Beauty hack: I live by dry shampoo. It’s not that I truly ‘never’ wash my hair, but I only do so, at most, twice a week, and every stylist I know goes gaga over my hair, and then nods with approval, pats me on the back and says, “Good girl” when I say I rarely wash it. But, I would still use dry shampoo if I did wash my hair every day, simply because it’s one of the best volumizers I have found for my fine hair.
So… How Often Should You Wash Your Hair?
There is this social perception of how often we must bathe, or wash our hair. Driven by advertising campaigns to sell product, we’ve become desensitized to the reality that we don’t need to shower daily (aside from specific obvious situations). More specifically, the oils that make our hair ‘dirty’ are actually a part of a sebacious protective layer our skin secretes, and it saves us from infections, taming any bacteria hanging out!
There’s a perfect balance the skin must maintain, from a biological standpoint, in order to do its job. As we remove those layers of oil, by showering/washing our hair, we’re telling our body it needs to reach that same, specific biological level by the time you shower again next. Your body syncs with how often you’re removing these precious oils. You can literally retrain this secretion process by washing your hair less, and over time it will sync up.
>READ: TO KEEP YOUR HAIR HEALTHY AND BEAUTIFUL STOP DOING THESE 7 THINGS
The Benefits to Washing Less
The benefits of washing your hair less are plenty, but they’re all really based on one fact: Dry Shampoo is the best beauty trick in the book.
There’s the financial reason – less shampoo to buy, less heavy-conditioning treatments, and less hot water you’re paying the bill to heat! When you wash less often, there is still going to be some oil accumulating, so before you reach for the dry shampoo, grab a boar’s bristle brush, and do your strokes. The natural bristle of the brush distributes the oils from root to end, which will also make the dry shampoo more effective. Lastly, you’ll save on haircuts because your hair will stay healthier using it’s natural oils to condition naturally over time.
>READ: HOW SCALP CARE CONTRIBUTES TO HEALTHY HAIR
There’s also the big picture, insofar that our shampoo bottles are made of plastic and are heavy to ship. More weight means more fuel being used to transport the bottles of shampoo to the store or to your door. Yes, dry shampoo is a spray, but thanks to modern aerosoles, its carbon footprint is much smaller. Less washing also means less water being used, and less water with non-organic products washing down our drains and into the rivers.
Which Dry Shampoos are the Best?
There’s a ton of dry shampoos out there and I’m constantly trying new ones. A few years ago, it was a bit hard to find, but as instagram blew up, celebs have been spilling on their love affair with dry shampoo, and the market went boom.
Since I have thinning, fine hair, they’re a great volumizer in general – way better than a mousse. I do have my favorites, a bit of which is driven on the price point. This is important because I go through several bottles in a year.
The others, on my dislike list below, either weighed down my hair, weren’t as effective in making my hair look less ‘dirty’, or they provided a bit too much texture for daily practice, but would be great if I were styling my hair in an updo and need the extra “grab” for bobby pins, et al. My neutral picks below are just that. Not memorable enough to be on my dislike or love list!
Application Tip: you’re not supposed to spray and brush. Well, you can, it is effective to some extent, but the true way to use dry shampoo is to spray your hair the evening before, wrap it up in a scarf and sleep on it. When you wake up, all of the powder has absorbed the excess oils, and brushes out of your hair. If you are going to ‘spray and go’, try to spray prior to makeup application and then brush out afterward to allow for a little bit of time to let the power absorb the oils. Always spray the roots, only. I do a forward bend, and with my head down and hair falling toward the floor, as this always helps fluff the hair a bit either way. (I also blow dry my hair like this!)
Dry Shampoo Recommendations:
Love
Batiste: they have color-specific formulas, so that it doesn’t leave a powder finish. Your hair will have a bit less shine when you use dry shampoo, but I have absolutely no need to role play a barrister in a Charles Dickens novel! Batiste is also the top-rated product for dry shampoo on Amazon, and are also one of the most affordable I have found that I liked.
SHOP: $10 at Ulta
SHOP: $18-$20 for a 3-pack on Amazon
Runners Up
Oribe Gold Lust Dry Shampoo: a well-loved ‘salon-only’ brand also makes a decent dry shampoo. It is on the luxury end, price-wise, so if you’re going to rarely-to-occasionally use dry shampoo, this might be worth the bucks. It does perform a bit better in terms of the feeling of my hair afterward. It feels a bit softer. There’s definitely no problem with powder-head, but since I’m a daily user, I’ll just have to lust from over here!
Surface Hair Trinity Dry Shampoo: not quite as pricey, the Surface dry shampoo is a good option, as well. This is one, though, that you either love it or hate it, mostly because of the smell. It was a bit too strong for my taste, but I do love that it goes on clear.
Neutral
Hask Chia Seed Dry Shampoo
Herbal Essences
No Love
Aussie Clean Volume & Color Protector
TIGI Bed Head Matte Dry Shampoo
Not Your Mother’s Plump for Joy – Use their Plump for Joy Thickening Conditioner, instead. Conditioner is one of the main reasons fine hair falls flat, so using one formulated for volume is key.
>READ: THE BEST HAIRCUTS FOR FINE THIN AND THICK COARSE HAIR
>READ: TIPS AND HAIR ADVICE FROM CELEBRITY STYLIST PAUL LABRECQUE
