When I got into Young Living Essential Oils, it wasn’t very long before I looked into homemade recipes with the oils. Awhile ago, one of my private clients mentioned that she doesn’t use anything on her body, like face wash or lotion, that she can’t safely ingest. I looked into a few recipes for essential oil shampoos, and I figured why not try them. I already had the oils, so what would it hurt?
The first couple I tried required liquid Castile soap. Castile soap is made with olive oil and sodium hydroxide. The name comes from the Castile region of Spain, which makes this style of soap. It’s a very popular shampoo base for essential oil shampoos, but I didn’t like it. I read many articles about the experience, and they all said to be patient, that it takes time for your hair to adjust to not having the sulfates and silicone washed in. I lasted a little over a week.
Look, I fully expected my hair to be an oily, greasy mess. All of these articles said that would happen, and I would have been fine with that. However, I didn’t have an oil, greasy mess. Instead, my hair felt like it had this thick residue on it. I couldn’t touch my hair without cringing. My brush quickly became disgusting with the residue clumped on the bristles. It didn’t help that to counteract the Castile soap, you have to use an apple cider vinegar-based conditioner rinse. The smell. Oh Lordy the smell.
Enough was enough.
I found a couple of other recipes that used a different base, and I combined them for my own recipe. I absolutely love it. My hair is soft, voluminous, and not oily at all! Even better, after my hair adjusted to the sulfate- and silicone-free formula, I don’t need to wash my hair everyday. You have no idea how huge that is for me. My hair has always been a grease pit, and for a shampoo to clean my hair so well that my hair is not oily and still soft the next day is a miracle.
In fact, I don’t need a conditioner at all! I don’t even need a detangler. My hair stays soft and full of volume, and the best part is that I don’t have to wash my hair every day now.
If you’re curious, these are the two recipes I combined and adjusted. I probably would have just used the first one if it didn’t require coconut milk. There is no way I’m going to keep shampoo in the fridge, for a variety of reasons. The biggest two of them include I know I’ll never remember to get the shampoo out of the refrigerator until I’m already in the shower, and I can’t travel with a shampoo that needs to stay cold.
Without further ado, here is my DIY shampoo with essential oils.
Coconuttea Joy Shampoo
Combine the following into a bottle and then shake gently to combine. I’ve included links to the shampoo base carrier oils I use for your convenience. Links to the essential oils will go directly to the specific oils from my Young Living site.
- 8 oz. shampoo base
- 1/2-1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp jojoba oil
- 10 drops tea tree oil – extra cleansing power and is a natural lice repellent
- 10 drops rosemary oil – encourages hair growth and volume (also a natural lice repellent)
- 10 drops lavender oil – encourages hair growth and volume
- 10 drops Joy essential oil blend – smells super nice
These oils are for my particular hair preferences. I’d highly recommend keeping the Joy and the tea tree oils, but the rosemary and lavender oils can be changed for anything else you’d prefer. Other great oils for hair include cedarwood, peppermint, thyme, cypress, and patchouli. The peppermint oil is primarily used to prevent oily hair, but I found that peppermint dried my scalp to the point of itching and flaking. I’d caution anyone using peppermint oil to NOT use 10 drops. A maximum of 5 should be more than sufficient.
This shampoo will be far more liquidy than your typical store-bought shampoo. Squeeze it directly onto your scalp instead of into your hands.
