Eco Shampoo

[grahoom]

i wash my hair using table salt... - i do this as i suffer from dandruff, and using table salt (due to its texture) gets rid of the dry skin, and also is antiseptic to some degree.

my hair feels loads better using salt rather than shampoo or anything else.

although, you must remember do rinse it off properly, or you have loads of salt in your hair... which looks pretty bad!!! hehehe.

[alchemy0]

I've just ordered some soap nuts (shells that you can wash your clothes with), anyway on the same page were soap nut pieces and it said in the blurb you could make liquid soap, shampoo etc, so I've ordered some and will give it a go. I'll let you know.

I've been using my daughters organic shampoo, I've tried a couple but not found one that I've liked yet!

Claire

[the.fee.fairy]

Here's a recipe for Soapwort Shampoo:

Soapwort Herbal Shampoo This is a very fragrant and stimulating for your
scalp.It prevents dandruff and promotes hair growth. Take 1 cup of each of
the following and boil them and let them reduce themselves in 2 cups H20. Do
not use metal pans....I use an old Mr. Coffee pot or a vision clear glass
pan. Nettle Spearmint Rosemary and for a rich chestnut appearance cloves

Let them steep for at least 2 hours...strain and the liquid left will be very
dark brown. Mix these with the shampoo at a 1:1 combination....if you want a
darker color add just a little more rosemary and cloves. Pour into bottles
and let it set overnight. In the morning you can add a couple drops of your
favorite EO to add fragrance....

For the soapwort recipe take 2 handfuls of soapwort to the glass pan and pour
over it 1-1 1/2 cups water. Bring this to a boil and lower the heat and
simmer for 10 minutes. Cover it and let it steep until cool strain it into a
bottle that closes tightly. When you add the nettle, rosemary, spearmint and
cloves let it infuse for at least 60 minutes...I prefer to let it infuse over
night. every time you use it, it needs to be shaken. This won't give you a
head full of suds as commercial ones will but the cleansing is undeniable.
Soapwort is nothing more that Wild Sweet William.

You can add fennel to it as well then it would condition as well.For lighter
hair substitute the rosemary for chamomile and the cloves for lemon or
lemongrass..



However, it is possible for you to 'wash' your hair in conditioner - i haven't used shampoo for about 7 months (except when i'm dyeing it...). Just get some conditioner (Lush stuff works nicely, but i use Superdrug's 'just' conditioner for financial reasons - its only 32p a bottle and i use a lot!).
Get some cheap conditioner, make the hair wet, use a big handful and slap it on the top of your head. Now scrub your head as if you were rubbing in shampoo. Tie it up if its long and leave it for a few minutes (usually, i leave it while i cover myself in soap and wash) then rins out well. Now take some more conditioner, either the cheap one, or a nice smelling one and do the same again, but this time make sure you pull it through to the ends too. Tie up again, and leave for a few minutes. Rins out well, i can't stress how much you have to rinse.
A really good blast with cold water doesn't go amiss either.

If you've got long hair, then melt some coconut oil ( a really tine amount...less than you think you need...) into your hand and put it on the ends and length whilst the hair is damp. Leave.

And, whilst i'm on the subject of hair - avoid anythign with silicones in it - that's anything in the ingredients that ends with Cone (dimethicone for example) as it stops your hair taking up oils and moisture.

I think that's it for now...any questions, ask!

[AnnetteR]

I've been trying different concoctions that I make the day I wash my hair. My most recent concoction is 12 oz of water, a handful of baking soda (perhaps a couple of tablespoons), about a half teaspoon of rosemary, a tablespoon of mashed cucumber, and about an ounce of milk.

The ingredients are random things that I pulled from other shampoo recipes, except for the cucumber. The cucumber just popped into my head as something I should try.

I use the entire mixture, saturating my hair with it while in the tub. My hair looks lovely and my scalp isn't all itchy, flakey and rashy like it normally is with commercial products. Hooray!!

[Martin]

I'm another "Faith in Nature" user - I usually use the seaweed one, but have a bottle of the Rosemary at the moment - both are exactly what I want in a shampoo - they wash my hair - full stop! (and work out very cheap!)- I've got totally sick and fed up with silicon additives, ghastly chemicalised pongs, and other "goop" that seems to find it's way into shampoo these days!
Tried a saponin based "natural" shampoo once - had to rinse it off pdq, made my scalp itch like mad

[Shirley]

I had to stop using the faith in nature rosemary one as it seriously affected my skin... good to know that it doesn't affect everyone the same... unless it's one particular bottle?? I wonder... i might send it back to them actually just in case.

I do love their chocolate foam bath though

[Hillbilly]

OOOh am going to try the soapwort recipe!!

I have just stopped using Faith in Nature and switched to http://www.purenuffstuff.co.uk as seemingly 100% natural and not too expensive. I was hoping to get some GreenPeople stuff as I have a conditioner of theirs given as a present and its lovely but holy mackerel have you seen the prices???????????????????????????????????????

[Shirley]

Perhaps we could get together and have a go at making some of our own stuff Jo...... theres a place in Forres that has supplies too - http://www.aromantic.co.uk/ they even run courses but they are pricey!!