As soon as summer begins, our hair starts getting damaged due to the harmful UV rays and heat. Due to this,  hair wash twice – thrice a week becomes necessary in every person’s hair care routine. We face split ends, oiliness, dandruff, sweating and many other hair ailments due to regular shampooing. Today, I am going to show you the steps of making your own hair wash cream at home easily.

In this recipe, shikakai is used as a base. Shikakai is a natural made hair wash powder, widely used in India. You can make your own at home or get a ready made pack from your nearest shop. This hair wash cream is suitable for all hair types, however a little alteration would be needed to make it suit your hair. Usage of this hair cream instead of your regular shampoo not only acts as a natural side effect free hair cleaner, but also adds a perfect shine and smoothness to your hair. Let us move on to the recipe now.

Take a small clean bowl and add 2 teaspoons of  homemade shikakai (Its my mom’s older version but we make a new one with more beneficial herbal ingredients now. My mom switched to it and experienced more better results. It will be soon up for sale online)  or store bought powder into it. I am using the Meera herbal hair wash powder here (for my cousin as she cannot shampoo without LATHER!) but I always use my own homemade version.

Pour required curd to the shika powder. Curd acts as a natural hair conditioner and adds shine to dull hair, hence you can skip your conditioner. I sometimes use milk instead of curd :) It works fine too! (Shikakai is little drying in nature so curd balances it!)

Blend well to form a thick paste.

Now add 2-3 drops of any light hair oil or pure Vitamin E oil to this paste for a nourishing effect on your hair. Make sure to avoid thick oils like castor oil and go for thin filtered oils (thick oils might) weigh down your hair. I have used a thin hair oil from Garnier as my cousin liked it. I personally use Vitamin E oil. If your hair type is extremely oily, then skip this step and add few drops of lemon juice to the cream.

Now mix all the ingredients well and keep the bowl inside your refrigerator 10 minutes. (Skip this step if you catch cold easily) This process allows the ingredients to mix well together and gives a smooth soaked shikakai hair cream.

That’s all. Your homemade hair wash cream is ready to use now. You can apply it on your wet hair soon after taking out from the refrigerator for a cooling and relaxing effect. This hair wash cream cools down your body, refreshes your eyes and prevents summer acne as well. However, allow it to warm in room temperature before using if you have a cold body type.

The texture of the cream should be normal to runny for a perfect application. This doesn’t lather much as your shampoo (Meera shikakai lathers a bit in first wash and very well in second wash but my homemade version doesn’t lather) but thoroughly cleanses out all the dirt and oiliness. Plenty of water should be used to wash out the cream thoroughly. Make sure to choose a good branded shikakai powder if you cannot make one at home.

P.S: For oily hair, it takes 2 rinses to completely cleanse the hair but the after will be amazing! You will be left with soft, manageable, shiny hair. So take half – apply, massage and rinse your hair & scalp once and then wash your hair with the rest of the cream. Your hair will be thoroughly cleansed this way though the cream doesn’t lather. (It takes a lot of practice!)

I have been using this for ages and it gives great results on my hair every time. My hair turns visibly shinier and smoother after every usage. I can say it is 1000 TIMES better than store bought shampoos! You will agree with me once you start using it. I can also feel my hair growth faster than before as there is less hair loss. This above preparation is made for my cousin and I will be washing my hair tomorrow with an altered recipe.