What to do: Mix all ingredients in a small spray bottle and shake well. Shake before each use and spray on roots or oily parts of hair. Let dry and style as usual.

Bonus Tips

  • Arrowroot or cornstarch can also be used as a mineral veil or finishing powder for homemade makeup or as an oil-absorbing powder on the skin. I keep a mason jar filled with arrowroot on my counter and use as a dry shampoo in my hair and to set my makeup.
  • If you have dark hair but don’t want to use cocoa powder in your hair, just use plain arrowroot and apply before going to bed the night before or at least 2 hours in advance. With some time to absorb you won’t get the fake-gray-looks-like-a-wig look!

If you decide to go pro and try pre-made dry shampoo, let me know what you think if you try my Wellnesse line! I’ve been working hard to make sure these are the safest, most natural products for moms and families that work even better than conventional options. I’d love to know how they work for you!

Do you use dry shampoo? What is your best haven’t-washed-my-hair-in-days trick? Please share below!

Three recipes for homemade DIY dry shampoo (or spray dry shampoos) for dark or light hair that are inexpensive to make and work as well as store bought!

Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

392 responses to “DIY Dry Shampoo for Dark or Light Hair”

  1. Gabrielle Avatar
    Gabrielle

    Thank you for this! I know this sounds crazy and gross, but… I don’t need to wash my hair for months at a time. It’s thick, coarse, wavy and dry, and it just doesn’t get oily. And it looks much better when I don’t wash it, so I don’t. DOES ANYONE ELSE DO THIS? The problem is it ends up smelling like dirty head. So, I’ve been experimenting with dry shampoos, and spraying witch-hazel etc., to clean off whatever the scalp build-up is. QUESTIONS: 1. The witch-hazel is stinky. Does all witch-hazel smell like that? Even when I add lavender it smells nauseating. Is it really fine to use vodka? Other options? 2. My hair’s dark, so the light powders make it look grey, and I don’t love smelling like chocolate. I don’t actually need oil-absorption — I just need some form of non-water cleansing — for the scalp, I guess? ANY BRILLIANT SUGGESTIONS WELCOME! Thank you, everyone!

    1. Tauna Houghton Avatar
      Tauna Houghton

      Have you tried rubbing essential oils onto your scalp, such as rosemary, rose geranium or lavender? You could experiment with just a few drops – you don’t need much. Don’t use citrus, though, as it is light sensitive and could interact with sunlight.

  2. LA Avatar

    Need to say that Orange Oil(fruit oils) are photosensitive, and should only be applied on the skin if they are washed off, same as Cinnamon(photosensitive), if applied to skin, they can pose problems. especially when exposed to sunlight. Essential oils should not be applied NEAT(directly) on skin, they should be accompanied with a carrier oil(maybe the cornstarch and cocoa is enough, not sure). Just a heads up that you should be very careful when selecting essential oils.

  3. Chelsikins Avatar
    Chelsikins

    Finely ground oats work well as dry shampoo too. Plus you smell like breakfast all day. I consider that a plus. 🙂

  4. fiona j. Avatar

    while i’ll certainly try the wet/dry spray, i’m wondering if cinnamon would work instead of cocoa as a dry shampoo for red heads! thanks for the recipes, and i’ll get back to you if i try the cinnamon!

    1. fiona j. Avatar

      i tried the cinnamon in place of cocoa, works a charm on my hair and smells lovely. didn’t need to add any other scent.

    2. Tauna Houghton Avatar
      Tauna Houghton

      I have been using cinnamon for years and it works great! Friends say I smell like a cinnamon roll! My hair gets oily very quickly and I can look like Professor Snape the day after washing my hair. As I have long hair, I don’t want to wash it every day and the cinnamon trick has saved me a lot of time. Once, while camping, I went 10 days and my hair looked and smelled amazing. I have to be a little careful because the cinnamon can get on the collars of clothes that are light colored – but it washes out easily. I keep my cinnamon in a bottle and step onto the back porch. Then I pour about a tablespoon onto my brush and work it into my hair while I lean over. I am going to try the cocoa powder today!

      1. Linda Golden Avatar
        Linda Golden

        Do you use just cinnamon or cinnamon mixed with arrowroot powder or cornstarch?

  5. Kate Atack Avatar
    Kate Atack

    I would also like to help everyone who keeps asking about coco powder getting sticky (in addition to being an actor, I’m also a professionally trained chef…so I know a thing or two about food). Coco powder is just ground up coco beans, which contain no natural sugars. That’s why if you took a spoonful of coco powder and tried to eat it, or mix it with hot milk for a hot chocolate, you’d make quite a face. When you add fats and sugars to coco powder to make chocolate bars, syrups, etc, is when you get stickiness. So unless you try to dump a packet of hot chocolate mix on your head, you’re going to be fine.

  6. Kate Atack Avatar
    Kate Atack

    I had a bottle of dry shampoo that was in an aerosol can…until I looked at the ingredients one day and saw that it contained aluminum O_o After I passed it off to someone who doesn’t care about that kind of thing, I did a lot of searching for a dry shampoo that didn’t contain aluminum and that wasn’t in aerosol form. I found one at Sephora, but it’s $22 for a 2.65oz bottle. Yes, it would last a while, but holy cow! I’m an actor…so I’m basically broke all the time. Still haven’t had it in my budget to buy the one at Sephora. I’ve recently discovered I can make virtually everything in my house myself (beauty and cleaning products) for a fraction of the cost of buying commercial products, and knowing that they are safe and healthy for myself, my husband, our pets, and the environment. That’s how I stumbled upon this, when I decided to see if it was possible to make my own dry shampoo. I just have a couple of questions. One of the things I love about dry shampoo is that it gives my otherwise fine, flat hair some nice volume. Does this recipe do that? I’ve seen a couple of people mention it, but I’m wondering if more often than not people experience a boost in body. Also, I have darker brown hair, but am not so keen on the idea of smelling like chocolate. I LOVE chocolate, and I LOVE the smell of chocolate, but I don’t think it will mesh well with any of my perfumes or the scents of my other products. I’ve seen cinnamon mentioned a couple of times, and while I’m also not that keen on smelling of cinnamon, I think it will blend better with my musky/woodsy scents. So my questions here are: How much cinnamon is needed to keep my hair from looking grey? And how potent is the smell exactly? Does it fade after a little while? Thanks for any help anyone can give me 🙂

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      The smell isn’t too potent, and I would guess that about 1/4 cinnamon to 3/4 arrowroot would keep it from looking grey…

    2. Tauna Houghton Avatar
      Tauna Houghton

      The cinnamon doesn’t make your hair look grey because it is dark. It actually diffuses any grey hair if you have some. I found a nice light brown colored cinnamon that isn’t very red at my local health food store, which matches my hair perfectly. It gives my hair lots of volume – I love it! If you are uncertain, you can try it on a day when you have time to wash your hair if you don’t like it. Over the years I have turned quite a few friends onto it and they love it.

  7. Rema Avatar

    I made the dry shampoo for dark hair and I love it! I didn’t add any essential oils to it, though, because I love the chocolate scent. My hair isn’t very oily (I wash it every other day) but this dry shampoo is great for days I don’t feel like washing it or for when I used too much styling product and need to absorb it. Most dry shampoos I have used made my hair feel icky, but this one keeps my hair dry and adds loads of volume.

  8. Marissa Avatar

    I have thick blonde hair and I generally wash my hair every day/every other day. I’m trying to go ‘poo free. I’m going to be swimming in a pool every other day so how should I go about keeping the chlorine out of my hair while not using shampoos to wash my hair? Will rinsing out the chlorine and using a dry shampoo work? How often do you rinse your hair? Everyday? Or should I just wait until I won’t be swimming as often to start going ‘poo free?

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      That is touch with chlorine. I’d probably do a diluted apple cider vinegar rinse after swimming to get the chlorine out, or just use an organic shampoo until you stop swimming….

    2. Tauna Houghton Avatar
      Tauna Houghton

      Hmmm…. I think that the ACV is a good idea, but you may need to put a conditioner in your hair so it doesn’t dry out. You can also try a little jojoba oil (it works best on my hair after it’s dried, rather than applying when it’s wet).

    3. Amanda Burkholder Avatar
      Amanda Burkholder

      get your hair wet with non-pool water before you swim. your hair strands will absorb that water instead. if you’re only cutting shampoo, not conditioner, mix a tiny bit of conditioner into the water first, and it works even better! this also helps your hair from getting nasty from the salt water at the beach!!

    1. Tauna Houghton Avatar
      Tauna Houghton

      Cinnamon! I have been using it for years and I used to use a cinnamon that was too red for my hair. I have recently found a cinnamon that doesn’t have as much red in it. I invite you to go on a cinnamon treasure hunt and find a cinnamon that looks more red. It seems to vary depending on soil, climate, water, etc. I am curious to try the red clay. I am very curious about the suggestion to add a little beet root or hibiscus powder – perhaps mixed with the cinnamon? Maybe even rose petal powder?

    2. Linda Golden Avatar
      Linda Golden

      I was wondering the same thing about red hair. If cocoa powder is too dark, I wonder if something like cinnamon or paprika might work?

      1. Wellness Mama Avatar
        Wellness Mama

        Great idea! It probably would… let us know if you try it!

  9. chelita Avatar

    Hi
    I have been using arrowroot powder as a dry shampoo for a couple of days now, and I notice that I have some build up. I wonder if somebody else have same problem.

    1. Olivia Avatar
      Olivia

      5 stars
      Try brushing your hair through or making the “wet” dry shampoo. Btw, I haven’t had this problem, though I’m sure someone else has.

  10. Laura D Avatar

    I’m wondering….if I left out the arrowroot powder for the wet-dry shampoo, would it work as a body spray? Maybe more witch hazel, less water?

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      Yes, you can use more witch hazel and add any essential oils for scent, and it makes a great body spray.

      1. Amanda L Avatar
        Amanda L

        Can the witch hazel be alcohol free and still be effective? I have scalp psoriasis and don’t want to irritate my scalp by using alcohol. Thanks!

  11. Nichole Popovich Avatar
    Nichole Popovich

    Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Just tried this and it worked great. I can not wait to try your other creations. You are a saviour to those of us with severe allergies to almost all chemicals and perfumes (which unfortunately includes a lot of natural/organic products). Thanks again! ^_^

  12. cecilia Avatar

    i put some cocoa in my daughter’s (thin, curly and oily but normally dry) hair this morning. It helped tame the oil (she had a coconut oil treatment last week which is still helping her dryness) today, gave her good body and her hair was still looking nice tonight. i’m so happy about this. even though she is 7, it is like she has toddler hair, so it is hard to find things to work well in her hair. i’m loving anything that i can do to help her hair. 🙂

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      You could, but I’d even use cornstarch instead of talcum as it can be harmful…

  13. Danek Avatar

    Just made this and used some. It passed the hubby test. Best thing is that my son’s GF won’t be stealing it since it is in an unmarked mason jar 🙂

  14. Lisbeth Prifogle Avatar
    Lisbeth Prifogle

    Make up brush!!! I’ve been trying to figure out an effective way to get it on my hair without getting it everywhere else (floor, sink, my clothes – although it just brushes off wiht a dry towel). I’ve been using this for a couple months now – I can’t believe how much time it saves – literally hours throughout the week!!! The only problem I have is by day 3 or 4 my boyfriend has caught on and starts calling me a dirty hippie even though I assure him I have showered, lol. Whatever, this is the greatest beauty trick ever! Oh I just use straight cocoa powder – I have light brown hair. It blends well and can’t tell at all.

    I wear a lot of hats so sometimes by day 4 I just throw on a cute hat and am on my way and can push through that fourth day, but otherwise I can’t quite make it past the 3 day mark. I think because I do crossfit so I am covered in sweat everyday (which by the way, this trick works wonders even if you work out). The best part is when I’m working out I smell like chocolate at the gym!

    1. Landa Avatar

      I was dying laughing reading yours. Thanks, I needed that today! 🙂 I have dark hair too and I am going to try cocoa powder. (We will see if my boyfriend catches on)

  15. Josie Avatar

    I tried to do the cocoa for my dark hair.. idk as i was brushing it threw it really toke the oil away; I brushed my hair to keep taking the remaining off; but idk if i like it too much it got on my clothes :/ I really liked the smell of it in my hair suckss that it got on my clothes.. I usually just use baby powder & it does show as gray but i brush it off with a towel & brush & does wonders

  16. Aaron Avatar

    Baby powder works for light brown or lighter hair. I never thought of arrowroot, for hair it make up. I have especially oily skin on my face and have yet to find something that works since origins stopped making the one thing I had found years ago. Thanks for the tip!

  17. Kaycee Garza Avatar
    Kaycee Garza

    Does using perfume instead of essential oils work? Don’t have any.

    1. Crystal Avatar

      I do not recommend perfumes… essential oils have healing qualities to them, perfumes more often than not have damaging qualities to them. You can pick up a btl of Essential Oil for between 8 and 20 dollars (some can be very expensive, others more cost effective)… it will also last you forever… just my personal opinion

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