Dry shampoo has come a long way since the time of coating your scalp in talcum powder in a bid to avoid hair wash day.
You no longer need to spend countless minutes trying (and often failing) to rub the not-so subtle white, dandruff-seeming particles into your hair, and signalling to all that underneath the grey cast you have greasy locks.
After the World Wide Web and the smartphone, we believe dry shampoo as we know it is the greatest invention in the last 100 years. Of course, the concept has been around far longer and there is some evidence to suggest that clay powders were used in Asia as far back as the 15th century.
The formulas are made of oil-absorbing ingredients that bind to odour, sweat and sebum and remove it, not only mattifying the appearance of your locks but actually doing a good job in adding volume to limp and lifeless roots due to the aerosol application.
Top tips: always shake the can before use, hold the product around 10-15cm away from roots, apply while continuously moving and let the product sit for a few seconds before brushing hair through. It is a common misconception to spray before bed and let it soak up overnight as this can cause a build-up on the scalp and do more harm than good.
Shop the best formulas below that will become a game-changer for festival season, when you’re saving hair washing for a more opportune moment or to add longevity to a blow-dry.
Living Proof Perfect Hair Day (PhD) Advanced Clean Dry Shampoo
Living Proof changed the entire dry shampoo game with the launch of its original formula - but more on that below. The Advanced is the hugely coveted follow up with an even more supercharged dry shampoo experience.
It is designed to leave you with cleaner hair by absorbing oil and sweat. Not superficially but scientifically by removing the causes of greasy hair to turn back the no-wash clock. But taking this one step further, it helps to balance out the sebum on the scalp to actually leave you with fresher-looking locks for longer. Ideal if you live in a highly polluted area, it leaves softness and shine without the cast and counteracts the effects that external aggressors may have on your hair.
Buy now £27.00, Cult Beauty
Sol de Janeiro Dry Shampoo
Adorned by any and all who come across its addictive aroma, Sol de Janeiro has been building on its best-selling Bum Bum Cream with a haircare range. Not content on resting on its beautifully-scented laurels, the dry shampoo cleans, clears and even offers volume. The product imparts the cult fragrance - a combination of pistachio, almond, floral notes of jasmine and a woody base of sandalwood and salted caramel -that will transport you toes in the sand to Rio’s Copacabana Beach.
Buy now £24.00, Harvey Nichols
Batiste Dry Shampoo Original
Batiste is likely to be one of the first dry shampoo labels that you came across and works wonders in its ability to refresh tresses between washes. The range is so extensive now that there is a formula for different hair colours, in an array of aromas and best of all, handy travel sizes that will slip into your carry-on whether you’re looking to delay a wash after catching the sun rays or heading to an overnight festival.
Buy now £3.25, Superdrug
Living Proof Perfect Hair Day (PhD) Dry Shampoo
Living Proof’s OG dry shampoo is beloved by industry experts the world over. Unlike any product before it, this was created to actually clean hair, and not just cover up greasiness. Trying to give your rinse shampoo a run for its money, it has become a game-changer for lazy beauty lovers everywhere and a solve for any quick fix needs where it comes in a variety of sizes so you can keep one in every location - be it your travel bag, desk, or bedside table. There is also a unique time-release fragrance to leave a fresh scent throughout the day.
Buy now £25.00, lookfantastic
KLORANE Daily Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk
This oat milk-enriched formula from Klorane may be the closest you can get to that fresh-out-the-shower feeling for your hair without actually, you know, washing your hair. The key ingredient has a moisturising effect and works to protect your locks too. Spray onto roots and the product gets to work absorbing oiliness, texturising and leaving no grey cast behind.
Buy now £8.05, lookfantastic
Ouai Super dry shampoo
Ouai’s founder Jen Atkin combines her years of expertise as the hair stylist of choice for the Kardashian-Jenner and Hadid clans to create efficacious products that does the heavy lifting for you. Enter the Super dry shampoo that combines volcanic minerals, rice starch and rhodiola rosea extract with detoxifying and revitalising properties. In the process, your locks get a new lease on life with a non-greasy shine.
Buy now £24.00, lookfantastic
Amika Perk Up Dry Shampoo
The best-selling prestige dry shampoo in the US, it’s time we gave Amika’s dry shampoo a go on our shores too. The Perk Up Dry Shampoo promises to bring your limp hair back to life for a freshly washed look with added volume and no white residue.
Infused with nutrient-rich sea buckthorn, this formula is talc-free and made with natural rice starch to absorb oil instead of the standard aluminium starch used in most dry shampoos.
Buy now £25.00, Amika
Briogeo Scalp Revival Charcoal + Biotin Dry Shampoo
There is no one size fits all when it comes to washing your hair. Every hair type is different but if your locks need more rinsing than others, incorporate Briogeo’s dry shampoo to help with hair health, while also giving you a break from constant shampooing.
The formula breaks from the crowd due to its inclusion of detoxifying binchotan charcoal and biotin - the ingredient known for encouraging hair growth. There’s also witch hazel extract (often found in spot creams) to prevent excessive sebum production. Best of all, it is formulated with 98 per cent naturally-dervied ingredients.
Buy now £22.00, Cult Beauty
OGX Refresh & Full+ Biotin & Collagen Dry Shampoo
OGX is taking the dry shampoo process to the next level by incorporating both biotin and collagen into the formulation. Not only are you eliminating oil, but you are enriching your locks with nutrients that will leave a thicker and fuller appearance - something those with thin or fine hair will no doubt appreciate.
Buy now £7.49, Superdrug
TIGI Oh Bee Hive Epic Volumising Dry Shampoo!
Extend the life of your blow-dry with Oh Bee Hive that absorbs excess oil without weighing down the individual strands and ruining your style. Instead, the product has a lifting, voluminous effect that doesn’t leave a residue.
Buy now £10.00, Superdrug
Hair by Sam McKnight Lazy Girl Dry Shampoo 250ml
For day two or three post-wash, leave it to backstage regular and legendary hair expert Sam McKnight to have your back with his Lazy Girl formula. It’s a lightweight mist that offers styling potential too with the way it adds volume and texture.
Sam recommends spraying it onto your hair brush and coating your roots and ends for foolproof and even application.
Buy now £22.00, Cult Beauty
