Let’s face it, we don’t have the time to wash our hair on the daily. And not even factoring in time, it’s not that great for your hair. Enter dry shampoo. However, it’s a misconception that the only purpose of dry shampoo is to hide the greasy roots of unwashed hair. Yes, a good dry shampoo does that, but I also use it on clean hair to add volume and texture. While there are drugstore options, this roundup focuses on products on the higher end of the dry shampoo spectrum. Over the past 6 months I’ve been on a mission to identify my tried and true favorite dry shampoo.
Before I get into which products I liked, and which ones I didn’t love, I’m going to let you in on my dry shampoo application secret. The best time to apply dry shampoo on your hair is right before you go to bed. The product then has all night to work on absorbing oils, and naturally creates volume from the friction of your head against your pillow. Then you just wake up, style, and go! I’ve even been known to spray a little dry shampoo on the roots of freshly washed hair at night, just so I can work up a little volume while I sleep.
Amika Perk Up Dry Shampoo– Love the scent of this one. It doesn’t leave a residue, absorbs oil while creating volume, and is perfect for refreshing hair between shampoos.
Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo– Absorbs oil, sweat and odor and allows for easy removal, leaving behind virtually no visible residue or powdery build-up. A time-release fragrance delivers a light, clean scent all day. The one downside of this one is the product is really white upon the initial application, so maybe not the best option if you have really dark hair.
Sally Hershberger 24K Supreme Stylist Voluminous Dry Shampoo– The most expensive of the bunch. This one created the most volume, but I didn’t love the scent. Your hair is left soft and dramatically voluminous. There was no need to use multiple times between shampoos. If lots of volume is what you’re after, this is the product for you.
Klorane Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk– This one might be my least favorite of the bunch, for no other reason than it doesn’t stand out to me like some of the others. It works great to eliminate oil. It doesn’t have a strong scent which I like, but it doesn’t add as much volume as some of the other products. I found I needed to use it multiple times between shampoos.
Alterna Bamboo Style Cleanse Extend Translucent Dry Shampoo in Mango Coconut– This translucent dry shampoo is designed to absorb oil, product build-up, and impurities to extend the life of your blowout without leaving any powdery residue. This product is specifically scented, and the scent is strong, but very pleasant. It’s perfect for the summer.
Drybar Detox Dry Shampoo– This one works really well. You only need to use once between shampoos and it lasts, no need to repeat. It’s lightly fragranced with notes of sandalwood, jasmine and vanilla. In my opinion this is the downside of this product. I just don’t love the scent. If you’ve ever had a blowout at Drybar, you are familiar with this recognizable smell. It’s so fragrant, that I met a friend for brunch one morning after using, and even though it had been several hours, she instantly inquired if I’d had a blowout at Drybar upon hugging her hello, due to the heavily perfumed scent. It’s not a bad smell, just a little overpowering, but if that doesn’t bother you than this is a great product.
Of these 6 dry shampoos, the Amika and the Living Proof are my favorites, and are the ones I would purchase again.
Have you tried any of these dry shampoos? What did you like or not like about them? Love a product I didn’t mention here? Let us know in the comments below and we’ll give it a try!
-Ash xx
P.S. We posted a video on our YouTube Channel yesterday showing you our recent Sephora haul if you’re interested in more beauty finds!