As a busy mom, I am always looking for shortcuts to reduce my time getting out the door. Since becoming a mom, I’ve taken to packing lunches, setting up my coffee machine and picking out CB’s and my school clothes the night before. As far as the actual morning goes, I’m still working on finding shortcuts, but my absolute must-do and favorite shortcut is using dry shampoo and washing and drying my hair less frequently.

Besides saving time, dry shampoo is healthier for your hair. You have probably heard that sulfates in shampoo are bad, bad, bad news bears. They are the same ingredients that are found in dish detergent, which make them extremely harsh on your hair, stripping it of its natural oils. Over time, hair grows accustomed to shampoo and whenever it’s not shampooed, your hair feels super greasy because the natural oils freak out and try to overcompensate for the oils that have been previously stripped. Very technical terms, I know.

There are sulfate-free shampoos on the market, some better than others. I use the L’oreal brand, but if it wasn’t so expensive, I’d use Wen instead. You can also make your own non-shampoo, like this cool gal — I definitely want to try this, but I’m not quite ready to make this big leap yet.

Anyway, I wash my hair maybe once every 3-4 days and can go as long as 6 if I have to. This includes days of “working out” (i.e. taking my dog for a brisk walk in the hot sun or throwing in a Jillian Michaels DVD), playing at the pool (with my hair up so it barely gets wet), etc. When I first started reducing the number of washes, it took a bit of time to “train” my hair to get used to the lack of shampoo. I’d start by washing every other day and wearing my hair up in a ponytail on the second day so the hair grease was less obvious. Classy, I know. On non-hair-washing days, I simply put my hair in a ponytail or bun and hop in the shower. The ends of my hair will often get wet, but it’s not a big deal. You can also be like my sister and wear an old lady shower cap instead.

ADVERTISEMENT
Dry shampoo helps reduce the grease in between washes. Hence it being my BFF. I use the Oscar Blandi Pronto dry shampoo and have used it for almost 4 years now and love it! It lasts forever (I’m only on my second bottle!) and smells a little like Fruit Loops…yes, Fruit Loops. There are definitely worse things it could smell like!

Here’s a quick and dirty how-to for using this dry shampoo (I’ll save you the close-up pictures of my head, but if you need a video tutorial, here’s one from the man himself, Oscar Blandi):

  1. Grab sections of your hair and sprinkle the dry shampoo near the roots or on your scalp (but not directly on your scalp if you have dark hair — it’ll be harder to blend in). It is very important NOT to squeeze the bottle — it will get EVERYwhere if you do!
  2. Use your fingers to massage the dry shampoo into your hair, kind of scrunching your hair and zhushing it about.
  3. Repeat in other sections of your hair until the grease is eliminated. I usually end up going around the crown area, focusing specifically near my part where the grease is most visible.

And, voila! De-greasified hair, ready to go in minutes!

Here’s a picture of Lil’ CB and me and my Day 4 unwashed/dry shampoo hair…

We’re screaming to keep away that greasy hair! Just kidding, we’re on Lil’ CB’s first roller coaster ride.

So thankful that it’s (generally) acceptable for me to have dirty hair… ;) Dry shampoo has been a lifesaver in my morning routine and it’s also made my hair so much healthier! Long live dry shampoo!