I made my own shampoo for about a year and never ever had any problems with dryness. The thing is that with any shampoo natural or otherwise, there has to be humectant ingredients added to the soap base. In my case I added, honey, olive oil, plus other essential oils to the castile base. Marie Longhairs is a very good product. What she fails to tell you is that you can in fact make your own products just as good as her own. After all she is in business to make money. And if the consumer does not investigate she makes a ton of money off of them.