I have a dirty little secret: I sometimes go a full week without washing my hair. Now, before you go and call me gross, hear me out. I have super-thick, coarse, curly hair, and it gets seriously dry. Shampooing frequently just dries it out even more, so I like to wait as long as possible before I have to do it again. That's especially the case when I blow-dry my hair. It takes a whole lot of effort to smooth out my curly hair, so you better believe I'm going to do everything in my power to limit the number of times I have to style it each week (don't worry, I still hop in the tub every day to clean my body!).
That's why I'm such a big believer in dry shampoo. In fact, I love dry shampoo so much that I recently used a different one every day for a week to see if it would keep my at-home blowout fresh and clean while I hit up yoga and cycling classes, went out for post-work dinner and drinks, and attended an action-packed basketball game. Keep reading to learn what I thought of each dry shampoo I tried.
I washed and blow-dried my hair Saturday afternoon since I had a friend's birthday dinner that night. After waking up with a slight hangover on Sunday (damn you, red wine), I sprayed this drugstore dry shampoo onto my roots and used my hands to work it into my hair. This dry shampoo is formulated with tapioca, which absorbs oils for a refreshed look. My hair definitely felt clean and free of grease after spraying this on and there was no white residue, which is often a dry shampoo concern for me because I have such dark hair.
This has been my holy grail dry shampoo for the last year and a half so, naturally, I had to include it in the mix. After leaving the office on Monday, I threw my hair into a messy bun and headed to a power yoga class. The class made me sweat but I wasn't drenched. Still, my hair was slightly curlier when I took it down once I got home. I immediately spritzed this dry shampoo, which sops up oil, sweat and odor, onto my roots after taking my hair out of its bun. It effectively got rid of the post-yoga sweat at my roots and made my hair smell like it was just washed.
I usually reach for dry shampoo sprays but I figured I might as well give a different type of formula a try — in the name of journalism, of course. The reason why I've stayed away from powders in the past is because I've been nervous that they'll be messy and leave me with noticeable white streaks in my dark brown hair. Luckily, I didn't experience that when using this dry shampoo, which features diatomaceous earth (a mineral compound that absorbs oil and adds texture), jojoba seed oil (which conditions and pumps up shine) and burdock root extract (which helps remove flakes). I sprayed the powder right onto my roots after a fun Restaurant Week dinner with friends and massaged it in until I couldn't see it anymore. The ends of my hair started to get even curlier on Tuesday and this dry shampoo helped enhance my hair's texture. It was a little bit messy, but I mostly chalk that up to my inexperience using powder dry shampoo.
Midway through my dry shampoo challenge, I have to admit that I was feeling ready to wash my hair. During the winter especially, my scalp gets itchy and flaky and I couldn't help but pick at the buildup that had accumulated over the last few days. I still had four more days of using dry shampoo to go, though, so I reached for this one, which eliminates oil at the roots. I love that it didn't leave any white residue in my hair and the smell wasn't overpowering. My hair felt light and bouncy, and I couldn't believe that I hadn't washed my hair since Saturday!
