DIY Dry Shampoo
If you are like me, you are always looking for easy, reasonably priced, and low-waste products. These kinds of products are hard to find. My favorite finds this year are bar shampoo, laundry detergent sheets, and dry shampoo!
Dry shampoo is core to my hair routine. I wash my hair every three days, but in between, I like to use dry shampoo. Unfortunately, dry shampoo is expensive and typically comes in an aluminum aerosol can, which is recyclable if appropriately sorted. I find myself going through these cans quickly. They are also pretty expensive.
Over the last few years, I have tried various recipes for dry shampoo. Previously I had been using green clay in an old talcum powder shaker. Green clay was effective but made the hair stiff, probably because my hair can be oily enough to turn the clay wet.
So finally, I gave in after I could not find dry shampoo at Marshall's and started my hunt online for a dry shampoo that was reasonably priced and recyclable. During this hunt, I noticed one of the recipes included tapioca starch. So I ran upstairs and combined
two parts tapioca starch
one part green clay
sprinkle in some coca powder
and voila! I was so pleased with the results. I love when the perfect ingredients are sitting in the pantry!
You could probably eliminate the green clay and still have a good product. The coca powder is there for scent and to blend the product into my hair color. I have dirty blonde hair, so just a little was perfect.
I used to use an old talcum powder shaker to deliver the product, but the top is intentionally hard to take off to discourage reuse. Normally I would continue out of stubbornness, but it was becoming increasingly apparent that one day I would stab myself with the knife I used to pry the top off. Now I put the mixture into a container and use a puffy makeup brush to distribute it.
Unfortunately, tapioca starch can be expensive in a typical grocery store. However, if you head to your local Asian market, you can find it there for a very reasonable price.
When I went to go take a picture for the post, I found that I had thrown out my green clay. Next time that means I will only use tapioca starch. I will let you know how that goes.
