Shampoo and Conditioner...necessary evils, or are they?

I have always had what i considered to be healthy hair. When i lived with my parents, i washed it every other day and would wash it first with a clarifying shampoo, then with a regular shampoo. I used the clarifying on recommendation of my stylist, to help remove hard water build up (sounds icky, i know). I would use the second shampoo to help with its corresponding conditioner. Sounds pretty basic. I never had a problem with dandruff.
Upon moving out, my mother gave me mega sized bottles of shampoo and conditioner. They were clarifying from a brand i normally don't buy. But hey, beggars can't be choosers, and given the cost of hair care these days, i was in no position to disregard the freebies. I still wash my hair every other day. Problem is, using a clarifying shampoo without needing to removing hard water or styling products dries hair out. And causes mild dandruff, which unfortunately i now have.
A long time ago, i was reading the ingredients of my favorite, and now discontinued scent from Bath & Body (they have a way of getting you hooked on a smell and ending it before you can stock up for the Armegeddon), and in it was "extracts from cleansing papaya". Got me thinking.
If papaya is a natural cleanser (as are orange, lemon, and grapefruit), i wonder what it would do for my hair.
Fast forward to this week. I am going to buy a few obscure things to create my own "shampoo" which will need refridgerated. Things like honey and rose hips. I am not sure if the concoction i will be making will do any good, but hey, i have plenty of clarifying shampoo to rid my hair of any ill wanted effects.
the ingredients are:
papaya, grapefruit, orange, and lemon (the juice, and zest of all three citrus), honey, milk, and an egg. I'm going to blend that until it's liquid, then i'm going to add the rose hips...

Now...conditioner. my biggest issue with this stuff has always been that it weighs my hair down, and makes it way more oily than necessary, way too fast. I have found 1 conditioner i absolutely loved. Dove foaming conditioner. Unfortunately, not enough people bought it and they pulled it from the shelves. I called the Dove company to find out why i could no longer buy it. I actually called the 1-800 # for Dove as to why i couldn't find it anywhere. That is how much i loved that conditioner.
This being said, i'm going to make my own conditioner as well. I think i'm just going to use avocado, some olive oil, and some aloe vera (like, buying a plant, and chopping a piece of it up in my blender...). and again with rose and other flower petals. The oil in avocado should help condition without adding weight.

who knows what this will do to my hair. i'm going to try it on my next day off so i have some time to play around with the results.
Here's to options :D