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You’ve probably seen some of the dry shampoos available these days. Maybe you’ve even tried a few of them.
There’s a lot to be said for the fact that dry shampoos are healthier for your hair than wet shampoos which tend to strip your hair of its natural oils.
While many of the dry shampoos on the market work great, they are bit more money than I personally want to spend.
I got to thinking… the original idea of making dry shampoo at home has been passed down from generation to generation for decades now. So why not just make my own dry shampoo?
After doing a little research and trying a few different ingredients myself, here are some of the different kinds of dry shampoo you can make at home from items you have around the house…
#1 – Cornstarch Dry Shampoo Recipe
Add just a little bit of cornstarch to your roots. Then, blend it through your hair. Finally, brush the cornstarch out of your hair. The cornstarch soaks up the oil and dirt — which you remove when you brush the cornstarch out of your hair. This is one of the oldest tricks in the book when it comes to homemade dry shampoo!
#2 – Salt + Cornmeal Dry Shampoo Recipe
Mix one tablespoon of salt, and then 1/2 cup of cornmeal and put the mixture in a shaker of some sort, a salt or pepper shaker works fine, but you could also re-use a Parmesan cheese shaker as well which of course also allows you to recycle some plastic. You shake the mixture on your hair and then brush it out, as you brush your hair oil and dirt are removed!
#3 – Oatmeal + Baking Soda Dry Shampoo Recipe
Mix one cup of ground oatmeal with one cup of baking soda and keep in a container in your bathroom. On those days when you don’t have time to wash your hair or don’t feel like washing it, you can work some of the mixture into your roots and then brush it out. It will remove the oil and dirt like magic!
#4 – Cornmeal + Orris Root + Almonds Dry Shampoo Recipe
Combine one tablespoon of cornmeal, one tablespoon of orris root, and one tablespoon of very finely ground almonds. You’ll want to brush your hair well before using this mixture, then work the mixture into your roots and brush your hair well again to remove it. This recipe is especially good for those with really oily hair.
#5 – Cheesecloth Dry Shampoo Method
This one doesn’t even require any ingredients from the kitchen. Instead, all it requires is a piece of cheesecloth. Wrap the cheesecloth around a wide natural bristle brush and then brush your hair. The cheesecloth will remove any dirt and oil from your hair.
#6 – Dry Clay Recipe For Dry Shampoo
This was another one I had never heard of, but it is supposed to work. Take any dry clay such as agar agar, white clay, or even green clay and work the powdered clay into your roots and then brush out. You basically do it the same way as you would with the other dry mixtures, but I thought it was interesting that even clay would work. Also, apparently because the clay has silica in it, it strips the sebum or oil from your hair so you may want to consider adding powdered milk to the mixture to help keep your hair soft.
#7 – Baby Powder Dry Shampoo Recipe
Of course, baby powder is probably the most common and well-known method for making your own dry shampoo. Some people rub it straight onto the roots. Others mix baby powder with baking soda to make a dry shampoo.
Some Unique Dry Shampoo Ideas
If you want your dry shampoo to be scented, you can add dried flowers such as lavender, rose petals or whatever to the mixture. Then put it in a jar with a tight lid. Keep the jar in a dry, cool and dark place for 2 to 4 weeks. Waa-lah, your dry shampoo mixture will be scented!
If you want your hair to smell nice after using a dry shampoo, put a few drops of your favorite essential oil in a clean spray bottle filled with water. After you do the dry shampoo routine, spritz some of the scented water on your hair. I do this myself, and it works great!
If you have dark hair and you want a darker powder base instead, simply replace any of the white powder bases mentioned in the recipes above with cocoa powder.
If you want a little extra volume, try using flour as a dry shampoo for your hair. There are lots of different types of flour. Each gives slightly different results. Wheat flour and oat flour may
be the best ones for those with dark hair.
TIP: Baking powder can also be used as a dry shampoo, but some say that it tends to dry out your hair a bit more than the other ingredients mentioned above do.
More DIY Dry Shampoo Recipes & Tips
- Save Some Water With A Dry Shampoo
- Don’t Buy Dry Shampoo When You Can Make It
- How To Make Dry Shampoo Using Essential Oils
- DIY Dry Shampoos vs Commercial Dry Shampoos
My favorite things to write about are topics that have to do with pregnancy, weddings, saving money, living green, and life with dogs. When I’m not writing, I love to spend time with my husband, read, create 3D artwork and Native American beadwork.
nice list, but thought you should know agar agar isn’t clay, but a seaweed product popular with vegans as a gelatine substitute! maybe it works, but agar powder tends to be a bit pricier than the other food items.
I have a question: My hair is color treated with a light brown on top of white hair. A little bit of the color rinses out after each washing, so I’m wondering if dry shampooing would remove the oils but leave the color in. I don’t want it to remove the color.
i have used the plain white flour and it does work
I have very long, dark brown hair. Anytime I used baby powder, the top would be light brown and dusty looking, and the bottom would be dark no matter how much I brushed it. I just tried cornstarch, and it seemed to do the same thing at first, but I covered my brush with a piece of cheesecloth and brushed it out more, and then wet my brush a tad and brushed again, and voila! MUCH better! Now I’ve got to try cocoa powder… dark is good for me!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! This totally saved my life when I went No ‘Poo for a few weeks. (I’m making my own all natural beauty products for 6 months, and shampoo/conditioner is the second thing I cut out…not a good idea! http://mothernaturesmaid.wordpress.com/) I went through a horrible greasy phase when I went No ‘Poo, and I was applying dry shampoo ALL WRONG until I saw this site!!! I was putting so much on I looked like George Washington! I’ve since discovered the magic of castile soap….
If you want to cut shampoo out use a pint jar a couple table spoons of baking soda and mix with water and for ur conditioner use the same jar but use apple cider vinegar ( vinegar mixture only on ends of hair) ive done this for over a year but stoped the vinager mix and went with coconut oil afterwards it works the same and i love the results but it took time for my hair to get use to the change from shampoo
Recipe for dark or black hair:
corn starch
baking soda
drawing charcoal (for turning dry shampoo black, so there will be no white residues on
your dark hair!!!)
Grind drawing charcoal (buy at artist shop, perhaps also activated charcoal powder
would work) with spoon on the shallow plate.
mix cca 1 part of the grinded charcoal with 2 parts of corn starch (it absorbs grease)
and 1 part of baking soda (it absorbs odour). You shoud experiment with the quantity of
charcoal, the more you add, darker dry shampoo you wil get.
If you have brown hair (brunette), you can add grinded brown sidewalk chalk, for
bluenettes blue sidewalk chalk, for lightbrown hair add yellow or light brown sidewalk
chalk etc…
apply the mixture in your hair, wait 5 minutes and rubb it off with a towel. You dont
have to rubb off all of the powder, becouse it has the same color as your hair.
Dry shampoo is a great solution for dyed hairs becouse it reduces the need for hair
washing and therefore preserve the color and prevent its fading. It works great for my
hair dyed with natural indigo (indigofera tinctoria mixed with hot water 65°C and 1/4
tbs of non iodic salt left immediately after mixing for 30 minutes on extra clean hair
washed with dishsoap).
I tried mixing cocoa powder and a little bit of bakign soda with baby powder (cornstarch is pretty much nonexistant here) and it worked pretty good. My hair is huge now. I put it in a Toph-like beehive and it holds itself with only 2 crossed bobby pins. And I’m an European with super straight hair.
i rub grounded coffee on my scalp after rubbing the starch and it works well 🙂 it even made my dandruff dissapear like magic and i read online that some ppl swear by coffee ground for dandruf. but now since regular flour is less expensive than starch, i will try flour next time so thanks for the tip..
excited to try this technique, thank you for sharing.
Tried #3 (oatmeal and baking soda) this morning since I didn’t have time to wash, dry, and style my hair. Did 1/4 cup of finely ground oats (blended in my vitamix), 1/4 cup of baking soda, and about a 1/4 a cup of cocoa powder since I have brown hair, plus it makes your hair smell like chocolate. Put it in a small jar and used an old make up brush to apply. Worked great!
I don’t like using baking soda, it seems to make my hair feel grimy and heavy.
I like many of these recipes and plan to try them.
I try to use organic and natural products on my and also eat organic foods. I’ve used baby powder in the past for different purposes on my body. I don’t use it now. This is just a suggestion. You might want to research baby powder ingredients or any powder that has talc. Of course it’s up to each individual if they want to use organic products. Many people don’t care if they use products with toxins. Maybe they don’t understand the long term effects on their bodies. It doesn’t hurt today but might cause major disease after years of use. Except for the baby powder this is a great article and thanks for the information. I learn every day about a product I thought was good and I could trust. It can be frustrating but worth it for our health 🙂