I have always been curious about dry shampoo. I'm a natural at procrastination and laziness, so sleeping in and skipping showers is appealing. Expect for my hair. It has always been on the oily side and to make matters worse, it is straight so when compounded with oil makes for a very greasy looking Jill. In high school I read that you can put baby powder in your hair to absorb oils if you're running late and don't have time to shower. That was an atrocious mess. The baby powder went everywhere; all over my clothes and bedroom floor. (Clearly I wasn't thinking there, but is any teenager thinking?) The real problem was that despite all the combing and brushing you could still see white powderyness in my brown hair. It was a huge fail and resulted in my having to take a shower anyways and a fast one at that since I had already slept in and messed around.
My scalp is very dry during the colder months. I switch back and forth between a regular and dandruff shampoo as well as a conditioner. At best I think it helps a little, but honestly each year I just chalk it up to genetics and wear less black. A few weeks ago my husband mentioned that he had not been using shampoo anymore and only using water on his hair during daily showers. He was wondering if I could tell any difference and honestly I could not. Though to be fair, his hair is short and I think men's hair is easier to hide a lack of shampooing. I decided to renew my quest for dry shampoo in the hopes that lessening the times I wet shampoo my hair will help my scalp out.
I searched online for some dry shampoos to try. Ha! Have you ever done that? They are quite expensive and I am not the kind of girl to pay $20 for a bottle of shampoo. So I did some research online to make my own dry shampoo, which as luck would have it is very easy. I also determined a way to make the dry shampoo brown so it wouldn't look as crazy on my brunette head; cocoa powder. I have jokingly named my dry shampoo mixture Coco Poo. Now I don't look like I'm wearing a George Washington's wig and, as my husband says, I smell like chocolate pudding while I wash my hair.
From what I have gathered, the traditional method of dry shampooing is to shake the mixture on to your scalp and massage it in all over your roots then brush/comb the powder out and go on your merry way. That sounds fine and dandy except the part where you have to clean up the bathroom floor every time. And despite all my brushing and/or combing, it still feels like I never get all the Coco Poo out. Combined with my hair falling out in massive bits because I am no longer pregnant and that is too big of a mess. So what I do is put the Coco Poo in my dry hair as soon as I get in the shower. I massage it into my scalp like I would regular shampoo. Then I let it sit for a few minutes so let the starches and powders absorb the oils from my hair. (Note: I don't know if giving it time is scientifically necessary or not. It is just what I do.) Next I use a fine tooth comb to comb most of the Coco Poo out of my hair and rinse my hair completely with water. I do not use a conditioner after that either. Just dry my hair (or let dry) and go.
Here is my recipe for Coco Poo:
3 Tbs oatmeal
1 Tbs cocoa powder
2 Tbs arrow root
2 Tbs potato starch
2 Tbs baking powder
First, grind up your oatmeal. I have found that a coffee grinder works best.
Using a funnel (yes, I used a breast pump shield), add the oatmeal and all the other ingredients into your container. You want something that you can shake the powder out of. I used emptied spice jars. You can also use Parmesan cheese containers or even large holed salt shakers. It would also be wise to stick with plastic if you're going to use it in the shower.
Once your container(s) are full put the lids on and shake them well to blend everything together well. The ingredient amounts in this recipe should fill an average sized plastic spice container. This recipe is also, like all recipes I use, not set in stone. The idea is to use starches that absorb the oils your scalp produces. You can also use corn starch. I just happened to have arrow root and potato starch in my house left over from the days when my daughter was allergic to just about everything.
Right now, I use Coco Poo every other day. I use regular shampoo on mornings after I work out because I don't know if Coco Poo works on sweaty hair. My hair looks the same when I use Coco Poo. My scalp is much less dry and I haven't had any major dandruff out breaks either which is nice. Plus, I'm hoping with time using shampoo less will make my scalp make less oils and also make my hair softer since I won't be drying it out as much.If you make some Coco Poo I'd love to hear how it went. If you are not a brunette or red head, just skip the cocoa powder. Though you won't get to smell like pudding. Sorry, blonds, you can't have all the fun!
