In 1990, after reading Aubrey Hampton’s book, “Natural Organic Hair and Skin Care,” I decided not to use commercially manufactured shampoos. In this book, Aubrey tells you how to read the label on any product you put on your skin or hair.

Manufacturers constantly use toxic chemicals in their skin and hair products and do not take into account their toxic effects on the body. This is easily seen in the list of chemicals they use. Here are some of these chemicals found on many product labels:

* Propylene glycol or glycol: a petrochemical used because it is cheap

* Cetearyl alcohol – emulsifier that can be synthetic or natural

* methylparaben or propylparaben – typical synthetic condoms

* distearate: this is polyethylene glycol or polypropylene glycol, which are petrochemicals

* isopropyl alcohol – used as a cheap solvent to transport synthetic oils.

Here is a natural shampoo that you can make. This formulation is something I have been using for many years. First, gather the following items:

4 oz castile soap with any scent available: natural, mint, eucalyptus.

½ oz rosemary – stimulates hair follicles and helps prevent premature baldness

½ ounce of sage: has antioxidants, prevents things from spoiling and is antibacterial

½ oz nettles – acts as a blood purifier, blood stimulator, contains a great source of nutrients for hair growth

½ lavender – controls oil production from the sebaceous glands and reduces itching and flaking of the scalp

2000mg MSM – Provides organic sulfur to your scalp, improving the health and strength of your hair. It also helps carry herbal nutrients to the skin and follicles, where they can do the most good.

An empty 8 oz plastic bottle or any other empty shampoo or soap bottle.

Mix the herbs in a mason jar with a lid. Boil 2 cups of distilled water. Add 3 heaping tablespoons of the mixed herbs to the boiling water. Remove the boiling water and herbs from the stove. Let the herbal mixture steep for 30 to 40 minutes. Put the 2000 mg of MSM into the herbal mixture after 30 minutes of cooling. After 40 minutes and the MSM has melted, strain the herbal mixture into a bowl.

For 2 to 2 1/2 oz. of herbal tea, strain into the 8 oz. plastic bottle. Now for the 4 ounces of castile soap in the 8 ounce plastic bottle. Cap the bottle and shake to mix the ingredients.

The shampoo is now finished and ready to use. Use it as a base for all the shampoos you make. You can add different herbs as you learn what these herbs do and how they help your hair. You can vary the ingredients according to your taste. But now you have a shampoo that has no additives that can harm you.