Dry "Shampoo" - AKA No-Poo

Dry shampoo - sounds weird doesn't it?? When I first heard about this I thought, "that's crazy, it can't possibly work." But then I began my dive into all things (that I can manage) natural, I learned that it isn't not only possible, but it is better for your hair (which makes sense).

Our natural oils in our hair are their to help keep our scalp healthy and our hair strong and growing normally and naturally.  I had already embraced the idea of going two and sometimes 3 days between shampoos. People I have read about on other blogs go even longer or simply do not wash their hair in the traditional (commercial) sense at all. In fact, many commercial companies have come up with their own version of Dry Shampoo in order to keep up with the growing trend of waiting between lathering.

It seemed only natural for me to make the leap and give the dry shampoo a try, however I wasn't out to spend allot of money on chemical dry shampoos in pressurized cans. In fact, while researching I found that one of the ingredients in the homemade dry shampoos was corn starch... I wasn't sure I had some, but I had tapioca starch and didn't know if that would substitute well.  I actually found my corn starch, but then saw that Herbal Essence makes their commercial dry shampoo using tapioca starch! go figure!

Not only is it better for your hair to wait between washing, and to limit the amount of chemicals we use to strip our hair of its natural defenses, the idea of dry shampoo appealed to me from a preparedness perspective. What if there was an emergency or other event that limited our availability of fresh water. Some practiced alternative cleanliness methods would be great to have in our survival tricks.

At any rate, the recipe I ended up choosing was from... you guessed it... Wellness Mama! She has a couple of versions of her dry shampoo, including a spray version (which is not so much dry, but works the same way).  I chose the version for darker hair, since that's what I have, but then I modified it for red hair using cinnamon.  I tell you what... I smell absolutely YUMMY right now! :)

Ingredients for Red Hair:

• 2 Tbls Corn Starch (or Tapioca Starch, or Arrowroot Powder)
• 1 Tbls Cocoa Powder
• 1 Tbls Cinnamon

Ingredients for Dark Hair:

• 2 Tbls Corn Starch (or Tapioca Starch, or Arrowroot Powder)
• 2 Tbls Cocoa Powder

Ingredients for Light Hair:

• 4 Tbls Corn Starch (or Tapioca Starch, or Arrowroot Powder)
• 5 Drops Essential Oil (Optional)

If using multiple ingredients you want to combine them before putting in your container.  I chose a spice jar with a cap so that my dry shampoo will be protected, on my bathroom sink, from any shower steam.

Once combined I used a funnel and small stick to get the powder into the spice jar.  I then shook the contents onto my scalp separating the hair line occasionally and working the powder onto my hair. I did this all over my head.

Here is a before pic of my oily hair.  It has been 3 days since I shampooed. You can see that it is shiny, and the strands kinda hang out together up there...

Once you have the dry shampoo worked into your hair well, you want to let it sit for at least a couple of minutes to let the powder absorb the excess oils in your hair.  Then you can shake, brush, or comb it out.

Here is the after pic.  You can see that my hair is no longer shiny/oily looking and the strains are separated and look more fluffy. (The color difference is due to the lighting differences of the location where I took the photos: above-Kitchen, below-bathroom)

It is my understanding that getting you and your hair used to using the dry shampoo is a bit of an adjustment period.