Solid shampoos are great for different reasons. They last very long because you only need a little bit of it to wash your hair and they are easily storable for at least 6 months. They also produce less waste since they don’t come in a plastic bottle that will be thrown away after use and they are very easily transportabl.e Just put a small piece of it in a reusable box and there you go!.
If you still need a little bit more convincing, here is a very easy recipe to make your own solid shampoo! It is a very mild and moisturizing shampoo especially suitable for people with dry and damaged hair (with an alternative for greasier hair as well). Many of my friends and family have tried it and they love it, it leaves your hair soft, smooth and easy to comb. You can also adapt the ingredients to your particular needs of course.
Here is what you need. Don’t be put off by the list, which might sound a little scary/or complicated at first. Most of the ingredients are actually more common than they appear and I will explain the purpose of each one of them.
INGREDIENTS
– 50 g of SCS powder (Sodium Cocoyl Sulfate) or SCI powder (Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate)
– 5 g of shea butter – you will notice in the next recipes that it is a super useful ingredients to have at home because it can be used for lots of different cosmetics (for instance to make a great lotion bar)
– 2 g of spirulina powder – you can find that in bio shops or sometimes even normal supermarkets
– 1 g of rhassoul clay powder (moroccan lava clay)
– 12 drops of essential oil such as petit grain bigarade (Citrus aurantium var. amara) or, if your hair tend to be rather greasy, clary sage (salvia sclarea)
– 2 tablespoons of water
– Silicone mould to make shapes – like the one you would use to bake muffins for instance – although I would recommend having one for your cosmetics and one for your cooking
You can find all these ingredients easily in bio/organic shops or online by several providers. Once you have them, you will be able to do several shampoos, which mean you will have supply for at least a year since you don’t need many grams of each ingredients and solid shampoos last so long. Isn’t that great?
SCS is a foaming surfactant (which, put simply, means a substance active on the surface – here, your hair/scalp) derived from the fatty acids of coconut oil; it is a mild cleanser that won’t strip or dry delicate skin and hair (if it does though, you should use the SCI, which is an even milder version and is usually well tolerated by any skin type). You might have heard how sulfates are pretty harmful for your hair and skin. With this claim, three harsh sulfates are the usually targeted ones: Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, or Ammonium Laureth Sulfate, so try to avoid those if you are buying your shampoo. Otherwise, not all sulfate are inherently bad for you! You simply need to know what is good for your skin or not. In general though, and that is why sulfates are used, the main purpose and property of sulfates is to separate dirt and oil from your skin or hair and then allow the water to carry it off your body. Sulfates also make your shampoo foam.
Shea butter protects, nourishes and moisturizes your hair. It will also help softening it and for combing your hair. Spirulina, usually used as a superfood because of how rich it is in vitamin A, B and E as well as iron and magnesium, will moisturize your hair and make them soft, as well as strengthen and revitalize them. Rhassoul is a cleaning clay, absorbing and softening. It gives your hair suppleness and volume. Finally, the essential oil Petit Grain Bigarade is restorative, regulates the secretion of sebum (the oily secretion of your skin) and invigorates the scalp. It is made from the leaves and green twigs of the bitter orange tree. The essential oil of the medicinal herb clary sage balances and regulates the production of natural oils in the skin and reduces both oily and dry skin.
So, now you know everything and are ready to start!
RECIPE
Begin by melting the SCS with the water in a double boiler/au bain marie. I usually use a glass container (it could be the empty glass jar of your spaghetti sauce for instance!) and put it in a small pan filled with a little bit of water. Heat it gently and squash it with the back of a tablespoon until the mixture forms a homogenous paste.
Then add the shea butter and continue to mix and squash the paste. Out of the heat, add the spirulina and the rhassoul. Keep mixing it up and squashing it.
Finally, add the last ingredient, the 12 drops of Petit Grain Bigarade or Clary Sage.
Then place the mixture into a silicone mould. If you don’t have a mould, just make little rectangles of paste that you place on a plate and cover them with kitchen foil.
Let it rest for two hours in the fridge.
After that, take it out of the mould and place it on a cloth or paper towel and let it dry completely during 72 hours before using it.
It’s done!
Just rub it on your wet hair and wash your hair like you would do with “normal” shampoo. The shampoo bar can be stored for up to 6 months. Tip –> to make sure your shampoo doesn’t fall apart: I always cut a little piece off to put put in the shower. I then leave the rest of it in a dry box in my bathroom and use it piece by piece.
Enjoy!
*Notes: You should be careful with any type of essential oils during pregnancy, make sure to check the essential oils properties if this is the case.
This recipe is based on: http://herbiotiful.com/shampoing-solide-entre-terre-mer-cheveux-secs/
By: Teresa Iglesias
Help…I love this but just used mine and the bar immediately broke in half. Need to cure it longer? Add more Shea butter? I’d like it to stay in one solid piece if possible. Maybe make smaller and round?
Hey Hanna,
Thank you for your interest, I’m glad you tried it out! Did you let it dry for 3 days after taking it out of the fridge? That way it ensures it is solid enough before using it. What I usually do is that I let it dry and then cut it in several smaller pieces so that after more than 3 days outside, since they keep drying up, I am able to use smaller piece in the bath and use it up less quickly. Maybe that is why mine doesn’t break. If you do want to have it in one big piece, then I would advice to let it dry a little bit longer (you should see the color changing).
It can also depend on what shape you used to make it? You can definitely try different shapes!
Let me know if this helps! :-)
Thank you Tere, I did a small rectangle and I think that I’ll do a small circle instead and that may help. We are in Hawaii too and it is humid so maybe it just needs to dry longer than 3 days.
Hey Hanna,
Yes, maybe that is it. The rectangle might be too thin and unable to hold up enough but definitely try to let it dry longer :-)
Could the shea butter be replaced with mango butter? And could the SCI powder be replaced with the SCI noodles?
Hi Lacy,
Thanks for your question and please accept my apologies for the delay in replying.
I am pretty sure you can replace the shea butter with mango butter, however I am not so familiar with mango butter and you might want to double check about quantities and how to replace shea with that. From a quick search, I came accross this article that might be helpful for you:https://joybileefarm.com/substitutions-lotion-bar-recipes/ – it says you can replace it with Mango butter, but the consistency might be softer. You might want to try it out and see if you need to put more or less water for example.
As for SCI noodles, you can definitely replace it as it is the same ingredient, simply in a different form! Just make sure to use as many grams as it says in the recipe and it should be good to go!
Hope this helps! :-)