Skin and hair can be easily irritated and stripped of moisture by harsh soaps and chemical laden shampoos and conditioners bought from the local supermarket. Even products especially developed for ‘sensitive skin’ often contain unpleasant chemicals known to cause at the very least eczema, dry skin and itching.
Children especially can be affected by mainstream bath products which can irritate and cause red, blotchy and itchy patches. There is a recent trend where some concerned parents have set up in business by developing their own products, minus known irritating chemicals such as sodium laurel sulphate, sodium laureth sulphate and parabens.
These organic products can be expensive and hard to get hold of, when it is actually quite straightforward to obtain natural ingredients and make your own products.
A simple versatile liquid soap is easy to make and the whole family can benefit for all their personal hygeine needs – shampoo, body wash, conditioner, shaving foam and hand soap.
The resulting product lathers up beautifully, smells good, leaves hair soft and shiny and is more economical than shop bought products.
Using this receipe you can choose to change essential oils every time you make a solution and adjust the amounts of each ingredient according to the condition of your hair and skin. For example, If you have hair and skin that tends to be dry, you can be generous with the olive oil, as it is a fantastic natural moisturiser and hair conditioner. If your hair is flyaway and oily go light on the olive oil.
Below are the products I use;
Pure Liquid Castile Soap (easily obtainable from good health shops and well known Internet stores)
Olive Oil (extra virgin if possible)
Tea Tree Oil (or another essential oil of your choice)
Tip
Tea Tree Oil is naturally antibacterial and an insect repellent. Adding a few drops to your shampoo can help keep head lice at bay.
Liquid Honey (optional)
Half fill a regular sized shampoo bottle with the liquid soap, add 2 – 3 teaspoons of olive oil, depending on your hair type, 20 – 30 drops of essential oil and 1 teaspoon of honey, shake well.
I haven’t been too specific with the recipe, I find much of the fun with making your own products is in the experimentation process. I would just advise if you are using a regular shampoo or liquid soap bottle not to use more than approximately 20 drops of essential oil and adjust the olive oil depending on how much moisturiser you feel your hair needs. Thick hair may need plenty of moisturiser, so when making up a regular size shampoo bottle use around 3 – 4 teaspoons of olive oil to eliminate the need for conditioner. Wash hair twice and second time around leave the shampoo in for 5 – 10 minutes as you would a conditioner.
Tip
Shake product well, before each use to make sure the ingredients are evenly mixed.
Using this product will save money as you will no longer feel the need to buy expensive shampoo, bodywash and conditioners as it acts as an all in one. If your hair is quite dry, treat yourself to a deep conditioning treatment once a week, by smothering it in organic coconut oil and leaving it on overnight.
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