I’ve often heard people say they do their best thinking in the shower, and although I can’t say I’m one who does heavy brain work amidst the suds I did take a minute the other day to read the back of my shampoo bottle.
What I saw surprised me. Water, sodium laureth sulfate, glycol distearate, sodium lauryl sulfate, cocamidopropylbetaine, cocamide MEA, zinc carbonate, behentrimonium chloride, fragrance, magnesium sulfate, sodium benzoate, zinc chloride, sodium citrate, benzyl alcohol, sodium chloride, sodium hydroxide, blue 1, red 4.
I’m not sure I want all those things that close to one of my most vital organs, or possibly getting into my eyes, nose or mouth. Of the twenty-two ingredients that are in most shampoos, only about three of them actually clean. Others, like cocadamide MAE are suspected carcinogens. Americans spend almost $11 million each year on shampoos that contain these toxic and useless ingredients.
As a college student I’m not generally keen on paying for more than I’m getting (and nineteen to one just doesn’t cut it) so I went to the trusty internet to investigate a solution, and found several recipes for homemade shampoo. After some testing and several washes my hair was happy and I had a good working concoction.
1/4 cup distilled water
1/4 cup liquid soap – I use unscented, but you can choose your favorite.
1/2 teaspoon jojoba, grapeseed, or other light vegetable oil (to give it some bulk).
This makes you a basic shampoo. It’s not as thick as store bought shampoo – because it doesn’t have any of those nasty congealing agents in it – but it cleans and lathers just as well! To add scent, just mix in an 1/8 of a teaspoon of your favorite essential oils (sometimes I use peppermint, lemon or coconut).
With a little bit of extra time, and a lot less money, you’ll have happy, healthy hair without any of that nasty cocadamide MAE or congealing agents.
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Thank you for this funny and useful post ! Do you think it is possible to add some properties like moisturizing ?
Caroline
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Vitamin E (in the dropper form) works really well to make your hair nice and soft. There are a ton of other varieties you can make as well. For example, if you have trouble with a dry scalp you can take the recipe above and add:
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons of apple juice
6 finely ground cloves
Put the ingredients into a grinder or blender and mix on low for 30 seconds. This mixture only lasts for about 3 days before you have to throw it out, so don’t make too much!
I’ve been using plain old bar soap and I get compliments on my hair. Sometimes I rinse with white vinegar or white vinegar that has had lemon shells left over from juicing soaked in it for a few days. I just don’t want all those chemicals in the usual commercial stuff. My hair and scalp stay healthier.
Nice post, it really is amazing all the junk the put in these products we use every day. One caveat to mention with that recipe is to make sure you are using natural or organic liquid soap – if not you have many of the same toxic ingredients in the liquid soap as you do the shampoo. A great pre-treatment is to use coconut oil on your hair before you shampoo it aids in the cleaning process plus adds moisture.
What is a good organic liquid soap?
2 of my favorites are Dr Bronner’s Magic Soaps, (which are certified by USDA National Organic Program), and Pangea Organics!
[...] you take a pure form of soap and spruce it up) can be fun and easy to do at home. Much like the DIY shampoo recipe posted a few weeks back, you can use Castille soap to make several varieties of body wash. Here is [...]
You can easily make your own beauty products at home. You’ll save money and get terrific skin in the process.