Dry shampoo is the gold that magically takes me from a hot mess to a queen in under five minutes. When running around campus, work and everything in between, sometimes washing my hair can take time away from priorities. I don’t have very thick hair, but it still feels like washing takes a solid chunk of time in the shower.
Since washing your hair every day isn’t great for your hair anyways, I try to wash every three days and use dry shampoo in between. I’d never really gone more than two days in a row with just dry shampoo, so I decided that I’d give it a try during one of my busier weeks of the semester.
Day One
After showering on Sunday night and letting my hair be its natural self on Monday, I used my dry shampoo to give my hair a little volume on Tuesday, the first day of my challenge. Before heading out for a drink with friends, I sprayed a little bit at the top of my hair so that any grease collected from the days before would be soaked up. I didnt need to use a ton, but def gave my hair an extra boost of volume and made it feel cleaner!
Day Two
The second day of my hair washing cleanse was a busy one for me, so I sprayed dry shampoo in my hair and ended up keeping it up in a top bun most of the day. The dry shampoo helped take away the greasy look that my hair was starting to have and made it stay in the bun without slipping out. At this point in the week I was still showering (don’t worry guys), but I would put my hair up in a bun and throw a shower cap over it all. That I could keep my body clean, but let my hair breathe.
Day Three
This day of no-washing was a bit harder to handle and honestly, I almost bailed on the challenge. At this point, my hair was not only collectin natural oil and sweat, but the dry shampoo from the days prior was beginning to build up. I was starting to feel a bit nervous about rocking my ‘do around town, but I took a deep breath and grabbed a scarf.
The dry shampoo allowed me to make my ponytail look full (without hairspray- total bonus!), and also gave it enough hold so that I could make a small poof in the front without it slipping out completely. I threw a scarf around the hair tie and decided that I would soldier on and see the week through.
Day Four
Four days in! I’m not going to lie to you, I could feel the build-up when I woke up. My hair was almost STIFF from all of the product, so I decided not to use more. Instead, I just went to work with my hair tied up – luckily I work at a gym so it’s actually a requirement to have my hair up and out of my face. That night, I ended up throwing some baby powder on my scalp to help ease the feeling of heaviness I was starting to get. Baby powder is an inexpensive option for dry shampoo, but I’d read before that is can also help absorb oils without keeping them attached to your roots, so I decided to give it a try.
Day Five (DONE!)
I woke up on Saturday with a lighter weight coming from my head (thank you, baby powder!) but I could barely run my fingers through my hair. I could actually grab my hair and make it stand partially up because it had so much product in it. It was yuck, and I was so excited to wash it out.
It took a little bit of extra time and a few rounds of wet shampoo before I finally felt like my hair was clean again. After brushing and letting my hair air dry, I could tell a huge difference in my locks. They felt softer, smoother and definitely had the shine of hair that had just been given a blow out.
Final Thoughts?
While I probably wouldn’t go a whole week with just dry shampoo on purpose again, it’s nice to know now that it can be done! If I ever have a super busy week, I won’t feel nervous about needing to run errands and head to class with an unwashed shag.
This week also showed me that dry shampoo doesn’t just need to be for days when you skip a wash, because it can also help you hold a hairstyle in place! Sometimes hairspray can make my hair to tangly, like if I want to keep it up while working out, but dry shampoo makes it hold its shape without leaving it literally stuck to your head.
Moving forward? I’ll probably try to keep the time between washes to four days if possible, and keep a mini dry shampoo bottle in my purse in the meantime.