How to Add Fragrance Oil to a Shampoo Base

It's likely that you shampoo your hair anywhere from three to seven times a week. Commercial shampoos might do the job, but they don’t necessarily have that perfect aroma that you would like to walk around with all day. So why not create your own scent and add it to your shampoo?

Your Signature Scent

Purchase a shampoo base. You can order a simple base online. The ingredients are usually as follows: water, sodium laureth sulfate, sodium lauryl sulfate, cocamide DEA, cocamidopropyl betaine, citric acid, sodium chloride and sodium hydroxymethylglycinate. You can also just use unscented shampoo from the drugstore.

Decide on the scent or scents you want to play with. All essential oils and fragrances can be ordered online. Fragrance oils can be fruity like mango and peach, sweet like vanilla or spicy like cinnamon. Essential oils can have healing properties, such as lavender for relaxation, peppermint for energy and rosemary for clarity. Tea tree oil, which smells a little like witch hazel, is often used in dandruff shampoos and can also be added to your shampoo.

Purchase a carrier oil. Almond, sesame and olive oils are all great carrier oils.

Put a tablespoon of the carrier oil in a small bowl. Add four drops of essential oil to a tablespoon of carrier oil. If using something other than an essential oil, such as a fragrance oil, use more. Add drops, one drop at a time, and test it as you go. As far as fragrance oils go, the only way to know for sure how long the scent will last in your hair is by trial and error.

Pour the carrier oil and fragrance into the your unscented bottle of shampoo. If using a shampoo base, measure how much base can go into the bottle, and then mix the oil and fragrance with the base in a bowl. Pour contents into a shampoo bottle through your funnel.

Wash your hair with your new shampoo. Wet. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.