Dry shampoo is a warm weather staple, a must-have if you travel, and a lifesaver in all the worst hair situations.
Ever since I wrote How Often Should You Wash Your Hair?, I’ve received tons of emails and some comments wanting dry shampoo recommendations. Over the past few months, I’ve been on a quest to test them all out, and have finally decided on my top 5 favorite dry shampoos ever.
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What is dry shampoo?
For those of you who don’t know, dry shampoo is a powder, usually in a spray can, that absorbs oil in your hair and leaves a fresh scent. It gets rid of greasy “second day” hair, adds volume, and makes hair look and smell fresh and clean, minus the need for water.
Why use dry shampoo?
There are a so many reasons why dry shampoo is amazing.
First of all, if you’re blonde, it’s the best for getting rid of greasy hair and even lightening up your roots! (This is personally why I’m obsessed with it.)
Second, it’s perfect if you have damaged hair that you don’t want to shampoo every day. Daily shampooing, blow drying, and styling can stress your hair even more, causing extra damage and breakage. By shampooing only 3-4 times a week and using dry shampoo in between washings, your hair will be less damaged and prone to breakage.
Third, it’s perfect if you travel or just wake up late and need to get ready fast. A quick spray and your hair will be good to go, no shower necessary.
The Top 5 Best Dry Shampoos
Cheapest Option: Batiste Dry Shampoo
Don’t let the old school packaging fool you – this stuff is as good now as it probably was in the ’80s when they designed the label. Batiste Dry Shampoo comes in a bunch of scents, but I only tried Original and “Blush”. Original smells clean, lemony, and a little bit chemically, but once it’s on your hair the scent disappears. Blush smells powdery and floral, but not too overpowering. At only $5.99/can (and available to buy in bulk on Amazon!), Batiste is a budget-friendly dry shampoo that works well.
You can buy Batiste Dry Shampoo for $5.99 at Amazon.
Best scent: Oscar Blandi Pronto Dry Shampoo
I’m in LOVE with the lemony scent of this product! It’s definitely pricey, at $11 for a tiny bottle, but pricey is what you have to expect with Oscar Blandi. As far as results go, this worked just as well as the cheaper brands at eliminating oil and leaving hair looking fresh. If you only plan to use dry shampoo once in a while and want to splurge on something that smells amazing, you have to try Oscar Blandi.
You can buy Oscar Blandi Pronto Dry Shampoo for $11 at Amazon.
Most Stylish: VERB Dry Shampoo
If you want your vanity (or sink, or desk, or dresser, or wherever you keep your products) to look extra chic, just add a bottle of VERB Dry Shampoo. The packaging is so stylish and the pointed tip makes it easy to apply. As a bonus, this stuff works great, and doesn’t leave a whitish cast on hair if your strands are darker! Although it’s not really economical at $16/bottle, if you’ve got the funds, we highly recommend it.
You can buy VERB Dry Shampoo for $16 at Sephora
DIY version: Baby Powder
If you don’t want to shell out the money for any of the products above, and want to use something you might have around the house, you can use baby powder instead. Just sprinkle some baby powder on your roots, turn your head upside down, and brush it out, and your hair will look and smell nice and fresh. As a bonus, baby powder comes in huge containers that last FOREVER.
If you don’t want to smell like baby powder, I highly recommend the Calming Lavender scented powder available on Amazon which smells lovely and works just as well as regular.
You can buy Calming Lavender Scent baby powder for $9.99 on Amazon.
Best Overall: Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo
Klorane Dry Shampoo is my favorite of all the ones I’ve tried. It’s definitely pricey and can be hard to find in stores, but it’s worth it for the scent, the fact that it’s natural, and how well it works. It makes hair look clean and fresh, but doesn’t build up or make hair look dull the way other dry shampoos can. Klorane is also great because it’s natural and contains fewer toxic ingredients than other products on the market. It’s also perfect for darker hair, as it doesn’t leave any white residue. Highly recommended!
You can buy Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo for $20 on Amazon.
Related reading: The Best Drugstore Shampoos for Oily Hair
Your thoughts?
You’ve seen my favorite dry shampoos, now I want to hear your recommendations. Do you use dry shampoo? If so, let me know which one is your favorite in the comments section!
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in 2009; it was completely revamped in 2017 to reflect our current favorite products.
Baby powder has so many uses 🙂
Batiste is the best! I can only find it at this one random grocery store here in MN. The can runs out really fast, but this stuff is a lifesaver – I put a little bit on the underside of my bangs and I’m good to go. 🙂 it’s about $7 a can here, but right now they have this little mail in rebate thing for the full price…it’s in a label thing on the top of the can. So…yeah, definitely worth a try!
Have you guys not heard of NoRinse? Its the new dry shampoo, me and my friends bought it at WOMAD this year and its amazing!! You pour it straight onto your head, massage it in and towel dry it off. The guy said you have to towel dry it off before styling – blowdrying etc.. coz thats where all the dirt and grease goes or it will just dry back into your hair. ive got short hair and it was great but my friend has long hair and we found it was best to do it in sections. They do body washes that smell lush as well. Its £2 for a small bottle and £4 for a big one. x
What about the Rene Furterer Nutria Dry Shampoo? I thought that was the “one”?
I have very thin blond hair and have been using powder as a dry shampoo for over 3 years….I started with a cornstarch free baby powder which worked really well especially the day after I had used shampoo. I would just sprinkle the powder on my roots, flip my head over and massage it into my scalp. The only complaint I had with baby powder is that it was kind of heavy and tended to leave my roots really dull. I have found that (as weird as this may sound) Summers Eve feminine powder works a bit better. The powder is much finer and I find I like the smell a little more than baby powder as well.
I have also tried the Rockaholic Dirty Little Secret dry shampoo but was not all that impressed with it….I found my roots were dull and it left my hair feeling kinda stringy and “clumped together” at the back.
For all those curly haired girls…TRESemme now has a product in their “Fresh Start” line that is a foam waterless shampoo. I have not tried the product myself (as I don’t have curly hair) but it claims to “Give curls moisture and shine in-between washes with this unique foam shampoo. Reduces oil and odor without water, leaving hair feeling soft and clean” (http://www.tresemme.com/Products/Fresh-Start/Fresh-Start-Waterless-Foam-Shampoo/)