How to Make Homemade Herbal Shampoo

If you have a hard time finding the perfect combination of your favorite herbal scents in shampoos, you should try making your own at home. Not sure what all of those unpronounceable ingredients are in your current shampoo? Forget all of the harsh chemicals and strange ingredients, make your own and know exactly what is in it.

I have found that when I buy herbal shampoos, often times the scents mixed are not what I am looking for or they are too strong or not strong enough. You can make your own personal blend with a basic unscented shampoo or a castile soap such as Dr Bronner’s.

You will need:

Basic unscented Shampoo or a Castile Soap
Glycerin
Your favorite Herbs or Essential Oils
An Old Shampoo Bottle

You can use either dried or fresh herbs. I love to add lavender to my shampoo. Sometimes I have fresh lavender growing in my garden, sometimes I have to buy it dried. You can mix together several of your favorite herbs or choose just one, the choice is up to you. As a note, if you use chamomile, it will add highlights and/or lighten your hair depending on how dark it is.

For this shampoo recipe, the amount of herbs you use varies depending on if they are fresh or dried. You will need either:

¼-½ cup of dried herbs
½-2/3 cup fresh herbs

You can also add a few tablespoons of dried citrus zest to the mixture as well.

The amount you use depends on how strong you like your herbal shampoo to smell. Some herbs have a stronger smell than others do, so you might need just a small amount of one herb while needing a larger amount of another.

Mix the herbs with 2 cups of water in a pot on the stove and heat without boiling for about 5 minutes, then turn off the heat. Let the herbs steep for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. You can either strain the herbs from the water, and move on to the next step, or you can put the water and herb mixture in a blender to reduce the size of the chunks of herbs and leave them in your shampoo. It is all a matter of preference.

If you do not have access to fresh herbs or prefer to use essential oils, you can do that too. You will need to add 5-15 drops of essential oil to 2 cups of water, depending on how strong you would like your shampoo to smell. Some essential oils have a stronger aroma than others, so you will be using more or less depending on the strength of the oil scent. This mixture does not need to be heated.

Add 1 cup of basic unscented shampoo or castile soap to the scented water and stir or whisk gently.

Add 1 cup of glycerin to the mixture and stir or whisk well.

Pour your homemade herbal shampoo into an old shampoo bottle and enjoy!

If you use chamomile, it may add highlights and/or lighten your hair depending on how dark it is.