I’ve been using dry shampoo for a long time now, but my love affair for the stuff really ramped up once I became a mom. Our surrogate gifted me a basket of new mom necessities right before our babies arrived and the first thing that I noticed was a can of dry shampoo, so I’m obviously not the only one that views the stuff as critical in these busy mom days. And in the midst of the hectic holiday season, I figured a post about dry shampoo would be particularly timely!

So I’ll be embarrassingly honest right from the start here – I only wash my hair in the shower 2-3 times a week, and the rest of my weekly “washing” consists entirely of dry shampoo. I also should mention that I have fine thin hair, and lots of it. So take any advice that I provide here with that understanding. Obviously what happens to work best for my hair type may not translate very well to other hair types.

When I first started using dry shampoo years ago, I tried applying it in the morning before I ran out the door to work. This was an okay approach, but I finally figured out that it’s much better to apply the stuff at bedtime. For me, if I applied the dry shampoo in the morning, it never really did its full job of sopping up most of the oils and also it felt tacky and sticky to the touch before I left my house. Once I applied dry shampoo at night, however, these problems went away. I now wake up with a (mostly) oil-free head of hair, run my fingers through my scalp for a quick massage and to ensure that the dry shampoo is fully absorbed, brush my hair quickly, and I’m done! Now here I will leave you with an important public service announcement – the step of massaging that shampoo in is an important one. Back in my early days of dry shampoo, I once absentmindedly skipped that step and went to the office. When I stepped into the ladies room around mid-morning, I was so mortified that I had white dried shampoo all over my roots. Don’t follow in my footsteps and make that mistake, friends!

I’ve run through several different brands of dry shampoo. I have some personal favorites in what I’ve dubbed the “budget” and “luxury” categories.

dry shampoo

ADVERTISEMENT

Budget

I am currently using Not Your Mother’s Beach Babe Texturizing Dry Shampoo. I was turned on to this brand from my sister, who shares my love for budget-friendly beauty items as well as vanilla and coconut scents. I’ve been pretty happy with this brand, and I really love the smell. It’s not sticky or tacky, I feel that there is a decent amount in each can, and my scalp feels healthy and not dry.

My previous favorite brand was Dove Volume & Fullness. I used this one for probably two years and was really happy with it. I view it as pretty similar to the Not Your Mother’s brand, but I just don’t like the smell quite as much.

For both of these budget brands, I tend to stock up when there is a sale going on. I’ve found that Walgreens and Ulta run BOGO or other quantity-based offers on these items frequently and I keep an eye out for those. I’ve also found that my cans of dry shampoo run out quicker than I anticipate, and it’s hard to gauge how much is left over in the can until one day – pfft! – no more dry shampoo. This is another reason that I like to stock up in advance; when that happens, I get into my stash and move on to a new can.

Luxury

If I had all the money in the world, I would buy Klorane Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk. I received a travel-sized sample of this one about a year ago and threw it in my suitcase for some work trips. It was great shampoo and I felt so much disappointment when that little can ran out of magic dry shampoo dust! I continue to keep my eyes peeled for this brand when I’m scoping out the beauty products at TJ Maxx, but I just cannot justify the regular $20 price tag for everyday dry shampoo. Still, if Santa is listening, this momma wouldn’t mind finding a can of the stuff in her stocking this year!

I recently received a travel-sized sample of Oribe Gold Lust. This one smelled great and did a good job, but it is even more expensive than the Klorane listed above, and I also felt as though my small can ran out really, really fast. Still, I’ll likely do the same on this one and keep an eye out for it at discount stores.

I’ll conclude by saying that it seems to me that dry shampoo is a burgeoning industry these days and there are plenty of new products showing up each month. What I’ve listed here is just a small sample of an amazing array of available products in the space, and I in no way intended this to be an exhaustive list. Please speak up if I’ve overlooked a great one – I’m always looking for a new favorite!

state-fair
My hair in a typical state, washed with dry shampoo on the day of a visit to the Minnesota State Fair.