July 21
Dry shampoo is quite possibly the greatest beauty invention in the free world. These oil absorbing potions refresh your roots so that you can go longer in between shampoos and stretch out your blowout. I practically stopped washing my hair altogether this summer so I could bring you this guide. At times, it wasn’t pretty. But after testing nearly a dozen dry shampoos, I discovered the real winners. Which ever one you choose, I can promise you this: Once you try dry shampoo, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.
Best for Fine Hair
Oscar Blandi Pronto Volumizing Dry Shampoo ($23) – Oscar makes a number of dry shampoos, but this is my favorite. Sprays on clear, not white, and gives the most amazing root boost without any stickiness or residue. Sometimes I use it on clean hair, just to give my blow-out some extra lift.
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Best Hold
Rene Futerer Nutria Dry Shampoo ($24) – To quote Jaimi Brooks of Fiore Beauty, “This dry shampoo is the gold standard, allowing you to keep your blowdry for an extra day or add texture to clean hair when you want to put your hair up. Plus, the powder spray is finer then other brands so you can’t mess it up.”
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Best Buy
Batiste Dry Shampoo ($8) – Although Pssssst! gets more play in the press and among celeb stylists, Batiste is hands-down the more powerful of the two drugstore brands. And unlike Psssssst! it doesn’t make me look like I’m graying prematurely.
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Best for Travel
Aveda Pure Abundance Hair Potion ($23) – This little bottle contains magic powder that once massaged into your roots takes on a slightly sticky consistency that thickens hair. The secret mattifying ingredient: Kaolin clay. Perfect for airplane travel or cleaning up dirty bangs!
Filed Under: Aveda pure abundance hair potion, batiste dry shampoo, oscar blandi pronto volumizing dry shampoo, rene furterer nutri dry shampoo
I have tried all of these except the Oscar Blandi. My biggest complaint with dry shampoo is that I end up looking like I just dusted my hair for a wig party. I’ve heard Bumble and Bumble (is that right) makes a colored product similar to the Aveda Hair Potion.
I am with you that dry shampoo is one of the best beauty inventions in the free world. I would add to your list Umberto’s dry shampoo and Bumble’s tinted dry shampoo.
Ladies, I have had horrific experiences with the Bb colored dry shampoo – wound up all over my pillowcase, hairline, etc! The Oscar spray and Batiste are pretty much invisible though!
Thanks for the awesome round-up! I’ll have to give the Batiste product a try when my TresSemme runs out. I’d second Bets tip on the BB colored. It’s so messy & doesn’t always look good with your color!
Um, is it bad that I thought the Aveda Pure Abundance was a styling product? That’s how I’ve been using it…oops!
Ha – no! You can totes use it to style because it creates a sort of piece-y look or that dirty hair thing that some of us can pull off.
I have had serious issues with the AVEDA hair powder clumping up because of the poor design of the tiny little hole in the lid.
My absolute favorite is by Schwartzkopf from the OSIS line which you can get at Denny Kemp Salon in NE Minneapolis.
The top is like a salt shaker with multiple holes and a larger surface area. It allows for a better application and no clumping. I have not had any issues what so ever with this product and find the actual hair powder to be less sticky as well.
It’s official – The Oscar Blandi one will be my next purchase. I’ve tried a lot of them, currently using the Tigi Rockstar and Tresemme cheapo one, but one that adds volume I can definitely get on board with.
Ah! I forgot to put dry shampoo on my travel list. Thanks for reminding me. Crossing my fingers that it’s a miracle worker.
Suzy- I agree; Dust It is AMAZING…especially to give some texture to oily/dirty hair. On the flip side, Bb hair powders are a bit messy, but they are actually not “dry” shampoos by definition- they’re actually modeled after traditional hair powders that were used for wigs to give color and lift. Bb states on their site that the powders “tint” the hair so clothes and linens should be protected!
Definitely going to try Batiste next time I’m in the market for another dry shampoo…looks like a good deal.
What color is your hair? I need something for black hair!
@Elle – I have dark brown hair so I have to watch what I’m doing! The Oscar is clear, so that’s a no-brainer. I don’t really notice the Batiste either . . . and even if you did streak your hair white, you can muss it out with your fingers.
I’m IN LOVE with the Rene Futerer Nutria Dry Shampoo. So glad you featured it!
Gah… I remember that debacle with the BB colored crap. I tucked my sunglasses up into my hair for a bit, then wore them, then had lovely black racoon circles around my eyes the rest of the day.
I’m pretty much devoted to a combination of the Ojon dry shampoo spray for my roots, and a tiny bit of Oscar Blandi powder to soak up the oil in my bangs. The powder, admittedly, is a bit messy. But it’s the only thing that I’ve found really does the job with the oil. And my hair is black, so I just have to give the powder an extra scrub to get it all worked in.
I also recently gave a try to the Tresemme foam – nice for the volume, but I still needed the OB powder for my bangs. It looked too wet and slick.
A little disclaimer: The Aveda Hair Potion is technically not a dry shampoo, as it turns to liquid upon touch — it’s supposed to be used as a texturizer / root booster and does not soak up any oil. You can also sprinkle it into other styling products (like Phomollient in my case) to kind of up the ante.
Well as long as it works like one I don’t care what it is! But I do think that anything with kaolin clay is, by nature, going to absorb oil. And that’s how the product has been sold to me by a number of the top Aveda stylists.
Bb Dry Shampoo is the first I tried of any product. I loved it but had the same problem with the tint (brown for me). The good thing about the tint is that you can use it between colors/highlighting for extra coverage.
MUST TRY: ORIBE Dry Texurizing Spray. They sell it at Phresh on Grand and it’s $39 for the bottle. The bottle is HUGE and the product is AMAZING. Use sparingly, it’s highly concentrated!
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