"Soothe Me" DIY Build-Up Shampoo For Dry Itchy Scalps ~ The Recipe

This recipe is for a moisturizing and conditioning shampoo that will be great for dry hair that comes with a dry and itchy scalp. If you have oily hair then I have several recipes for oily hair in my DIY Shampoo Recipes Book. That said, if your hair is slightly greasy or has lots of product build-up this is the best option in this DIY shampoo series because it does not contain any oil.

This recipe has peppermint essential oil as the only essential oil to really juice up that soothing feeling. 

Heated phase (63%)

• 25% surfactants, 25g
  
• 10% cocamidopropyl betaine, 10g
  
• 8% decyl glucoside, 8g
  
• 7% lauryl glucoside, 7g
  
• 3% PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, 3g
  
• 5% glycerin
  
• 30% aloe vera
  
• 0% hydrolyzed proteins
  
• Distilled Water to get it to 100%, 24.5g
  

Cool-down phase (12.5%)

• 2% Dimethicone, 2g
  
• 3% polyquat-7, 3g
  
• 2% panthenol, 2g
  
• 0.5% citric acid, 0.5g
  
• 3% infusion/extract, 3g
  
• Marshmallow (oil-based), or comfrey (oil-based) or chamomile (glycol based);
  
• Dilute in polysorbate-80 if the infusion is oil-based; use a ratio of 1:1.
  
• 1% fragrance or essential oil, 1g
  
• 1% optiphen preservative, 1g
  

Options once completely cool:

• Citric acid (for pH 5.5-6.0)
  
• Thickener: 1-2% crothix (to use xanthan gum remove polyquat-7 from recipe & add more water) 
  

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Method (using a liquid thickener, e.g. crothix)

Note: you cannot use xanthan gum in this recipe. For an alternative recipe that allows for xanthan gum please get the Shampoo Course book or Ingredients List.

1. Put all the heated phase ingredients into a bain marie (you can heat the water in a microwave and add it already hot to accelerate the process)
   
2. As everything dissolves stir to mix.
   
3. Heat ingredients up then leave on the heat for about 20 minutes. 
   
4. Remove the heated-phase ingredients from the heat and allow to cool.
   
5. When the mixture cools down to slightly more than hand-hot (i.e. very warm to touch) add all the cool-down phase ingredients.
   
6. Let the mixture cool down completely then check the pH and the consistency. 
   
7. If the mixture is too thin thicken it with your liquid thickener, 0.5g (0.5%) at a time. 
   
8. If the pH is higher than 5.5, reduce to 5.5 using citric acid, 0.5g (0.5%)at a time.

Application

• Weekly use on dry hair is enough. It’s best to shampoo dry hair after either using a hot oil treatment or a pre-shampoo detangler
  
• Shampoo as normal. If you have tangle-prone kinky-curly medium-to-long hair (like I do) wash it in twists to minimize tangling.

​Storage: The shelf life is about 12 months.


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You might also like:

• Neno Natural's Free DIY Shampoo Recipes

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