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Choose your ingredients to make your solid shampoo yourself

To make your solid shampoo, there are different types of ingredients but you will often find this composition:

Surfactants + Aqueous base + Oils or butters + powders of plants or mineral plants (+ co-emulsifier) (+ cosmetic active ingredients)

Now you just need to choose the ingredients in your solid shampoo that match your needs and your hair.

Surfactants

The surfactants have the role of lathering your solid shampoo while cleaning your hair. There are many, however we recommend that you use one of the three below which has an excellent wash / foam ratio:

• Sodium Coco Sulphate. A mild surfactant derived from coconut oil. Its advantage is that it allows the shampoo to lather a lot.
• Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate (SCI). One of the softest surfactants on the market, however, it provides a less dense lather.
• SLSA (Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate). Soft surfactant.

Recommended dosage: 40 to 70% of the total preparation, i.e. between 40 and 70g for a 100g solid shampoo.

The aqueous base

The aqueous base is useful when preparing solid shampoo. It dissolves the surfactant. You can addmineral water or hydrolate (lavender, rose, witch hazel, rosemary, etc.) with nutritional or moisturizing properties.

Recommended dosage: 10 to 20% of the total preparation, i.e. between 10g and 20g for a 100g solid shampoo.

Vegetable oils or butters

Vegetable oils or vegetable butters can nourish and hydrate your hair. Choose them according to your hair type and their needs.

Vegetable oils to make your solid shampoo : suitable for several types of hair.

• Sweet almond oil. Rich in vitamin E, it is perfect for hair with dandruff and for sensitive scalps thanks to its soothing function.
• Argan Oil. Ideal for dry, damaged, brittle and dull hair, It helps treat hair problems such as hair loss or dandruff.
• Avocado oil. It nourishes the hair fiber. Recommended for dull and dry hair, and hair loss because it stimulates growth.
• Coconut oil. Moisturizes the hair deeply by penetrating the hair fiber. Ideal for dry hair. Brings shine, tone and vigor.
• Jojoba oil : Perfect for oily hair because it regulates sebum. Gives shine, suppleness vitality, and prevents hair loss.
• Nuts oil : Ideal for treating excess sebum and therefore for oily hair.
• Castor oil : Nourishes, accelerates growth, strengthens hair. It is perfect for very dry and frizzy hair.
• Grapeseed Oil. Perfect for fine, damaged and brittle hair.
• Broccoli Oil : Ideal for curly hair. Makes hair supple and shiny.
• Macadamia Oil : Both nourishing, healing, perfect for irritated and sensitive scalps; it does not leave a greasy film and protects against UV rays.

Vegetable butters to make your own solid shampoo : suitable for dry, curly, frizzy, frizzy hair.

• Shea Butter. Perfect for very dry, frizzy, frizzy hair that has a tendency to break and have split ends.
• Mango Butter. Recommended for dry, damaged, brittle, split ends, coarse, dull, and frizzy hair.
• Sal butter : For dry, dull and frizzy hair.
• Kokum butter : Ideal for dry and damaged hair.

Recommended dosage: 10 to 20% of the total preparation, i.e. between 10g and 20g for a 100g solid shampoo. Vegetable oils and butters are used to nourish the hair. However, they tend to weigh down the roots, especially if you tend to have oily hair. In this case, it is better to reduce the dosage of oil or butter and increase the dosage of powders which have the properties of nourishing the hair while washing them.

Ayurvedic, herbal or mineral powders

The powders are ideal for nourishing your hair, while having cleansing, cleansing and purifying properties. Choose one that is suitable for your hair.

• shikakai : This powder gently cleanses your hair, without attacking it. In hair care, it brings vigor, strength and shine and it makes the hair silky. It promotes hair growth and prevents hair loss. It is also recommended against dandruff and itching.
• Clay powder : Clays are perfect against oily hair thanks to their purifying and sebum-regulating properties.
• Stinging Nettle Powder : Ideal for brittle hair, with an oily tendency, to fight dandruff. It is a hair fortifier that prevents hair loss.
• Rasul : Purifying and gentle cleanser that absorbs impurities without irritating the skin. Ideal for sensitive scalps.
• Neem powder : Purifying, detoxifying and helps fight dandruff.
• Neutral henna : For all hair types, it gives them tone and shine without coloring them. Cleanses oily scalps and helps fight dandruff. Do not use it if you have any coloring.
• Ayurvedic Brahmi powder : It promotes growth by strengthening the hair roots. Gives density, softness and shine to the hair. Ideal for a sensitive and irritated scalp.  
• Sidr powder : Recommended for blond hair, it purifies the scalp and soothes itching while effectively fighting dandruff.
• Orange powder : Tones and strengthens the hair. It makes the hair shiny, soft and supple. For all hair types.

Recommended dosage: 15 to 20% of the total preparation, i.e. between 15g and 20g for a 100g solid shampoo.

Essential oils

Essential oils are optional in the recipe as some people are intolerant of them and this can cause scalp irritation, dandruff and hair loss. In addition, they are not recommended for young children and pregnant women. Make sure you always stick to the recommended dosages!

Choose the essential oils you want to add to your homemade solid shampoo based on your hair type.

• Greasy hair : Cypress, Lavender, Tea Tree, Clary sage, Rosemary with cineole, Bay Saint Thomas, Lemon, Geranium rose.
• Dry hair : Sweet orange, Lavender, Sandalwood, Rosemary with cineole, Ylang Ylang.
• Anti dandruff and itching : Bergamot, Cade, Tea Tree, Lemon Eucalyptus, Orange, Bourbon Geranium, Palmarosa, Atlas Cedar, Sandalwood.
• Hair loss : Sage, Rosemary, Grapefruit, Peppermint, Lemon, True Lavender, Palmarosa, Bay Saint Thomas.
• Dull, damaged and brittle hair : Laurel noble, Rosewood, Chamomile, Clary sage, Lavender, Sandalwood.
• Scalp Toner : Rosemary with cineole, Niaouli, Laurel noble, Bay Saint Thomas, Lemon, Chamomile, Ylang Ylang.

Recommended dosage: Do not exceed 1% of your recipe, i.e. between 20 and 30 drops of essential oils of your choice for a 100g solid shampoo.

Co-emulsifiers

Co-emulsifiers are recommended if you want your solid shampoo to be lather, but not to make your shampoo too soft. They are particularly recommended if you make your shampoo with SCI surfactant. There are several, but the ones that have a very good effect are:

1. Cetearyl alcohol : It is a mild emulsifier. It is used to thicken and stabilize the shampoo. It is therefore a consistency agent that will allow the solid shampoo to be more compact and therefore prevent it from breaking. We advise you to respect a dose of 0.5 to 2.5% for the purpose of your recipe. It melts from 50 degrees. We advise you to add it to your preparation at the same time as the surfactants. 
2. Cetyl alcohol : is a co-emulsifier which is used in your preparation as a consistency agent to stabilize the emulsions and modulate the texture of the solid shampoo. It thickens it and therefore makes the pebble firmer and prevents it from breaking. We recommend that you use it in your recipe at 2 to 5% and incorporate it when mixing with the surfactants. 

Use one or the other but not both in your recipe as they serve the same role of thickener and stabilizer. If you have a preparation with a fairly high percentage of surfactant (more than 40%), use cetyl alcohol, which is co-emulsifier and which is very sufficient as a supplement. 

Addition of cosmetic active ingredients

You can add cosmetic active ingredients in your preparation having different moisturizing or nutritional properties. Among the best known and most used:

• Phytokeratin : Allows to deeply hydrate the hair. Ideal for dry, very dry and frizzy hair. Makes hair shiny, soft and silky.
• Liquid Silk Proteins : Ideal for straightening hair, giving it suppleness and preventing frizz.
• Honey powder  : To strengthen and repair damaged hair. Moisturizes the hair.
• Silk powder  : Allows to moisturize and coat the hair. Smoothing effect.

Recommended dosage: 5% of your recipe, i.e. 5g for a 100g solid shampoo.

The preparation to make your homemade solid shampoo

Be careful when handling the ingredients. We recommend that you wear gloves, and eye protection if possible. Especially if you handle the SCI surfactant which is very volatile.

What material to use to make your solid shampoo?

• A precision balance
• A bowl that goes in the microwave or bain-marie. Prefer the preparation in a bain-marie to obtain a solid shampoo of better quality
• A wooden spoon or stick for mixing or a stainless steel whisk
• A pestle
• One or more mussels

The solid shampoo recipe

1. Put the solid surfactants, water base, vegetable oil (s) or vegetable butter in a bowl going in a bain-marie. If you have opted for the addition of co-emulsifier or cosmetic active ingredients, put them with.
2. Melt the whole over low heat and stir throughout the preparation with a wooden spatula until a sticky and homogeneous paste is obtained (20 to 40 minutes in a double boiler). You can use a pestle to crush ingredients that have a hard time melting or dissolving like surfactants for example.
3. Once the mixture has melted and the dough is obtained, remove the preparation from the double boiler, and add the powders et essential oils if you have decided to put some, by mixing using the spatula or pestle.
4. Once the preparation has cooled slightly, knead your dough to distribute the essential oils well.
5. Before the dough cools, transfer the dough into your mold (s) and pack well.
6. Leave your preparation in the molds between 2 minimum hours up to one day at room temperature. We recommend that you do not place them in the refrigerator to prevent them from weakening or crumbling.
7. Unmould your solid shampoo when it has become very hard and let it air dry (room temperature) for at least 3 days and up to a week to prevent it from melting too quickly.