If you’re looking for the best DIY dry shampoo and tips on how to use it – you’re in the right place!
Many women wash and style their hair ever day. That means washing, drying, and styling with a flat iron or curling iron. All that work is damaging your hair.
Benefits of Washing your hair less often:
- Saves you loads of time you would have spent styling and washing your hair
- Prevents damaging your hair. You can skip the heat since you don’t have to style it daily
- It’s a great trick for Moms or anyone who might not get in a shower as often as she’d like
Marketers have done a great job brain washing us that we need to wash our hair every day. That way they sell more product. Cleaner is better – right?
Yet washing your hair daily is not good. It dries out your skin and scalp. Stripping it of the natural oils that make your hair healthy.
A few years ago I took the plunge to start washing my hair less often. I’d already transitioned to natural shampoo. Washing less often was the last piece of the puzzle. And the most challenging one.
I tried to go a few days without shampooing.
But it was frustrating!
My hair would get greasy on the 2nd day. Noticeably greasy.
Can you relate?
I wanted the benefits of not washing every day without the “I didn’t wash my hair today” look.
I’ve read that your hair will adjust and stop making so much oil. Wait a few weeks or months people said.
I tried to be patient. I really did.
When my hair looked greasy, I didn’t want leave the house. It was limiting and no way to live your life!
For the record, my hair has never adjusted after 2-3 or years. It still gets greasy on day 2.
Dry Shampoo to the Rescue
Then one of my friends let me in on her little secret. She always had such amazing hair – lots of volume and perfectly styled every day.
She told me she shampoos her hair 2 -3 days per week and the rest of the time she uses dry shampoo.
Dry dry shampoo sounded like something I wanted to try out for myself. It sounded like the answer i was looking for!!
Dry Shampoo Is Full of Crap
I was pretty psyched about dry shampoo. So I picked up a bottle of dry shampoo at the store. I was so excited I tried it out the dry shampoo without reading the ingredients first. Shame on me!
When I actually read the ingredients, I was heartbroken.
The dry shampoo worked really well. But the ingredients were something I couldn’t bare to use.
Have you started to examine your putting on your skin, and your children’s skin? Here’s the most important ingredients to avoid in your deodorant.
The store bought dry shampoo contains all sorts of chemicals and petroleum derivatives. Butane, isobutane and propane to name a few.
Pretty much propane like you use to work your grill AND lighter fluid. Read the label – contents are FLAMMABLE. And NOT SOMETHING you should put on your skin or your scalp. Or spray in your home.
It was an aerosol so I was absorbing the chemicals through my scalp AND inhaling some of that stuff.
Your Kids Exposure to Dry Shampoo Chemicals?
My kids are like my shadow most days. They’re still learning about bathroom privacy. I bet you have the same struggle!!
That meant my kids would breathe in all those chemicals when I sprayed the dry shampoo. Right into their delicate, sensitive lungs.
I looked into a few different brands of dry shampoo that come highly recommended. Specifically, Batiste Dry Shampoo and Living Proof Dry shampoo. Disappointing. The same crap was in them too.
Batiste earned poor safety marks from the Environmental Working Group. Living Proof is no better, it contains butane and isobutane. No good!
The complete opposite of what I was trying to achieve with my all my natural hair care stuff. Take heart – there is a solution!
DIY Dry Shampoo to the Rescue
I’m pretty stubborn, so I just kept looking for a dry shampoo that worked well and had ingredients I approved of.
You can get the benefits of not washing every day without the “I didn’t wash my hair today” look. And without the chemicals.
So what does a girl do? She goes to Pinterest to find a solution! (I bet you did too!)
Pinterest has lots of recipes for dry shampoo. It was a little overwhelming.
So I began testing dry shampoo recipes. The experiment began. It took me a few months and a lot of trial and error. But I’ve found the best DIY dry shampoo. So let’s jump in to learn the best DIY dry shampoo!
Best DIY Dry Shampoo
My favorite dry shampoo is a mixture of cornstarch (or arrowroot powder) and cocoa powder. Hands down the winner.
It was the first recipe I tried.
Ironically, I didn’t like at first. It left a lot of residue on my hair (although my hair looked good). But when I ran my hands through my hair, I got of bunch of cocoa powder under my nails. Gross!
Plus I got dry shampoo all over my clothes. It was a mess.
Then I realized it was user error. Not the DIY dry shampoo.
I was using way too much product! More is less.
I had started by sprinkling it on my scalp. Problem is I did not have a lot of control over the amount of product I was using.
I got WOW results when I applied it with an old makeup brush.
How to make the Best DIY Dry Shampoo
DIY dry shampoo is super easy to make. SUPER EASY! It will take you as much time to make it as it takes you to get the ingredients together. Which isn’t much since there are only 2 ingredients!
Ingredients:
- Cornstarch (or arrowroot powder) – to absorb oil
- Cocoa Powder – to conceal the powder to your hair color
- Small container with a lid
*I buy cornstarch and cocoa powder at the grocery store. Amazon prices are pretty inflated. Arrowroot is typically a better deal on amazon.
Directions:
- Combine cornstarch and cocoa powder in your container. I used a funnel to avoid a mess.
- Put the lid on and shake
- Use an old make up brush and get some product on the brush. Then tap the brush on the side of your container a few times to get off the excess.
- Apply the dry shampoo to your scalp. I part my hair and do one section at a time.
- Message dry shampoo into your scalp. Reapply in any areas you may have missed or need product.
- Done!
Before Dry Shampoo:
After Dry Shampoo:
Customizing Your Dry Shampoo
Scent:
Add 10 drops of your favorite essential oils. Enjoy a fresh scent without dangerous fragrance. It’s as easy as adding the drops to the DIY Dry Shampoo and giving it a good shake. Don’t overthink it.
Brown Hair:
I have medium brown hair and use 1 part cocoa powder to 3 or 4 parts cornstarch. I don’t measure, just eyeball it. You can always add more of either ingredient if you make it too dark or too light.
Black Hair:
Use more cocoa powder or add activated charcoal to the mix. Just be careful, activated charcoal stains.
Red Hair:
Add cinnamon in place of cocoa powder.
Blonde Hair:
Use only arrowroot or cornstarch (cocoa powder helps to disguise the dry shampoo on dark hair)
Super Oily Hair:
Add some bentonite clay to your DIY Dry Shampoo for some extra oil control.
A Hair Day Do Over:
If you’re looking to start fresh with your style, there’s an easy solution! Grab a spray bottle. Just add a tablespoon of arrowroot powder to some water. Spray on your roots and hair, then blow dry.
DO NOT SUBSTITUTE BABY POWDER FOR ANY INGREDIENT – it’s linked to cancer. You can read more about the $110 Million dollar lawsuit payout with Johnson and Johnson. More here.
Johnson and Johnson also covered up that formaldehyde was in their baby shampoo for years! Shattering any trust I had in the company and brand. Here’s the shampoo we use to keep our kids safe.
DIY Dry Shampoo Recipes I Tried
I tried a variety of dry shampoo recipes. No product is a one size fits all. The above recipe is my favorite…. BUT that doesn’t mean it meets the needs you’re looking for.
So here’s a run down of the other dry shampoos I tried in case your needs are different then mine.
Calcium Carbonate Dry Shampoo
This DIY dry shampoo calls for a mixture of calcium carbonate and water. Put it all in a spray bottle, shake, and apply to the roots of your hair.
Pros:
- My hair looked great!
- Provided a ton of volume to my hair
- Worked great as a hair do over (aka my hair was a mess and it looked like I slept on wet hair)
Cons:
- My hair felt like I had used massive amounts of hairspray. My hair stayed in place…. But… a helmet head was not the look I was going for. Since I love to twirl and play with my hair, I wanted to keep my soft hair.
- It left a fine mist of white spots on clothing and in the bathroom
- My hair got all wet. I had to use the hair dryer or wait a little while for my hair to dry. My goal was to avoid the hair dryer.
- More time consuming. I wanted something quick…. that I could put on and head out the door.
Use hairspray daily? Then calcium carbonate dry shampoo might be a great option for you. Remember it will wet down your hair. Since I skip the hairspray, it wasn’t the look I was going for.
Tash over at the Holistic Health Herbalist has you covered with her calcium carbonate dry shampoo recipe.
DIY Liquid Spray Shampoo Freshener
To make a liquid DIY Dry Shampoo Spray you add a tablespoon of cornstarch to a spray bottle and shake until combined. Then spray your roots and greasy spots of your hair.
Add some of your favorite essential oils for a fresh scent.
Pros:
- Effective
- Little to no residue on hair or clothing
- Not messy
- Simple & easy to apply
- Simple to add scent with essential oils
- Cost effective option – much less expensive than store bought options
Cons
- Cannot apply to styled hair. It may cause your hair to lose a curl. It has water in it, results may vary when used on styled hair
- Need to blow it dry for best results
Make Your First Batch of DIY Dry Shampoo Today!
It’s time to kick the store bought dry shampoo to the curb! It may work great, but it’s not doing anything good for your health!
DIY Dry Shampoo works just as well and is completely customizable. And very inexpensive!
I’d love to hear from you how your first go at DIY Dry Shampoo works for you in the comments below.
It’s really nice how you said that dry shampoo can be made without dangerous chemicals I like how you said that they should use cornstarch. My sister and I are looking into natural day shampoo, but I don’t have time to make them ourselves.
Hi Ashley!!
I’m glad you liked it. Cornstarch is great to absorb the grease. Hope you get a chance to try out the recipe 🙂
Shannon