DIY Dry Shampoo

Editor’s Note: Today’s guest post is from Hannah Hepworth. Hannah is the founder of Whole Simple Life and former Early Childhood Special Education Teacher, who now stays at home with her 3 young children. Whole Simple Life is a website designed to help women simplify their lives, become more organized and provide information on relevant health topics as well as simple real food recipes. You can connect with her on facebook,  twitter, google +, and pinterest.  Don’t forget to subscribe to the Whole Simple Life newsletter to receive free updates of all of the new great content. Read on here to learn how she makes an easy DIY dry shampoo.

It’s DIY month around here — we do this every April, and this is our third annual DIY month! We love to encourage you to do things yourself, in your home. All month long we’ll be sharing projects, recipes, remedies, crafts, and more with you.

In an effort to reduce my time spent in the morning getting ready for the day I often go days without washing my hair…is that gross?  Now I used to wash my hair every single day until I realized I was wasting a ton of time and my hair was getting super dry!

Currently I only wash my hair twice a week which saves me a whole lot of time and keeps my hair much healthier.  It also cuts back on the amount of shampoo and conditioner I have to use thus saving a bit of money too. For the record I do shower everyday but my shower cap is my best friend:)

Sometimes by the end of the 4 day break from washing my hair it starts to get a bit oily, and once in a while I need to remove purple shampoo from hair.  My hair actually takes a really long time to get oily in the first place and it’s also blonde which helps it look less oily.  However, I wanted to be able to extend my anti-hair washing stint a bit longer. Dry shampoo to the rescue!

Dry Shampoo?

My friends were talking about dry shampoo and how much they loved it. I thought about giving it a try…until I read the ingredients at the store. The commercial brand included butane, hydroflurocarbons, and fragrance (which is generally a bad sign), among other ingredients.  I decided to come up with a more natural way to extend my hair washing hiatus.

Natural Dry Shampoo

I had heard of people using baby powder so I sprinkled a bit of that in my hair and kept getting whiffs of it throughout the day which reminded me of diapers…not good.  Then while perusing pinterest I saw all sorts of concoctions for homemade dry shampoo from ground up oats, to baking soda, to arrowroot powder, cocoa powder (for dark hair) and cornstarch.  I decided to go with cornstarch and am so glad I did.  It is super inexpensive and very fine which helps it to blend in with your hair a lot easier and absorb oil much more effectively.

I also added 3 drops of lavender essential oil to the cornstarch to give it a nice smell, lavender oil has many benefits for skin health so it only seems fitting to add it to something you’re going to use on your scalp.  It’s much better than smelling baby powder on your head!

DIY Dry Shampoo Recipe

I purchased a little shaker container from the grocery store for a dollar.  You want to make sure the cornstarch doesn’t come out too fast, so the smaller the holes the better.  You could also use empty spice containers.

What You’ll Need:

Shaker Container

1/4 c. cornstarch (plus 1/4 c. cocoa powder for dark hair)

3 drops of lavender oil (optional)

Mix ingredients and you’re done!

Then comes the fun part.  Below I have some pictures so you can see exactly how I did it.

How It Works

Step 1: Part hair as normal

Step 2: Sprinkle a small amount of dry shampoo onto part.

Step 3: Use your nails and scratch your scalp around the part to get the cornstarch rubbed in.

Step 4: Really use your fingertips to work the dry shampoo into your scalp. It will look poofy and a bit crazy but that’s ok.

Step 5: Now part your hair again in a different place. I just did it on the other side of my head, the opposite of where I usually part.

Step 6: Repeat the process.  Depending on how thick your hair is, you might want to do a few applications. Just remember a little goes a long way.  After you are done with applying and scrubbing it in with your fingers, use a brush and brush your hair BACK and really distribute the shampoo all over your scalp.

Step 7: Style as usual and enjoy grease free hair and all the extra time you saved in the morning!

I would love to hear what you do to save time and simplify your morning routine.  Have you ever made your own dry shampoo?

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