As I have been walking along the natural road and performing extensive research about various products, including shampoo, I have learned more and more about just how bad many of them are for you. Most commercial shampoo products on the market today contain a plethora of un-pronounceable chemical ingredients that cause all kinds of internal and external bodily damage from minor like harming your hair, causing dandruff, and making you bald to severe like contributing to cancer.
As a result of my research, I have become a big fan of all things authentically natural (do your research–just because something says it’s natural doesn’t mean it really is). And to ensure that what I and my family are using is completely natural, I make it myself.
Today’s post is all about making homemade honey herbal shampoo that is easily customized to suit each individual’s hair type or conditions. This recipe is a breeze to make, smells amazing, and does an awesome job.
This recipe includes honey because this sweetener softens and nourishes hair as well as adds body and luxury to the shampoo. You’ll want to make sure to use an unrefined, raw, unfiltered honey because processed honey is not nourishing, plus it’s often bulked up with corn syrup.
What if you’ve gone no ‘poo? No-poo is where you use baking soda in water instead of shampoo and apple cider vinegar instead of conditioner (check out my no ‘poo post here). Many women I know who have gone no-poo still use a natural shampoo (such as the one being featured in this post) once a week. I have already started down the no ‘poo road, but once my hair and scalp are used to it, I plan on using this natural shampoo once a week before church. For now, it’s mostly for my hubby’s use.
Both exclusive and occasional usage of this shampoo helps to boost the nutrients absorbed through your scalp via the herbs, oils, and add-ins. And, whether you’re no ‘poo or not, you can use diluted apple cider vinegar as conditioner (as detailed in my no ‘poo post) after shampooing.
Like my spiffy bottle? The bottle is simply a glass vinegar bottle (cleaned out obviously) and it is fitted with the spray top from an average-sized 90-something cent spray bottle from Walmart. Why a spray top? Well, because the shampoo is on the watery side (and it’s supposed to be).
Now, here are a couple things you should know about this shampoo:
- It’ll smell like whatever you put into it. It might smell like the herbal tea or the essential oil(s) or a combination of the twain.
- It’s not thick like commercial shampoo. In fact, it’s pretty watery, which is how it’s supposed to be. I recommend using a spray bottle because of this.
- It doesn’t lather like commercial shampoo. The castile soap in it causes it to lather a little bit, but it won’t be lots of foam like you might be used to.
- You’ll need to shake it before using it especially if there are oils in it. The oils will settle along the top, so shaking it mixes them back in.
- Don’t use peppermint liquid castile soap. I tried that the first time I made this and, even though none of it got in my eyes, the peppermint smell was strong enough to burn my eyes for a little bit after I opened them (and after I’d rinsed it all off).
Free Printable
Here’s a free printable I designed that has a chart with the various herbs, oils, and add-ins you can mix in the shampoo recipe. The printable sheet also has the Honey Herbal Shampoo recipe on it.
Download/Print
TJ,
Have you used this for long? I use the baking soda and vinegar for myself, but my girls don’t like to. This looks cheaper than the expensive shampoo from the health food store. I also don’t want junk in our shampoo, so they have to spend their own money to buy the good (expensive) stuff.
I’ve been doing the no ‘poo deal for a little while now, but this shampoo I used a couple times of week every week for about 5 months before that. Always worked well! Just don’t use peppermint Dr. Bronner’s–even if your eyes are shut, the gases or whatever from it still burn your eyes for a while, lol (found out the hard way…).
I will keep that in mind! Thanks!
Do you have to use a glass bottle? I totally understand why you use glass instead of plastic, but I’m afraid it would be dropped and broken in the shower. 🙁
Nope, it should be okay in plastic. 🙂
May try this, thanks!
I’ve been researching homemade honey shampoo. Other web sites tell me to just use water + honey. This is the first one that says to add oil and castle soap. Is this necessary?
I thought about adding Extra Virgin olive oil and tea tree oil, but skipping the castile soap. Is that ok?
Thanks!
You should be able to do whatever you like. 🙂 The castile is there because it is an olive oil-based soap that is gentle and non-damaging and helps to remove dirt, plus it adds a little lathering action which many people miss when they switch to homemade or natural shampoo.
The oil is there because it is super nourishing to the scalp and conducive to hair growth.
The olive oil you want to add should do just fine, and tea tree oil is good too as it helps combat dandruff and promote hair growth.
Thanks! I’ll try it out and see how it goes! I just hope that my hair doesn’t get too greasy. It is very fine hair, and lifeless.
oh…that was a mistake. SOOOOOO oily!!!
Lol, it took my hair almost 3 weeks to get used to natural shampoo without any chemicals. It was ridiculously greasy–lots of pony tail days! Fortunately I’m a WAHM, so nobody hardly saw me, lol!
I’m going to try substituting 1 tbsp of baking soda in as a cleaning agent for the castille soap. Does this honey method keep your hair feeling lighter/cleaner than the no poo? I feel clean but also my hair feels a bit more oily than I would like it too.
My hair did eventually get used to this shampoo (it did get greasy at first), but I think it’s the castile soap that helps to break down the grease. You could try adding some lemon juice to the mix as it is known for it’s grease fighting powers in general cleaning, so it logically seems like it’d work for this too (and I have heard of shampoos using lemon juice). Let me know how it goes. 😀 Have a blessed day!
I wanted to make sure that I left a comment for this website because this shampoo has done amazing things that I can already notice in 2 days. My hair is as soft as silk, smells great, and the friz in my curly hair is gone. The first time I made the shampoo I used sweet and spicy tea herbs, but then I had an allergic reaction so I tried a different tea (chamomile) and it worked amazingly with no reactions. Along with the shampoo Ive been “conditioning” every other night with olive oil. I just wanted to thank you for the recipe!
That’s awesome! Thanks so much for letting me know. 😀
Hello, we dont have castile soap in South Africa..I wonder if it is okay that i can try using baby shampoo? Baby shampoo is mild and contain no chemicals..Is there any alternative? thanks
Hi, Divashya! If you have access to an all-natural, chemical-free baby shampoo, it should work just as well. 🙂 If you feel up to it, you could try making homemade castile soap bars, then put one in a bunch of water to allow it to dissolve then use that as your liquid castile.
I love the site and checked out some of your other homemade recipes and can’t wait to try them! I just have one question, the directions say to use 2T of herbs, is that each herb or a total of 2T?
Thank you for your time
2 tbsp. total, any blend of herbs, which should be plenty to get the effects of each herb, but feel free to experiment using more (or more of specific herbs) than that if you’d like. 🙂
Does it need to be fresh herbs or can I use the store-bought dried herbs used in cooking?
I used dry herbs for this. You’d have to use about twice as many fresh if you do fresh. 🙂
Hey there! I made this shampoo last week and have used it about three time on the days I did not wash my hair with bs and avc. Now, the bs/avc method i think is messing with my scalp and my hair is dry, staticy, and greasy. I do not think it is working out for me. Anyways, do you think it would be ok to use this shampoo everyday or every other day with a avc rinse as needed? I’m trying to go no poo or low poo but its proving to be very difficult with my hair/scalp. I have thick wavy hair that is about down to my hips… Thanks for any and all help and for this recipe. So far I really like it!
Hi, Lauren! SO sorry for the late reply–some of my comments were mistakenly going to the spam file. 🙁 It depends on your scalp–it may not ever like going back and forth between this shampoo and the no poo methods. But, this shampoo is very mild and completely fine (way better than commercial shampoos, in fact) to use regularly. And yes ACV as necessary. 🙂
hi! i have naturally dark thick hair that i love! I heard somewhere that the honey would lighten your hair is that true? Also i like to wash my hair every day if i don’t i feel dirty, would it be okay to use this once everyday?
It can, yes. I’d have to google how it works, seems like it needs to set in your hair for a while. But you can omit the honey and add maybe olive oil for the moisturizing qualities, or just omit it altogether. And, yes, it’s very gentle and way better to use on your hair on a daily basis than store-bought shampoo.
Hi TJ!
I love your blog! May I ask how long the shelf life is, since it has water? Thanks!!
Probably about a month. I get through one full recipe (of daily-ish use) in about a month anyway. It *may* last longer than that. You could add some vitamin E oil, too, to help prolong it’s “life” a bit (vitamin E’s a natural antioxidant so it serves sort-of as a preservative).
I have been using this for about 2 months and I love it!! Thanks!
Awesome! Good to hear! 😀
How long is this shampoo good for?
It lasts me about 2 weeks. I run out before it goes bad. 🙂
Can this be used without the blends and oils
It won’t be as effective, but yes, it can. 🙂
Thanks I have normal hair but am allergic to tree nuts so I couldn’t use the almonds.
Hi!
I recently made sage tea out of fresh sage leaves. Do you know what the conversion would be for 2 tbs. of dry herbs to using already made herb tea?
Thank you so much, can’t wait to try this!!
Hi!
How long is it good to be used?
tks for sharing,