I’ve written before about how I use homemade shampoo, but I’ve found that many people don’t do well with this option. I recently discovered a way to use bentonite clay and some other ingredients to detox and deep clean the hair. As I explained in a previous post:
“Turns out, clay can be very beneficial for hair in the same way it can be beneficial in the rest of the body: it removes toxins to leave hair super-clean and with a lot of shiny volume.”
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I was contacted by a company, Morrocco Method, that manufactures a completely natural shampoo alternative that detoxes hair and leaves it clean without buildup or tangles. I’m all for the DIY when possible, but I often get emails from readers asking where they can buy various products I post recipes for, so I decided to try their products and share my experience.
How to Shampoo With Mud
There is a little bit of a learning curve with mud-based shampoos. They don’t lather like detergent based shampoos, and some people experience a detox period while the scalp adjusts. It is also beneficial to shampoo twice with this method, as they explain:
At first glance, the recommendation by the shampoo industry that we shampoo our hair twice each session sounds like a gimmick to sell more shampoo. However, there is value in this recommendation. A perfect shampoo is achieved in two parts. The first shampooing cleanses hair and scalp of dirt, dead cells and dust, which would otherwise be massaged back into the hair, scalp and follicle openings if only shampooed once. This clogging debris could retard new hair growth and severely damage the oil glands, upsetting the natural fall-out and reproductive cycles of your hair.
The second shampooing and massage of your clean hair and scalp stimulates the flow of blood to the scalp and opens the hair follicles, allowing the blood vessels to feed each root, bulb and hair shaft, nourishing the entire follicle and activating the sebaceous (oil) glands. This ensures the proper lubrication and distribution of your own natural oils to the entire scalp and hair shafts. A natural coating of oil is vital to the maintenance of a healthy scalp and hair. It keeps the outer layer of hair lubricated and prevents drying, which is the excessive evaporation of moisture.
- Step One: Wet your hair, then apply a nickel-sized portion of shampoo to your scalp. Massage it lightly into your hair and scalp, and then rinse thoroughly, using warm water.
- Step Two: After rinsing, take a quarter-size portion of the same shampoo and massage it gently into your clean hair and scalp for a second cleansing, then rinse thoroughly, finishing with a cool rinse. Towel dry hair and scalp thoroughly.
The Verdict
Of all the store-bought “shampoos” I’ve tried, this method left my hair feeling the most clean. I didn’t experience a transition period, but I had already been using natural shampoos and even clays in my hair for a while before trying this method. I can see how a detox period could be normal, just as the skin can take a while to adjust to oil cleansing when first starting.
I liked my homemade version too, but the Morrocco Method formula smelled a lot better (especially since I’m not a fan of the smell of vinegar, as much as I love the benefits) and is definitely easier to use while traveling and to store for longer periods of time. As only a small amount is used each time, it also seems like a cost-effective option.
All of the ingredients are great for skin too, so excess can be used on face or body and since all ingredients are not soap-based, this could be a great option for kids as well.
Update from Katie: My quest for my favorite natural, non-toxic shampoo and conditioner has ended… meet Wellnesse, my very own personal care products line! Try my Cleansing Shampoo for all hair types or my Smoothing Shampoo for wavy or curly hair.
Have you ever used mud shampoo in your hair? How did it work for you? Share below!
i used it a few times before my hair cut. And i felt such a difference in my texturre. First thing it was wavy which i never produced with any shampoo..And a feeling of lightness. I will continue, I really like that feeling but i have to learn more too.
I have been using MM for about a year now and really loving it! For those who have struggled with it, it does take some trial and error to figure out which shampoos make your hair happy. I used only the ACV when I first stared to get the detox over with as quick as possible but then I started rotating all five like the site suggests and it’s been incredible for my hair. These days I am using all but the Sea Essence since my hair tends to be oily and that one was just too moisturizing for me. As a huge added bonus, their Diamond Crystal Mist is an amazing natural deodorant! I definitely encourage everyone who tries it to stick with it even though the detox sucks because the results are totally worth it! But if you really get stuck they have an amazing customer service line available all the time to answer questions and help troubleshoot. Super helpful! Hope this helps 🙂
HI! I searched and searched & didn’t find a way to leave a comment in the comments section under the Wellness Mama mud shampoo recipe, so I’ll leave it here. Using the proportions she gives of 3/4 cup bentonite clay, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar and 1 cup chamomile tea yielded a mixture the consistency of very thin soup, not yogurt or paste as stated. As a result, I had to spend extra time washing down the walls of my shower after applying and working it into my hair, as it splattered everywhere! (No option to just add more clay since all I had was around 3/4 cup left!) I also used the ACV/lemon juice/water rinse. I was somewhat happy with the results, which were mixed: my hair had more body and seemed a little brighter, but it was super frizzy and dry-looking and resistant to brushing, which makes me worry about breakage (I have medium-thick, wavy, fine, dark blonde hair). Thanks for the recipes! But please correct the error in your proportions.
I have been using the Morrocco Method products for a year and a half now and I love them! I started out using their all natural henna hair dye to cover my grays and I will never ever go back to conventional hair color. I was worried that my hair would turn out too red (I prefer dark brown) but their dark brown henna is awesome! I’ve also been using their shampoos, styling products and leave in conditioner sprays and love them too. My hair has never been healthier and it helped so much with my hair loss after I had my last baby. Also, their baby shampoo line healed my son’s cradle cap and the shampoos have helped my husband’s dandruff. Love this company!
Hey there,
My hair type is fine + oily.
I’ve tried switching to natural shampoo/conditioner but it’s left my hair greasy from tip to end despite how many times I rinse. Is this the temporary hair “adjustment period?” How long does that typically last? Do you think I can combat this with homemade arrowroot based dry shampoo?
Thanks!
Hi….I like my MM hair rinses really well yet. I had to detox again as I had used some shampoo that was not quite all organic. So in trying to mix my MM 50/50 I use pure Aloe Vera instead of water. It worked beautifully so I could keep the MM in my hand and it spread so easy also. I have vegetable glycerin, too, and I may try that. I am excited for a month to go by to see where my hair is. I have fine hair, and it was falling out and seemed so thin. Well, I can put my hair up and now I have so much more in a ponytail. I like where MM is getting my hair to and how it has been feeling. 🙂
If you read carefully, the review doesn’t actually say Wellness Mama tried this stuff. She talks generally about the mud cleansing “method” and smell, etc., but she didn’t ever say she actually used this product with positive results. Which of course is perfectly OK, and other bloggers have very similarly honest, tepid, and paid reviews. This is just a reminder that the buyer should always beware.
I actually did try it and liked it quite a bit, as I explain in the post.
Wellness Mama, Can all of the 5 shampoos be used on in kids since they have the essential oils in them or only some or is there small enough amount that its not a problem? Thanks!
Would this shampoo be recommended if pregnant with the essential oils? And wellness mama which do you prefer more, your home made version or do you buy the mm? Thanks!
The essential oils should be fine since they are so heavily diluted, but if you’re worried, you could make your own and just use lavender. I really like both the homemade and MM (although the MM smells better). It honestly just comes down to if I have time/energy to make the DIY version, and if not, I go with the MM 🙂 Hope that helps!
I need help! I’ve been using MM products exclusively for about a month. Not noticing much improvement yet, but I’m hopeful. I am Caucasian, with long wavy hair. The layer underneath the top is like ethnic hair, really curly and coarse. I decided to try their Curl Power product because it’s supposed to moisturize and lengthen the curls. This product left me extremely disappointed and they aren’t open on the weekend so that’s why I’m coming to you. I feel like i applied petroleum jelly to my hair. I left it on for the required time and then washed it, but it won’t wash out. My hair is currently air drying but it’s crunchy and feels awful. I was barely able to comb through it. Have you used this product? Am i struggling because I’m still in detox??? Can you give me any tips for removing this gunk from my hair? I would appreciate any answers! I have a busy weekend and at this point I don’t want to leave the house!!!!
Hi Cindy, I had similar problems with MM. I tried using it on and off for about 6 months and never really saw an improvement. Do you have any Zen detox? It is just bentonite clay, and will clean the gunk out of your hair very effectively, but after that I’d probably just stop using these products. I don’t think you are still in detox because I had the same issues – there is no way I was still in detox after using them for 6 months, and prior to that I hadn’t used shampoo on my hair for another approximately 6 months.
I wash my hair with rhassoul clay now, mixed with either ACV or aloe gel and a bit of glycerin mixed in too. It works really well – feels like I’ve washed my hair with conventional shampoo but doesn’t dry out my scalp like shampoo. I have a lot of leftover MM products but the only ones I use on my hair are the creme rinse and the gel, the shampoos and conditioners don’t go near my scalp – though I do find they work great as body wash.
Both my daughter and I had ‘sticky’ hair at the same time, rather weirdly! Never had it before and then started researching it and found it was quite common. The Somaluxe Shampoo came recommended by my doctor so I decided to try it – after the first wash, the difference was amazing. Immediately after rinsing I could feel my hair as ‘squeaky’ clean again for the time in weeks / months. Now it has fully air-dried, my hair is back to it’s usually dry bounce once again and feels great….my daughter said the same. So pleased and happy to spread the word that the Somaluxe Shampoo works for sticky hair!
Has anyone tested this on salon colored hair. I’m very grey and have my roots salon colored every 7-8 weeks. Will MM strip or change the color?
Hiya Nancy, not sure if you’re still checking this but I thought I’d answer your question. I have used MM for 6 months and I love it. I’ll answer yours first and then follows a long description with answers to those curious about starting use, and to those struggling with MM.
I had super bleach damaged hair, and using these shampoos not only improved my condition but my colour looks beautiful and shiny as well! I have mixed golden and platinum blonde colours. My colour did change slightly, in that it made the colours brighter.
The other day I tried a regular shampoo to test the difference, and it completely revealed the old hair damage. MM is the only thing that works for me, though it did take a while to kick in along with my own trial and error. Obviously damage can only be truly removed through a hair cut, but you can hardly see mine now – and I was told to cut everything off!
Personally I have used Heavenly Essence, Sea Essence, Pine Shale and Zen Detox. I now only use the two latter shampoos, as Heavenly Essence makes my scalp itchy so I think I have a sensitivity to the ingredients, though it did make my hair crazy soft.
My favourite is Pine Shale! I definitely need to vary my use though, if I stick to one shampoo my hair gets greasy. But I wouldn’t use all five personally, 2-3 is enough for me. The Zen Detox helped get me through my initial detox and crazy build up period, though it was reaaally hard to spread it while my hair was the most damaged. It became way easier once my hair adjusted.
For everyone curious on how it feels having used MM 6 months on, I’ll mention a few things. The water to shampoo ratio is VERY important for the results. I mix them 50/50.
I do use quite a bit more shampoo than they say you need, though I do have a lot of hair. I often wonder why they are as crazy expensive as they are, but there is no other products on the market that are remotely similar (as far as I know) so for me it’s definitely worth it.
My detox lasted probably 1-2 months but it wasn’t too bad (trying Caveman was a million times worse!).
Lastly, and this is important to all those struggling with build up. When my hair is wet I can tell there’s a coating, which I think is the final result of the nourishing ingredients combined with the hair’s natural oils. At first this concerned me, but I realised it’s because I’m expecting to get the result of nasty surfactant products (i.e. common hair products) from something natural. That’s not what the body produces. If you think about what it does naturally, it wants to protect your hair with its oils. The body doesn’t care that our esthetic is dry, oil free hair, as that leaves it vulnerable to damage. Our media indoctrinated minds wants the opposite unfortunately… But the funny thing is, when my hair is dry you can’t feel or see the coat at all! It’s soft, not oily at all and completely tangle free. It’s a total mystery, but an amazing one.
My hair now envelops my face naturally and beautifully, and it isn’t flat or unruly as it used to be, and it’s super easy to style even without products as you can actually shape it as is. Never experienced this with any commercial products.
I love my hair now – which is crazy considering how damaged it was and still is from bleach and heat damage!
This is an interesting reply!
I have ordered 2 sample shampoos and the detox and I am redy to start with the MM proces.
I must say all the above mentioned answers scared me but your reply, Sara, confirms my own thoughts about the issue.
We are all so used to have super clean hair with no oils in it, that we no longer know what our hair is supposed to feel like.
I give it a real try and I hope I will love it as much as you do.
I received your recent e-mail recommending these products. I purchased the 5 sample pack in 2 oz size, so as to try all formulas and rotate them as suggested. I know you talk about a “detox” period but I am about to give up on this system entirely. I typically wash my hair every other day as I do have oily hair. I have been using this product for about 2 wks, washing every other day and rotating the shampoos. I have to say, my hair has become a “grease ball” It never seems to dry completely. I do wear my hair down the first day but by the second day I have to wear it in a pony tail. Reading your comments again, I realized I may be using too much product. I felt that perhaps I wasn’t using enough and that was why my hair has been so greasy so I kept adding more product. I have watched the how to videos on their website. I have been rinsing and rinsing, thinking that maybe the product is being left in my hair…it just takes too much time and effort to no avail…Maybe I will try using the dime size amount you recommend here for the first washing… it took all the power I had this morning not to reach for my “regular” shampoo and be done with the grease ball that my hair has become! I don’t want to give up on something that could be really good for me and my health in the long run….PLEASE HELP!!!!!
My hair is pretty healthy. I do not style it at all, I do not blow dry it and I have been using a “sulfate free” shampoo…Has anyone had this experience before? What to do??
Have you tried the Zen detox? It has helped my hair tremendously over the last month of starting the MM method. I am still figuring it out for myself.
Thanks for the interesting review, Katie!
I have a question that I was hoping either you Katie, some other MM product users or an MM rep could answer.
There is no doubt that these products are developed with toxic-free hair care in mind. But I was wondering – are they in biodegradable packaging? While taking the bast care for my hair, I would like to make sure I am also taking good care of the environment by not throwing away plastic containers.
Also – like the Wellness Mama, I have Hypothyroidism and Hashimottos, live on the Auto-Immune Paleo diet and am excited to finally try the morrocco method. I look forward to hearing about other hair cleaning methods. My hair is curly, needs moisture and get waxy / oily easily.
I’ve been using the MM shampoo for over two months now. I enjoy it but find that I can’t adequately coat my scalp with a nickel sized amount of shampoo. How do people do it?? Also, I find that my hair still gets greasy in two days at the scalp (sometimes even less) and that seems to be getting worse. Not sure if it just doesn’t work for me, or what I may be doing wrong…
Larissa,
Google “how to use morrocco method shampoo”. There is a blog that talks about how to find the best way to shampoo individual types of hair. I was told and read that using about a teaspoon to a tablespoon of shampoo to about 8 oz of water in a jar or squirt bottle (shake well!!) works. I have just begun using MM shampoos and it works for me!
I have soft, wavy, curly hair . I have used the zen detox, euro oil, pine shale shampoo, and sea essence so far. There is a learning curve. But I am noticing a difference – my hair is a gorgeous brunette (naturally) and my scalp no longer had build up or irritation. I love it. I also am finding that Bragga apple cyder vinegar with the mother as a post rjnse helps to clarify, soften and speed up the transitional process.
Anyone else have any thoughts on this?
I really want to try morroco method but I’m worried about the hassle with swimming and the quality of my water. The water at my house is chlorinated because we have city water. How will that affect my hair when using the shampoos? Also when I visit my parents’ house they have well water. Its softened but I’m not sure if that will affect my hair when I visit for a few weeks?? I really enjoy swimming at the pool but its filled with chlorine. Any tips for keeping my hair healthy at the pool? And what about the beach? I’ve heard you can but conditioner in your hair and leave it in while you swim but I don’t know if it will work. But if it does can I use leave in conditioner to do that? Sorry for the length, in just new to natural products. I would appreciate if you would answer my questions :)Oh I have one more question. I have short hair that just BARELY touches my shoulders. How many washes do you think I’ll get out of all 5 shampoos total?
You could try putting an inline filter on your showerhead. I use the Sprite slimline filter on mine. You can get it from Amazon. As for swimming, maybe use a swim cap in the pool.
Unfortunately this mud did not work for me. I have been using the coconut-castile (sometimes subbing almond milk for coconut and shikakai soap by Dr Bronner in place of castile) for about 4 months (after switching from Aubrey when I found out their preservative, Japanese honeysuckle, is a paraben). The coconut milk shampoo works well if I wash, rinse, repeat every 3 days but if I go longer between washes then even 4 applications won’t work and I have to use straight shikakai soap to remove the build-up. I worry about the damage the high pH is doing to my hair. I have a fair amount of breakage about an inch from my scalp. I don’t use ACV in my acid rinse cuz of the smell; I use a homemade acid blend of malic, citric and tartaric acid and dilute to the same pH as ACV. For the mud recipe’s acid requirement, I used half ACV and half acid blend (it still smells pretty horrid even after dousing it with copious amounts of essential oils).
For the tea portion, I used Fenugreek and Chamomile. For the clay I used the Aztec brand of calcium bentonite. I had the problem of it not thickening up with the required amount of clay so I ended up having to use TWICE as much clay as what the recipe called for. This gave me about 16 oz of mud. I used it today and it was a real pain to apply. I smeared 2 oz all over the scalp of my wet hair then rubbed it into the rest of my shoulder-length hair, though I could have easily used more since it doesn’t seem to go very far. I found it difficult to scrub the scalp since there was absolutely no creaminess or lather. I rinsed after 7 min. Disappointed to say there was no reduction in build-up and my hair felt matted down like it needed an acid rinse. Since I also made the soap nuts shampoo recipe yesterday I tried that next: no lather, rinsed after 5 min. It also failed to remove any build-up. Since I was late for work at this point, I just scrubbed my scalp with straight shikakai and rinsed with acid blend.
I really wanted to love these recipes so I could end the hair breakage being caused by the high pH of the castile/shikakai. Maybe I made them wrong? I added a smidge too much water (about 10%) to the soapnuts but I did simmer for an extra 10 min. And it has been 5 days since my last shampoo so maybe the soapnuts and mud would work if I’d used them 2-3 days ago cuz then I wouldn’t have an insane amount of build-up. I don’t think it’s product build-up cuz I only use flaxseed gel and Wellness Mama’s hairspray (lemon juice and vodka) so it must be excess oil-production from the drying effects of the castile/shikakai soap (esp. since my skin and face are so dry). I don’t want to give up on mud or soapnuts yet so I will attempt wash my hair more frequently. I am also going to try honey highlights in my hair tomorrow (I’m too impatient for Wellness Mama’s gradual sun-lightening spray cuz I am never outside) so maybe I’ll fall in love with honey shampoo. I will try using homemade ionic silver in place of water in the recipe so hopefully it won’t spoil quickly like others have noticed. If that doesn’t work, maybe I’ll dilute the mud and mix it in some new tea with foaming herbs like the ones listed on this DIY site (formula would be similar to Moroccan Method).
I just wanted to say that detox can vary depending on the person. Mine has lasted (and maybe still is going) since late last year… maybe september/october. If you still have build up after a shower, you’re not alone. For months I’ve had that and its been pretty frustrating. I was using MM but am trialling a mixture of bentonite clay, ACV, wheatgrass powder (minerals!), and EOs. Lately I’ve had a few showers where my hair has come out reasonable for the first time in a while. This is not to say I’ve found what definitely works for me yet, still trialling, but I think you just have to be patient and find what works best for you. We are all different.