Homemade Shampoo

Step 2 STIMULATE

To wake up your scalp and your senses, try tea tree and peppermint oil!
This one's my personal favorite, and the one I use daily. It's so refreshing!

Combine

• ¹/₄ cup distilled water
• ¹/₄ cup liquid Castile Soap - I use unscented, but you can choose your favorite
• 2 tsp jojoba oil
• ¹/₈ tsp peppermint ess oil
• ¹/₈ tsp tea tree ess. oil

Mix all ingredients, then add ¹/₄ cup distilled water
Store in a bottle. Use as you would any shampoo, rinse well.

Comments

[rocketboyroger]

Firstly, thanks for this instructable scoochmaroo, it's been very eye-opening for me :) Secondly, I have a question about the water...do you know if it's OK to use deionised water instead of distilled? I bought a big container of deionised after a shop assistant assured me they were the same, only to get home and google it to find that actually, they are slightly different. Do you have any idea if it will do the job? Cheers R

[scoochmaroo]

De-ionized water is great. Go for it!

[rocketboyroger]

Excellent! Thanks for letting me know :D

[rocketboyroger]

...also, do you think this is suitable for using as hand wash...after all, it's got the tea tree oil's antiseptic qualities :)

[scoochmaroo]

I use this as my everything wash. Tea tree oil is great for my acne-prone skin!

[rocketboyroger]

That's brilliant! I am planning to use it the same way (I've just refilled all my hand wash dispensers and shower gel bottle with a batch) It just smells so damn nice :D Thanks again

[oldermommy]

could you add glycerine to "thicken" it up?

[scoochmaroo]

You can use glycerin. However, unless the humidity of air is over 65%, glycerin draws moisture from the lower layers of the skin and holds it on the surface, drying the skin from the inside out. Obviously, over time, this could cause some negative results. Another user has suggested xantham gum as a natural thickener.

[DeliciousMystic]

arrowroot might work as well

[moni01960]

Isnt that a sugar?

[thalden]

No, it is a lipid like wax

[dllozo]

Wondering if I'm being overly-nervous about using tea tree oil? I already use it daily in my face wash and I've added some to witch hazel as a daily toner/astringent. However I worry about using it was a body wash/shampoo since I've read that it's toxic to cats. Do you think I need to worry at such a low concentration? Thank you so much for this post - really helping me in my quest to reduce waste!

[DeliciousMystic]

most essential oils are toxic to pets.. and some to humans.. peppermint can kill you if you ingest as little as a teaspoon. It is just very concentrated. I don't think you will cause any problems in such a low concentration, but i'm not sure.. What I would be more concerned about as far as your own health is concerned, is that tea tree is a very strong anti-bacterial, and the main reason you never use tea tree for internal uses is that it will destroy your intestinal flora, and other "good bacteria". Typically, for this reason, sustained, regular use of tree is is avoided, because even our externals need symbiotic bacteria to keep us healthy, and that as I understand it, the oils and it's anti-bacterial properties can either penetrate your skin, if subjected to it enough, or otherwise upset the balance of your symbiotic micro-organisms. So, they say to limit the use of tea tree oil, so as not to cause your systems to become unbalanced.. oh!, and i think the main concern with the cats would be them drinking the water in the bottom of the tub, which would have the tea tree residue in it, or rubbing on you while you were still wet with it, and then cleaning themselves.. So, at least the cat concerns could be minimized by keeping them away from it. All of that said, I sue tea tree oil for various things when needed, and I have cats and neither of them has shown any symptoms over the last few years that I would attribute to contact with tea tree.. hope that helps

[madeleine914]

Thanks for the instructions! Quick q: can I use olive oil versus jojoba oil? How much of a difference will that make?

[DeliciousMystic]

a better substitution for the jojoba oil would be grapeseed oil. It is really light and won't clog pores or cause your skin to break-out. It is suitable for any skin or scalp type, is easy to find, and useful in many homemade conditioners and lotions..

[n5vwy]

extra light olive oil works great! Give it a try. There is no odor to deal with.

[Guzzii]

When you are using your natural shampoos, are you also using a conditioner, or is the shampoo fine on it's own? Thanks!

[DeliciousMystic]

I make a hair rinse from apple cider vinegar diluted with a tea i make with sage and rosemary, good for dark and greying hair. about 3x more tea than AVC. It works as an excellent conditioner, helps to balance the ph of the scalp, and has completely eradicated folliculitus that I had fought with for over ten years.. I don't have a link handy, but there are many webpages with variations of the rinse, with lists of which herbs work best with which hair, red, blonde, black, oily, dry, thick, thin, etc.

[rpguy]

Good day, the tea you use, is it a herbal product and if so what brand
thanks

[DeliciousMystic]

I just make it myself from herbs.. I googled herbs for hair, and there are several lists out there that say which herbs are best for which colors, conditions, hair types, etc.. then I just make a really strong tea out of whichever herbs im using, and slow cook em in water for an hour or so, until its really dark and I'm pretty sure the herbs ore completely spent..

[frogsocks]

Thanks for this article Scooch (I hope you don't mind if I call you Scooch)! Quick question about this recipe. Do you mix all of the non-water ingredients, then add 1/4 cup water or do you mix all of the ingredients listed then add an additional 1/4 cup of water? Basically, do you use 1/4 or 1/2 cup water total!

I tried it with 1/2 cup and it's really watery, although I suspect that it will still be pretty watery even with 1/4 cup. Thanks!