How to make shampoo?

Shampoo is a liquid soap with added colorants fragrant nutrients essential oils

First make the liquid soap. It may be castile or natural. Add the colorants, and nutrients. Choose non-reactive utensils such as stainless steel, glass, or plastic.

Castile Herbal Shampoo Recipe

Shikakai Herbal Shampoo Recipe

Herbal Shampoo Ingredients

Soap

In the western world, fats and lye have been mixed together for centuries to make soap. Animal fats (lard) were common to make cheap soaps. Soap with Olive oil and lye is called Castile. One should be careful making soap at home. Lye can cause severe burns if not handled properly. Castile soaps (as a solid bar, or liquid, scented or unscented) are readily available at health food stores in United States.

In early 1950s, 'Sunlight' was a common commercial soap sold in India. At the same time, Desi soap was made with cotton seed oil and caustic soda. Desi soap was harsh and normally used to launder clothes.

Shikakai, and Reetha contain Saponin, a natural soap. Reetha has been used over centuries to launder woolen clothes and silk clothes. Shikakai has been used to wash hair. Reetha produces more lather than Shikakai. For Shampoo, a combination of Reetha and Shikakai is used.

Sulfur

You will notice sulfur as one of the ingredients in most of the commercial shampoos in United States. It makes the shampoo as ant-bacterial. Also helps in cleaning scalp.

In India, Neem oil and Mustard oil are commonly used.

Colorant and Fragrant

Colorant and fragrance should match. The basic purpose of colorant is not to dye your hair. It is just the color of the shampoo itself. For example, you may add yellow color and lemon oil to make a lemon shampoo.

Colorants can be made to give fragrance, and add many antioxidants at the same time. For herbal shampoo, you may make a colorant of one or more of : Amla powder, Broken Cinnamon sticks, Broken Cloves, Black tea leaves, Gotu Kola powder, henna powder.

Henna lets you retain some of the color as a dye. Gotu Kola is also called Brahmi, a popular ingredient to promote blood circulation in the scalp. Gotu Kola also has a small amount of Saponin. Gotu Kola powder may not be readily available in Indian Stores in United States, you may be able to buy Gotu Kola extract.

Nutrients

Amla and Gotu Kola are common nutrients added to make Herbal shampoos in India. Amla adds a large amount of Vitamin C, and Gotu Kola is believed to increase the scalp blood circulation. Nutrients are added as Basic oils, essential oils, extracts, or derived at home from powders or leaves. Common nutrients in general are:

Amla powder................................... Vitamin C

Black tea leaves............................. Antioxidant. You may substitute with Green tea

Gotu Kola Extract (Brahmi)........... Antibiotic, promotes blood circulation.

Neem Oil.......................................... Antibacterial agent to create so called 'medicated shampoo'

Wheat-germ oil............................... Vitamin E softens hair

Sweet Almond oil............................ Vitamin E softens hair

Grape seed oil................................ Omega 3 fatty acids

Fractionated coconut oil................ Softens hair

Glycerin............................................. Moisturizer

Honey................................................ Moisturizer

Jaggery.............................................. Moisturizer

Essential Oils

The essential oils are added to seek a specific therapeutic value, or just for fragrance. You can add 10 drops of essential oil to a cup of liquid Castile soap or Natural Shikakai soap to make a quick herbal or floral shampoo. After adding the essential oil, let the shampoo age for about two days so that essential oil is well dispersed.

One of my favorites is to add 5 drops of Chameli (Jasmine) essential oil to half a cup of Baby Shampoo.

Herbal essential oils

1. Ajwain

2. Cardamom

3. Chamomile

4. Cinnamon

5. Cloves

6. Coriander

7. Eucalypts

8. Fennel

9. Peppermint

10. Tulsi (Holy Basil)

In United States, common herbal essential oils used for shampoo include: Rosemary, Sage, Nettles.

Floral essential oils

1. Chameli (Jasmine)

2. Champa

3. Lavender

4. Rose hips

5. Rose petals

6. Sandalwood

In United States, Lavender is common floral essential oils used for shampoo.

Google Group | Disclaimer | What do you think!