Since becoming a mum, dry shampoo has been a staple in my makeup bag. I mean, are you even a mum if you don’t own a bottle of dry shampoo? But, dry shampoo is used in many different ways and for different reasons.
Since becoming a mum, dry shampoo has been a staple in my makeup bag. I mean, are you even a mum if you don’t own a bottle of dry shampoo? But, dry shampoo is used in many different ways and for different reasons. It can be great after a workout at the gym or even to give fine and lifeless hair some volume. Whatever your reason for using dry shampoo, here is everything you need to know about it.
Dry shampoo has been around for centuries
Dry shampoo has become increasingly popular in the last 10 years but it’s actually been around in some form or another for centuries. There is evidence that people in Asia were using clay in their hair thousands of years ago. Even the dry shampoo we use today was found in the 1940s. These days there are over 50 varieties of dry shampoo and many do more than just salvage a blowout or disguise a missed shower. Some give volume, body and texture, some for fine hair and some even made specifically for hair colour.
Dry Shampoo is actually not shampoo
Despite its name, dry shampoo is not a hair cleanser. Unlike regular shampoo, which is formulated with water and cleansing agents that rinse away oils and impurities, dry shampoos are mostly made up of alcohol, starch, or clay (spray versions) or clay, talc, and starch without the alcohol (powder versions. With either type of dry shampoo, the porous ingredients work by soaking up excess oil, which is what breathes new life into yesterday’s blow-dry or your sweaty strands after hitting the gym.
Enough is enough
Dry shampoo is a lifesaver between real washings or as a touch-up after your workout, but it’s not meant to replace a good old-fashioned shampoo and conditioner. And spraying it on every day will actually make your hair worse because it will lead to a build-up of product that can dull your colour and irritate your scalp. Like your face, your scalp needs regular cleansing and exfoliating to get rid of bacteria, remove dead skin cells, and stay healthy. Use dry shampoo no more than three times a week to give your hair some time to breathe between uses, and follow it up with a clarifying shampoo the next time you wash your hair.
Give it time
When you first use dry shampoo, you might be surprised to see a powdery white residue on your hair. But don’t panic—it’s completely normal. Just wait two minutes for your hair to absorb the dry shampoo, then work it through with a comb, a brush, or your fingers, and the white-powder look will vanish. A great tip is to apply dry shampoo the night before and by morning it will all be absorbed and looking and feeling fresh.
Light touch
You don’t actually want to spray your roots at close range. Instead, spray individual sections of hair, making sure to hold the canister 8 to 10 inches away from your scalp. Any closer will leave your hair looking dull and wet-looking, and overly saturated with product, making it harder to comb through.
It’s not for everyone
Most healthy heads of hair can take dry shampoo. The exceptions are people who are prone to severely dry skin because excess dry shampoo can throw your skin out of balance and dry out your scalp, and people with thinning hair, since it can inflame and clog your hair follicles, disrupting your scalp’s natural and growing shedding cycles.
Written by Laura Doyle staff writer at FFHQ who also blogs at www.lovelifeandlittleones.com.
