Pretty much any time you read a "How to grow your hair" Blog post (including my own) it mentions not washing your hair every day, and using a dry shampoo if you feel your hair is too greasy to break the everyday washing habit.
It's great advice, but there are a lot of dry shampoos out there and it can get confusing. Do they work the same? Do they cost the same? How do they smell? How does it effect your hair style?
Who has time to sift through all these types and figure it out? Me! I do! So I did. . .
Over the last few months I have tried these four different dry shampoos from different price ranges and different formulas and these are the answers I have come up with.
First you should know a little about the types available and how they work. In general dry shampoo works by using an extremely absorbent, powdery substance to soak up the oils in your hair, making it appear cleaner and it usually has some type of fragrance to make it smell fresher.
They come in aerosol formulas that spray in, and non aerosols that you sprinkle on and brush through, and they range in price from extremely cheap to a bit on the expensive side.
So let's get to it...
Oscar Blandi Pronto Dry Shampoo.
TYPE- Non Aerosol
ITEM PRICE- $18.00
PRICE PER OUNCE- $7.20
WHAT'S IT LIKE?
This was the first dry shampoo I ever tried. It is non aerosol which means your sprinkle it on the roots of your hair and and brush it through. It gets the job done extremely well. It makes your hair much less oily. It smells...ok I guess, like citrus but not quite. Not a scent that I love, but it doesn't linger, and you can only smell it if you really get up close.
The down side of this one is that it's really easy to distribute it unevenly, which will make your hair look really white where you have sprinkled too much on. It can be brushed through, but it takes a while. You can also put it in your hands first and rub it in, but I personally HATE the gritty feeling it leaves on my hands so, no thanks on that method.
As far as adding texture and volume to my hair, this one added a touch of volume, but nothing to write home about. I sure wouldn't put it on clean hair just to get some volume.
Overall, if you like using name brands and you have a few bucks to spare, you might like this one, but for the price, I think you can do better.
Lush Coconut Deodorant Powder
TYPE- Non Aerosol
ITEM PRICE- $7.95
PRICE PER OUNCE- $3.18
WHAT'S IT LIKE?
This one is technically not even a dry shampoo, its an all natural sprinkle on deodorant (yes, you read that right, no it does not work well as a deodorant) I forget where I read that this could be used as a dry shampoo, but I like Lush and the price seemed right, so I decided to give a whirl.
It is a sprinkle-on one, like the Oscar Blandi, so it suffers from the same distribution issues and can make your hair white if you aren't careful (note to self: keep some around for epic old lady halloween costume)
However I found that this one did not have the gritty appalling texture that the Oscar Blandi one did on my hands, so putting it on your hands first and rubbing it in is actually an option.
It does the job well, my hair was certainly not greasy after using it.
It smells really nice, if you like coconut, but the scent is a bit stronger. So if you don't like your hair smelling like anything strong, then maybe skip this one, but I didn't find the scent offensive, and I am extremely picky about scents in my hair.
As far as adding volume...meh. Good not great. It made it fluffier but did not add significant volume.
Over all, just as good as the Oscar Blandi, better price point but stronger smell. Out of the two non-aerosol ones that I tried this is the one that I prefer.
Suave Dry Shampoo Spray
TYPE- Aerosol
ITEM PRICE- $2.54
PRICE PER OUNCE- 64¢
WHAT'S IT LIKE?
This is the first Aerosol one that I tried. The spray on application is definitely easier than sprinkling it onto your roots and brushing. The performance however...lacking, big time. It seems to almost be a can of scented air when you spray it on. After you apply a lot ( and I mean a LOT) of it, it makes your hair less greasy...but not much.
The smell is extremely strong. You will smell like a bag of apricot candies or something ALL DAY. Noticeably. People asked me if I was eating something citrus a number of times when I used this. They should call the scent apricot explosion, or atomic orange, or just something extreme to give you a warning of what you are applying to your hair.
If you like strong scents in your hair, and don't need a ton of cleansing power... this one is for you. As I have mentioned I am not a fan of strong scents in my hair products, so no thanks ( I spend a bunch of money on perfume so why would I want to cover it with some cheap smelling hair product?)
The price however is insanely inexpensive, so it's a bit of a "you get what you pay for" sort of situation. I would say if you are in a pinch and you need a quick fix, but don't want to spend much money, this will help you out. I wouldn't pick it up over any of the other varieties though.
Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo with Oat Extract
TYPE- Aerosol
ITEM PRICE- $18.00
PRICE PER OUNCE- $5.63
WHAT'S IT LIKE?
The aerosol spray makes it really easy to apply, and it goes on pretty evenly. As far as making hair less oily, it does a great job. I think this is the only one that absorbed almost as much oil as the Oscar Blandi Pronto, but the application is much easier.
The smell is fresh, powdery and really subtle. Perfect for freshening the hair without overpowering your perfume. It also smells more natural and a bit more mature than the fruity/citrus smells of the others.
The big bonus to this one is that it gives a TON of texture and volume to my hair. It lifts the roots like no other.
The price falls on the higher end of the spectrum here, but in my opinion it is well worth it. This one was the clear winner for me.
It had the best scent, application and volumizing effect, and is pretty much tied for first as far as how much oil it absorbs. SOLD
If I come across more that seem interesting, I will certainly try them out and do a second installment to fill everyone in, but until then I am sticking with Klorane.
Thanks for reading everyone, hope this helps!
<3
PRODUCTS MENTIONED:
-Lush Coconut Deodorant Powder
-Suave Professionals Dry Shampoo Spray
-Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk
Great comparison. Thanks for the article...I put the website at the name. I suggest you to compare Faciano dry shampoo, it is the best for me. My hair is clean with refresh and no powder residue at all. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip! I'll give that one a try =)
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