thinking of green hair?

Eco-friendly green, that is! Making your own natural or organic hair care products at home can be a fun, healthier, and a less expensive way to take care of your hair and shine! Have fun with experimenting with different combinations until you find the best overall product for your hair type and your lifestyle.

By creating your own product, you can be secure in the knowledge that you are aware of every single ingredient and not have to worry about adding chemicals that you cannot even pronounce into contact with your body. This is a great idea for a hand-crafted, eco-chic spa gift to give to your green-thinking friends this season!

In creating a shampoo, I use a base of castille soap, a vegetable-based oil soap (as opposed to most commercial soap bases which use a base of animal fat). There are many varieties of castile soap that come from the natural oil base that they are made from. The most popular castile soap bases are: Coconut Oil, Almond oil, Olive oil, Hemp oil, and Jojoba oil. I like Olive oil.

Once you have chosen your castile soap base, you can add your essential and/or fragrance oils to the mixture. Different oils will affect the hair in different ways depending on what you are looking for in a home made shampoo. For instance if you are looking to control dandruff and to sooth an itchy scalp, then you would add Tea Tree oil and Chamomile to your shampoo base. If you wanted to add extra shine to your hair with a great scent, try Lemongrass and Rosemary.

Here are some oil and herb combinations that you can used based on creating a shampoo that begins with 4oz of castile soap for placement in an 8oz bottle.

• Dandruff Control: 1/2 oz Tea Tree oil and 2 1/2 oz strained Chamomile Tea.
• Extra Shine: 2 1/2 oz strained Lemongrass Tea and 1/2 oz Rosemary oil.
• To Control Oily Hair: 1/2 oz Lavender oil and 2 1/2 oz strained Sage tea.
• To Thicken Hair: 1 oz Rosemary oil and 1/2 oz strained Nettles.

Once you have created your organic shampoo, you'll want to store the bottle in a cool and dark area. Because you are creating something using natural and organic ingredients, the product does have an indefinite shelf life as the chemical additive shampoos that are on the market today.

For most organic conditioners, the popular choice is to use a base of plain organic yogurt. Keep in mind that the following information is for one to two applications of conditioning only. Yogurt based conditioners can be kept in the fridge for a couple of days. Here are some organic homemade yogurt based conditioner recipes.

• Strengthening: Combine 1/4 oz organic plain yogurt, 1 egg yolk and the zest of two lemons.
• To Create Texture: Combine 1/4 oz organic plain yogurt, 1 egg yolk and one smashed Avocado.
• Dandruff Control: Combine 1/4 oz organic plain yogurt, 1/4 cup Coconut oil and 3 tablespoons Lime juice.
• Extra Moisturizing: Combine 4 oz organic plain yogurt, 1 smashed banana and 1/2 cup honey. Leave mixture on for up to 40 minutes for a weekly conditioning treatment.

Do it yourself! Know what you are putting in and onto your body. Save on plastic packaging materials that would otherwise end up in a landfill! And, making your own green haircare products helps to keep a little green in your wallet, too. Have fun!