Ahhh, dry shampoo—the product that makes your hair go from limp and greasy to fresh and voluminous in seconds. Unfortunately, despite making your hair look great in the moment, the popular beauty staple isn’t all it’s cut out to be.
While dry shampoos save time and soak up excess oil in a cinch, using them too often can seriously damage your hair, stripping your scalp of its natural oils and causing irritation from product build-up. Unfortunately, that can result in hair-loss, dryness, and breakage. In addition, the synthetic ingredients and chemicals in store-bought aerosol options can be straight-up bad for your hair and the planet. There is good news, though: You can keep things clean, safe, and eco-friendly by making your own version at home.
Loren Miche, the low-waste wellness blogger behind Chickpea Wellness, recently shared her go-to formula for dry shampoo, and it only involves two staples you already have in your kitchen: cornstarch and cocoa powder. “Using a more natural dry shampoo, you know exactly what’s going on your head and can control how little or how much you use,” she writes. “Cornstarch soaks up any excess oil without totally drying out your scalp and hair.”
And making the mix is simple. According to Miche, just grab a glass jar and mix 2 Tbsp of organic cornstarch with 1 to 2 Tbsp of cocoa powder, depending on the darkness of your hair. (You can also use arrowroot powder instead of cornstarch.) Then when you want to use it—which you should limit to once or twice a week, no matter whether your dry shampoo is natural or not—grab a fluffy makeup brush and gently apply it to your roots, working it in with your hands. Refreshing your look has never been easier.