I tried making my own shampoo at home.  
After moving, we realised the water here is Hard, and was causing lumps and chunks of hairfall. Like, within 3 months, my hair was halved.

Now, I have low-porosity strands and shoulder-length hair. Plus, I learnt it the hard way not to apply heavy oils and protein-rich products that weigh hair down. Moreover, my shampoo + Hard water were not helping.  
So, I decided to get the three ingredients and try making my own!

# My Hair Pack

I also make a monthly hair pack with

* Cloves (Just 2. The hair pack lasts a week in powdered form)
* Fenugreek
* Kalonji
* Rosemary (dried), and
* Curry leaves

I have been using this combo since 2024, and it has been great. Just needed to dial down on the cloves count xD

# Shampoo Curation

Now, the shampoo curation procedure is 2 hours. You heat it for 30 minutes, let it cool a little and then squish out the shampoo through a strainer.  
That is excluding the overnight soak in hot water. The result was pretty foamy with water. I did not add any essential oils. And I did soak dried hibiscus petals alongside the three ingredients overnight. For the colour, really.

# Shampoo Usage

I noticed that using water from our drinking water filter was the way to go. So I took a bucket for the shampoo day. The shampoo itself had foam, but did not foam up more as I massaged it into my scalp. I did feel my strands drying up quickly, almost hay-like.  
Some videos say to add regular Paraben and SLS-free shampoo to it, but I wanted to try the real deal once. After washing it off, my hair felt like needles for a solid minute.

# DIY Conditioner Curation and Usage

Additionally, I made a conditioner with

* Fenugreek
* Flaxseed
* Vitamin E oil
* Sweet Almond Oil
* Lil bit of glycerine

I soaked the seed and the fenugreek the night before and let it bloom. Now, this conditioner has no preservative, so I used it all up in one go. I kept it for 30 minutes under a shower cap and washed it off.

# Result

**Day 1**: My Hair felt like a gourmet meal for cows. So dry, so hard to touch  
**Day 2**: My hair suddenly softened up and felt full to the touch. Hairfall was there, but much less.  
**Day 3** and onwards: Hair feels full, the raw ingredients' smell is gone, and it still feels soft. Hairfall again, is there. But little bit less than the last few months.

Would I want to make this again? Sure. It had a very different result than whatever I had anticipated (my entire hair volume falling off with the shampoo wash).

But can I do this weekly? Probably not. 2 hours for shampoo curation, and another hour for the conditioner. Plus, take an extra hour for the cleanup routine. I think this works well as a bi-weekly shampoo if you are preparing it on your own.

# Does it work?

I wish to use it again after another week to see how it goes. Hoping for the best. Thanks for reading! <3

So, I tried out DIY Amla, Reetha, and Shikakai Shampoo (and a DIY Conditioner Too!)