I’ve made natural alternatives to most of our household and toiletry products, but homemade shampoo was by far the toughest.
I tried the “no-poo” method, which has great results for some, but did not work on me at all (and I have some terrible Christmas pictures to prove it!). If you have coarse hair that isn’t naturally oily, this method may be great for you! I have baby-fine hair and it didn’t work for me.
I also missed the foaming aspect of shampoo (I know… the “foam” in regular shampoo is made by chemicals and detergents…)
I tried plain liquid castile soap, which left a tangled mess, and I tried a bunch of homemade recipes that didn’t work well at all.
Finally, at the inspiration of a natural coconut milk (scented) shampoo that I love, I’ve finally found a recipe that I’m happy with and that doesn’t leave my hair tangled, oily or both.
It works on kids hair too (that’s a picture of my daughter’s newly washed hair) though it isn’t tear free, so watch the eyes!
Natural Shampoo Recipe
It’s such an easy recipe that I can’t believe it took me this long to think of it…
Secret ingredient: Coconut Milk!
What You’ll Need for Homemade Shampoo
- Coconut milk (UPDATE: a couple of readers mentioned that the canned stuff did not work well for them, but that homemade coconut milk worked great… Depending on your hair type, homemade may be better for you)
- Liquid castile Soap (like Dr. Bronners)
- Essential Oils of choice (I’ve used peppermint, lavender, rosemary and orange or combinations of those)
Homemade Shampoo Recipe
Yield
Materials
- ¼ cup coconut milk (homemade or canned)
- ¼ cup castile soap
- 20 drops essential oils (such as peppermint, lavender, rosemary, or orange)
For dry hair:
- ½ tsp olive oil (or almond oil, optional)
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients in an old shampoo bottle or jar. Pump soap dispensers and even foaming dispensers work well for this. If you use a foaming dispenser, add ¼ cup of distilled water.
- Shake well to mix.
- Shake before each use and use about a teaspoon every time you shampoo.
- Store in the fridge for up to a week.
Nutrition
Notes
- If you use a foaming dispenser, it also makes a great shaving cream.
- Some people find that a 50:50 mixture of apple cider vinegar and water used as a rinse helps get hair cleaner and increases shine.
Don’t want to make it?
When I’m traveling or don’t have time to make my own, I’ve used a few organic shampoos that worked really well. My faves are:
- Wellnesse Cleansing Shampoo – I’m beyond excited to share that the recipes I’ve been making for over a decade are now available in my very own personal care line! We use only the safest EWG-rated ingredients as well as ingredients from nature with proven benefits, like nettle to strengthen and revitalize hair. There’s one for curly hair too!
- Morrocco Method Raw and Natural Organic Shampoo – this doesn’t lather like normal shampoo but it has been absolutely amazing on my hair and has helped strengthen it over time.
- Acure Organics Shampoo
Another wonderful and cost effective option is to make your own shampoo bars (like bar soap for your hair).
But… Don’t Wash Your Hair Every Day!
I can’t leave out one of my biggest healthy hair discoveries: hair is happiest when you don’t wash it every day! Read this post to find out why the experts say how you wash your hair matters just as much as what you wash it with!
Ever made your own shampoo? Gone “no-poo?” How’d it go? Share below!
I having been going no-poo for just over a month now, and love it! I am actually making this shampoo recipe for a bodywash as a friend of mine uses it for that and as her husband shaving cream and loves it! Can’t wait!
I’ve been doing the no-poo thing for over a year now and all of a sudden it has stopped working. I have terrible build-up of oils and my scalp is itchy. Anyway, it sounds like I might have the same type of hair as you. Fine and oily. So I’m really thinking of trying this!!! I’ve never bought or used coconut milk so how long does it last once opened?
In the fridge, a few weeks…
I love this recipe. I have been having a hard time finding a good shampoo for my thick, gray, long hair so I am excited to try this. Thanks for posting it.
I just linked to this post on my blog Hodge Podge Lodge
I am FINALLY
getting out of my “phase” of change. It’s been 3-4 weeks and I am seeing my
hair “normal” again! I started out w/ the baking soda wash/acv rinse.
Then I tried this recipe. I have had all sorts of greasy hair, dry hair, out of
control hair…..but I’m happy to say that I am now only using this shampoo
(wellness mama’s recipe) and LOVING it! I’ve had “good/normal” hair
for 3 washings now and it’s great to be back! I even feel that my hair feels
“thicker” just because I’m feeling my hair clean and product fee NOT hair that has been
coated w/ products! I do use a bit of coconut oil, or sunflower oil, or grape seed
oil (what ever I’m using that day on my face or body) to put very
LIGHTLY/LITTLE on my hair for some conditioning. I’m enjoying my
normal/good hair that has been washed w/ chemical free ingredients AND it is
cheaper!
Love your site
Wellness Mama! Thank you for your posts! I can’t wait to get through the entire
site and try new things. My next project will be the lotion bars! I’ve been making
my own creamy lotion for a few months now (goal is to have all beauty and cleaning
items homemade) and I’m excited to see if the “bar” type will work
out better for our house!
I just tried this the first time today although I’ve been “coming off” shampoo the last couple washes before this already, using only saponified coconut oil soap. I used homemade coconut milk for this but didn’t add the essential oils as I did not have any on hand right now. I also tried spraying some diluted avc on after washing. So far, I can’t figure out if my hair needs more oils or less?! It feels kind of like straw and yet it’s almost sticky like an oily residue is left on it. It’s so tangled and straw like I rip out a lot of hair trying to comb it through. Not smooth at all! I have pretty fine hair and quite a bit of it. I’ve also tried a very small amount of coconut oil as leave in conditioner…didn’t seem to make a difference. What would you suggest? Do I need more oil or less or just give it time?
Probably more time, but you could also try a apple cider vinegar rinse. Some people with fine hair see a lot of benefit from this. Just dilute some vinegar in water and rinse your hair with it at the end of the shower. I’ve also found that my beach waves spray helped the adjustment period…
I just made this with rose castille soap and lavender essential oil. I didn’t have any Vitamin E on hand so I substituted with jojoba oil. It smells heavenly and really does give a good lather. My hair doesn’t feel as ‘silky’ after rinsing it out, but after letting my hair naturally dry I’m noticing it has a lot of shine. Used this on my baby too and for the first time he didn’t have tangles when leaving the bath. Thanks for the recipe!
I just made and tried my first batch today and I also didn’t have the silky feeling, but I think it’s b/c I have hard water. When I got out of the shower, I ran my comb through my hair snag free and less tangles.
I tried no-poo and it was no good! My hair looked terrible I will try this!
I can’t wait to try this. I have fine, long, curly hair. Their are so many homemade recipes out there that I have tried and all have made my hair dry, brittle and break off. I love coconut oil! I use it in my hair mixed with water for a conditioner and detangler, it’s amazing for my hair. I’m super excited to try this.
I’m a no-poo girl myself. I think it has been over six months and I LOVE IT. I do not have oily hair and it is a bit on the thicker side–I also use a diliuted apple cider vin as a rinse. LOVE IT too. My favorite part besided the money that is saved. My hair has grown sooooooo super fast.
What about using coconut milk that comes in a “milk” carton? That is what I stock but I know it is very different from canned or homemade coconut milk. Do you think that would work as well? If so, I will be making this today!
I haven’t tried it, but I would think it would work…
That’s what I used. What kind of luck did you have?
How often are you washing your hair with this? Every day?
Every other day if I can, and sometimes less than that since I”m swimming each day. It really depends on individual hair texture…
after two or three washes this still left my hair a tangled mess! What am i doing wrong?
What kind of coconut milk are you using? It can take a few days for your scalp to adjust, but I’ve found that certain types of coconut milk just don’t work with certain hair types. I have to use homemade or I get tangles too…
I made this shampoo, and while we love it, our hair, ESPECIALLY mine is so so oily! Any suggestions?
THANK YOU! Tried and true. I modified it with the tips in the comments. My hair was oily at first, but it has adjusted in a couple weeks and now I am loving it! Thank you for all of you wonderful recipes. I also love your baby wipes/scouring powder/ and am going to be trying some of your make-up/lotion bars/ and whitening ideas 🙂 Thanks again!
what if you are highly allergic to coconut milk what else could you use?
Good question… You could probably sub almond or hemp milk but I haven’t tried it…
I made this shampoo and put rosemary essential oil in it and everyone in my family loves it. I no longer need to use conditioner, although I have made up one that I love, and I can comb my hair right out of the shower which is something that I have NEVER done in my entire life. I have naturally curly hair, and it is VERY CURLY… Also, my step son says that this shampoo has helped with the psoriasis on his head. I suspect that the rosemary oil has something to do with that. Thanks for this recipe… My hair has never looked, or felt, so good. 🙂
I straighten my hair a LOT and was wondering if the coconut oil provides any heat protection? or maybe you know some things that do offer heat protection? if i don’t straighten my hair it’s a giant frizz ball from all the heat torture I’ve been putting it through for the past 6-7 years. I tried all the different “repairing” treatments with no luck. I’m planning on trying out this shampoo recipe because I tried the no-poo method and it wasn’t bad for the first few hours (my hair was soft and felt great) but after that my hair was so greasy I had to rewash with my regular shampoo.
Thank you for sharing this recipe – I have fine hair like you and had the same problem with just plain Castile soap – my hair got mega tangled! I haven’t tried your recipe yet, but I’ll give it a go.
I recently went no ‘poo! I rinse every 3-4 days with water, or wash with 1 tbsp of baking soda to 1 cup of water, and do a conditioning rinse of 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar to 1 cup of water–a recipe I got from Crunchy Betty. At first my hair was slightly dry and frizzy, but my hair is already healthy (hasn’t been dyed or processed) but it’s starting to adjust after a couple weeks. I love the softness and strength. My hair falls/gets pulled out less easily, I think because the oils aren’t as stripped. I’m prone to dry ends, I when I notice flyaway dry ends, I put a tiny bit of coconut oil on my ends to tame them. I also plan to do coconut oil treatments–just putting coconut oil on the ends for about an hour or 30 min to moisturize–that’s all my hair needs because it’s so fine. I love this way and I’m sticking with it!
This shampoo has worked great for my 20 month old daughter. Her hair gets clean and feels great. Mine, however, isn’t so good. I have used this for 4 days now and my hair feels really waxy. The first time I used it my hair felt great and it had some really awesome volume too. I showered at night and my hair still felt clean the next morning. My hair is very oily and normally feels greasy the morning after I wash it. So I was very excited about the shampoo. Then I washed my hair again the next day and let my hair air dry. It felt slightly greasy, but I thought that was just because of the air drying. So I tried it again yesterday and used the blow dryer again. It felt like I had dipped my head in a bucket of wax. The same thing happened today. Any suggestions on what I might be doing wrong? Could I be using too much of the product on my hair or maybe not enough? Help.
What kind of coconut milk are you using? My hair is naturally fine and oily too, so I have to use homemade, strained, coconut milk.
I used canned organic coconut milk. I am going to try to mix some extra castille soap in to see if that helps. I don’t exactly have access to any real coconuts in NW IN.
If you can even get dried unsweetened coconut at the store without any additives, you can make your own coconut milk…
I will try that. It’s been 4 days now and my hair is a little waxy, but seems to be getting better. Only the topmost part of my hair is feeling that way. The underside is starting to feel clean and has a lot of volume, too.
I may try to add some baking soda and/or some water too. I have read in other recipes from other blogs that this can help remove some of the waxy feel and help it rinse out more thoroughly too.