The Only Thing You Need to Make DIY Shampoo

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We’re all about a good DIY—a lipstick, a body scrub, a face mask—but when it comes down to essentials like shampoo and body wash, well, things start to get a little shaky. It makes sense: If the only knowledge you had to go on was the mess of ingredients on just about any store-bought shampoo bottle, it would seem that a DIY shampoo would be next to impossible to make, unless you somehow had access to an extensive inventory of things that appear not to occur in nature.

Not so! It’s actually incredibly easy and inexpensive to formulate an effective shampoo of your very own. There’s only one thing that you need, and that’s liquid castile soap. Soap making is something of an art, and frankly, it’s one that we’re not very acquainted with, which is why we turn to liquid castile soap as a foundation for all of our sudsy DIY projects. It’s unscented, pH-balanced (so it won’t irritate your skin or scalp), and can be mixed with a variety of supplementary ingredients to make a unique shampoo formula you’ll love.

Castile soap is very cleansing, so it’s perfect for those with oily roots to do away with the greasies without stripping moisture, but those who have drier or coarser textures will want to add some more hydrating ingredients. One of our favorite recipes comes courtesy of Wellness Mama, who formulated this simple, straightforward DIY method. She mixes 1/4 cup of coconut milk, 1/3 cup of liquid castile soap (she recommendsDr. Bronner’s), and 20 drops of your essential oil of choice for a personalized fragrance.

All you have to do is combine all of the ingredients into an empty jar or bottle and shake to mix, and you’ve got your very own DIY shampoo. If your hair is extra dry, you can add around a 1/2 teaspoon of your favorite oil, like olive or almond, to hydrate—and that’s it! You can switch it up with different essential oils every time you make it, and you can even use it as a body wash if you have extra. It’s so easy, and you’ll feel way more accomplished than you would had you headed to the store to pick up one of those big plastic bottles with all those ingredients you can’t pronounce.