DIY Shampoo - Customising For Your Hair Type

DIY Shampoo - Customising For Your Hair Type

Juliette van der Meer

We've covered most aspects of basic Hair Science in the last three blog installments, and now it's time to put everything we have learned into a formulation.

Let's break the formula down:

All hair types need some kind of oil, conditioning botanicals, humectants and at least one form of protein.

  • For the cleaners/surfactants, we're using the glucosides as well as cocamidopropyl betaine. These are non-ionic and amphoteric surfactants, respectively. Our surfactant blend should have an ASM of 10-15%. For ASM calculations please see here.
  • Oils - what oils you use in your shampoo will depend on your hair type. You will use lighter oils for types 1 and 2, and heavier, more nourishing oils for types 3 and 4.
  • Botanicals - I love using botanicals in all kinds of products. The herbal shampoo recipe in here is my go-to (plus I like to add in extra botanicals as well), but this time we are customising for the hair types so we will be even more thoughtful about which ingredients we use as some are better for particular purposes than others. You can refer here for botanicals for hair.
  • Actives - things like proteins, keratin, collagen, salicylic acid, Vitamins, etc are all great.

Basic Shampoo Formula

Phase A

Phase B

Phase C

While you can actually use a one-pot method with this formula, I do find it better to divide it into phases.

Method:

First, choose your correct hair type customisation from the options below, then add everything up and subtract that amount from 100 to find your water amount.

For Phase A, mix the glycerine and xanthan gum into a slurry then add the water amount, blending until smooth.

Add the Phase B ingredients and blend.

Add the pHase C ingredients, blend and check the pH.

Final pH needs to be around 4.5. So check pH and adjust with citric acid as required.

Customise For Hair Types

Customisations for Type 1 hair

Customisations for Type 2 hair

Customisations for Type 3 hair

Customisations for Type 4 hair

Other botanicals to customise:

If you have oily scalp or hair, use

If you need to strengthen hair that is prone to breakage, use

If you want to encourage hair growth, use any of these

If you want to moisturise and condition, use

Shampoo Ingredients

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Related Reads

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Juliette van der Meer

Fascinated with all things Nature, Science, Chemistry and Cosmetic Formulation; slave to four cats; my sweet tooth fuels my sweet nature.

I like to constantly learn new things. I also love crime series, which is totally not a red flag :)

I graduated from Rhodes University with a Degree in Geology but later switched to Cosmetic Science and haven't looked back - proof that flipping your life around can lead to much happiness.

BSc Hons, Adv. Dip. Cosmetic Science


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2 comments

Hi there Brian,

Thanks so much for your message! :)

Just to clarify – we specialise in cosmetic, wellness and natural DIY products, so we unfortunately can’t offer guidance on manufacturing industrial or commercial cleaning chemicals, as those require specialised training, safety protocols and compliance.

If you’re looking for simple natural home-cleaning recipes, we can help with that — we have a great blog full of safe, easy DIY cleaning ideas using ingredients like baking soda, vinegar, castile soap and essential oils:
https://essentiallynatural.co.za/blogs/the-essentially-natural-blog/the-great-spring-cleaning-blog

Please feel free to let us know which kind of cleaning products you meant – household natural cleaners or industrial/commercial formulations – and we’ll guide you as best as we can within our range <3

Warm regards,
Essentially Natural Support

Aiden

Am running a cleaning services ,I will be greatful to have enough information on how to manufacture cleaning chemicals

Brian mazango

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