DIY all-natural bio-degradable hair shampoo

Hello friends! I hope you’ve already read my previous blogs – DIY all-natural pre-wash nourishing hair conditioner & DIY all-natural hair serum to manage frizzy hair. If not please do, as I have written on why I have chosen these for my hair.  If you have one of these problems and are sick n tired using false promising & chemical laden shampoos, look no beyond than this DIY shampoo…

• Hair fall?
• Damaged & brittle hair?
• Dandruff?
• Early grey hair?

I have been using this diy shampoo since my childhood until my teens… Yep I did get carried away by the misleading advertisements 😬, and departed from it for few years… I have a very thick, long and wavy hair and never had faced any hair problems other than frizzy hair. Suddenly a year after having a baby, every time I washed my hair I noticed a handful would fall 😮. I changed my shampoos, tried x,y & z only to notice more hair fall… In between I was greatly influenced by the zero waste lifestyle by Bea Johnson & the zero waste girl Lauren Singer, watched their tedex talks & read few wonderful books which changed my perspective and made me realise how the small things that we do unknowingly on a daily basis can impact environment… And cause of these two major reasons I went back to my basics and started using this all-natural shampoo.

Ingredients:

<To DIY plz click on the ingredients, it will take you to product on amazon page. This blog is under Amazon associates program and if you click through those links and buy products from Amazon, we would earn referral fee, thank-you!>

• 2 parts – Acacia concinna / Shikakai sun dried or Shikakai powder
• 2 parts – Soap nuts / Reetha / Kunkudukaya, de-seeded and sun dried or Soap nuts powder
• 1 part – Wild Gooseberries / Amla, de-seeded and sun dried or Amla powder
• 1/4th part of mixed herbs (I’ve used dried henna leaves, hibiscus leaves & flowers, methi seeds) 🍃🌺🌿 <*optional>

I am not specifying organic because Shikakai, Soap nut & Gooseberries are wild harvested, meaning they are gathered from wild trees grown without any kind of chemicals, fertilizers, or pesticides. Saponin  found in Shikakai, Soap nut actually tastes bad to insects so no pesticides are needed. They are organically grown by Mother Earth!

Why these ingredients?

Almost every Indian at-least knows and agrees that these ingredients are good for the hair… hence you can see them in many shampoo advertisements too that these ingredients are there. Instead of blindly trusting those, just check out the ingredients list for yourself – it would be not more than 5%!

Acacia concinna / Shikakai:

Shikakai is mother natures natural hair fruit which can help your hair! In sanskrit Shika means hair and Kai means the fruit, literally Shikakai is “fruit for the hair” and has been long used in Ayurveda! It has excellent cleansing & clarifying properties and is the best hair care ingredient that is being used from the ancient times in India!

• Shikakai is rich in nutrients like antioxidants and vitamins A, C, D, E and K, which help nourish hair and are essential for the healthy growth of hair.It . Its vitamin C content, especially, helps promote hair growth by giving your scalp a collagen boost thereby helps nourish follicles. It is also a great source of antioxidants that help prevent free-radical damage.
• Regular use of shikakai has been found to strengthen hair strands, reduce hair fall, increase volume of hair and also get rid of dandruff and other scalp problems. It is also effective in treating skin related problems such as dry skin and other skin infections.
• Shikakai is a natural mild cleanser. Which means that it cleanses your hair without stripping away the natural oils from it and helps maintain the optimum pH level of your scalp.
• Shikakai has antifungal properties that help curb dandruff. It also effectively deals with dryness and itching.
• Using shikakai can help delay / put off your hair’s natural graying process. Believe me I’ve practically seen this in my family! People using commercial shampoos tend to get gray hair in there 30s and and people using shikakai get them in their 50s or 60s!
• Shikakai helps curb hair loss by restoring scalp health.

Soap Nuts \ Reetha:

Widely grown and available in our very own land India 🇮🇳 … Our ansistors have discovered their benefits and have been using them since ages! Soap nuts are a berry shell that naturally contains soap. They grow on the soap berry (Sapindus mukorossi) tree. The natural soap found in these berries is called sapononin. Saponin is a natural cleaner that works as a natural surfactant!

• Makes your hair shinier & softer.
• It is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal and keeps your scalp free from dandruff.
• It prevents hair loss.

Indian Gooseberry / Amla:

This fruit ripens in the autumn in wet, forested, hilly areas on the Indian subcontinent. In India it is considered as a sacred tree. The fruit is very nourishing, but it tastes sour. Both, dried and fresh fruits can be consumed for their amazing health benefits & can be used in the all-natural hair shampoo too…

• Amla enriches hair growth and hair pigmentation.
•  It strengthens the roots of hair, maintains color, and improves luster.
• Applying its paste on hair roots improves hair growth and color.
•  It has been shown to reduce the chances of hair loss. This quality is due to the carotene content of Amla, as well as its iron content and general antioxidant capacity, which reduces hair loss by not allowing free radicals to damage hair follicles or impact the hormones that can cause premature hair loss.

Aren’t these qualities convincing enough to give it a shot? Let’s see how to prepare this shampoo. We would need to bulk prepare a Sh-Re-Am powder and then diy your shampoo as and when required using this powder….

How to prepare the dry Sh-Re-Am powder?

• Take all the ingredients ie Shikakai, Reetha & Amla in 2:2:1 ratio and 1/4th of mixed herbs if you choose to add them and sun ☀️ dry them.
• Get them powdered in a mill or if using powders readily available in the market -just mix them in 2:2:1 ratio.
• Store this Sh-Re-Am powder in a air tight container. It would stay fresh for more than a year.

How to prepare the Sh-Re-Am shampoo?

• Take 1 to 10tbsp of Sh-Re-Am powder depending on the length & thickness of your hair.. For example I would need 1 tbsp for my LOs hair & around 4 to 8 <when I’ve pre-oiled> tbsps for my hair as it’s hip long & thick.
• Add enough water 💦 say around 1C for a tbsp of powder & bring it to boil for say 10mins & strain using a course metal mesh. < Alternately you could soak the powder in water overnight, then boil & filter too… >
• Tadaa your diy shampoo is ready to be used!!

How to wash you hair using this diy Sh-Re-Am shampoo? 

• Rinse your hair thoroughly with warm water and use this solution in place of your regular shampoo.
• Take a palm full of this shampoo and then work into the roots of your hair, massaging & scrubbing. Repeat until it lathers.
• You might have you wash your hair twice with this shampoo for it to lather. Unlike commercial shampoos, that have artificial foaming agents, shikakai & reetha do not produce lots of bubbles or foam. Foam simply is not an indicator of cleaning power. When a slight lather appears, it means your scalp is clean and now move towards ends and when it lathers it can be rinsed.
• You would instantly feel that your scalp & hair is so damn clean & fresh 💁! This will for sure solve all of your hair problems… It’s enough if you wash your hair weekly ones using this diy shampoo…

If you are a 1st timer this would definitely require some time for you to get used to it, but in no time you will fall in love with it and will never look for an alternative. All you need is a little patience in preparing the powder (which can be prepared in bulk and stored for a year) and a little more to get used to it! This might make the hair a little frizzy though but it can be resolved by using the DIY all-natural hair serum to manage frizzy hair after wash! I have sticked on to this hair routine and am really happy with my hair! To inspire you guys to use this, I am posting a pic of my hair 😊..

This is not only good for you but the environment 🌳 too… The grey water from the washroom can be directly used for watering the plants, saponin is a natural insect repellent, it acts as a pesticide!

For those who cannot DIY this check here to know what’s really in your commercial shampoo & harmful chemicals to be avoided in shampoos and for friends abroad do check if your products are safe in EGW skin deep database or download their app Healthy Living and opt for a safer product!

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P.S: Though it is a 100% natural product, few people might be allergic to it. Please do a patch test before using.