One of my coworkers confessed to me that she tried a store-bought dry shampoo and just didn’t feel like she used it right. It either left white residue in her dark hair or wore off midway through her day. Meanwhile, she had to breathe in a dust cloud of aerosol spray just to use it. There has to be a better way. As a lover of all things natural, including hair care, I felt inspired to find an easy DIY dry shampoo recipe that worked.
Testing out homemade dry shampoo
On Thanksgiving morning, I got up early to finish making a blueberry pie. This is a true story. The rolling, mixing and baking took longer than I thought it would. By the time I finished the pie and looked at the clock, I only had 20 minutes left before we had to leave.
Now we’re all in a rush, and my second-day hair was in need of some attention. All day, I’ll be hugging relatives and taking family photos. My hair should at least look and smell fresh.
In the past, I’ve used trial-sized, store-bought dry shampoos, but we didn’t have any in the house. What I did have was some cinnamon and cornstarch I bought for the pie filling. How skeptical are you right now? Probably about as skeptical as I was. But, with limited options, I took a risk and tried a DIY dry shampoo recipe for my brown hair. Read on for the full recipe and my review.
It turns out, homemade dry shampoo is fantastic! You can make dry shampoo with just a couple ingredients that are probably already in your kitchen pantry. For a lot of reasons, homemade dry shampoo is better than store-bought dry shampoo. Another great discovery…by just tweaking one or two ingredients, you can change the color of the dry shampoo. No more white dusty roots!
It is really shampoo?
Not really. It’s not foamy. It’s not liquid. It’s not washing your hair. You don’t rinse it out, but it’s not a leave-in conditioner.
Dry shampoo is a powder that you use to absorb oil, make your hair look fresh and add a pleasant fragrance to your hair.
Five reasons to use DIY dry shampoo
- Works great, absorbing oils and leaving hair looking fresh
- No chemicals harming your scalp
- No aerosol deteriorating the ozone layer
- Inexpensive, whip up one batch and store it (pretty much) forever
- Easy to make with stuff you probably already have
When to use dry shampoo
It might be that your hair is clean, but you used an oily sunscreen and just want to get rid of the greasy look that’s built up around your hairline. Maybe you didn’t have time to wash your hair or just don’t wash your hair that often, rub a little dry shampoo through it so it doesn’t look greasy or flat.
You can use dry shampoo whenever your hair feels a little oily or not quite fresh enough. As a bonus, the dry blend helps lift your hair at the roots and adds volume.
I tend to use dry shampoo before I style it, but it doesn’t matter if you wait until after you’ve styled your hair. You just want to make sure you can still rub the powder into the hair a little bit, which might depend on the style.
If your hair is in an updo or a tight bun, you will probably have a hard time rubbing the dry shampoo through and getting the powder to blend evenly. In this case, you can try using a make-up brush to dust the dry shampoo onto your hair. On the other hand, if you just straightened or curled your hair, you shouldn’t have much trouble using dry shampoo after styling it, especially my recipe.
DIY dry shampoo for brown or auburn hair
for blonde hair click here
for red hair click here
for black hair click here
for white hair just use the cornstarch alone
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 to 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
(optional) cocoa powder for a slightly different brown tone
(optional) arrowroot (can be used instead of or to complement the cornstarch)
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Directions:
Mix together the cornstarch, cinnamon and optional cocoa powder.
Since we all have different hair colors, you might have to play with the color a little bit by adding a little more cinnamon for darker brown or a little less for lighter brown. Don’t worry. It doesn’t need to match your hair exactly.
Store in almost any convenient container or baggie.
To use:
Dip your fingers into the DIY dry shampoo.
Dust off any excess powder.
Your fingers should be coated in dry shampoo.
Rub shampoo dust through your hair at or within 2-3 inches of the roots.
Use the same motion you would if you just took your hair out of a ponytail and are trying to loosen up the roots.
Repeat all over your head. Pay special attention along the hairline, above and behind your ears.
The shampoo should absorb oil and blend into your hair in seconds.
Your hair will have a faint scent of cinnamon.
Do not get ground cinnamon in your eyes. It might burn.
The cornstarch will help add lift and volume.
It should last all day and night.
What happens when I rinse it out?
When you do go to wash or rinse your hair again, there is the faint scent of cinnamon in the shower. Nothing else really happens. It rinses out of your hair.
Please leave a comment and let us know if you’ve tried DIY dry shampoo. What do you think?
Looking for more DIY skin and hair care? You’ll find more of it here. I love this stuff.
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