CherryReview: Dry shampoo

Left: TreSemmé FreshStart Waterless Foam shampoo, Right: Aveeno Active Naturals Pure Renewal Dry Shampoo

Dry shampoos were something that intrigued me when they first started making more headway around two summers ago (I think it was two summers ago...in 2010?  At least that's when I heard more about it).  Every time I go to the gym, I have to wash my hair because I hate the feeling of my swear just drying up on my hair - it just sounds gross!  But there are days where I don't want to wash my hair after I go to the gym because it takes forever for my hair to dry, and just showering at the gym gives me the hee-bee-jee-bees (lol).  I of course shower at the gym if I'm meeting up with friends after my workout, but it's always been a hassle when it came to washing my hair.  I'm not a fan of the "wet hair" look.

The first time I read about dry shampoos was probably in my Cosmopolitan magazine in the summer.  The one that was recommended was the TreSemme one, so I decided to pop downstairs from the office to the drugstore and pick it up.  I don't remember how much it was, but I'm pretty sure it ranged between $6 to $7 at the drugstore.

I recently picked up the Aveeno one (despite not finishing my TreSemme one, I know, terrible?) for $7.49 (on sale) at the same drugstore. 

Tresemme FreshStart

The label says that it's for normal to dry/curly hair, which is fine with me because my hair is normal and occasionally gets dry, depending on the weather.  Per the instructions, you shake it a bit (okay it doesn't actually say that but I find it does a better job) and then dispense the amount of foam you need, depending on your hair length.  Then just massage it into the roots to the ends (the oil is generally at your roots and scalp anyways).  Afterwards, just get a towel and rub it through your hair to get rid of any excess oil and dirt.  That's it!

I've used this for a while and I'll be honest with you, I can't say it really gets rid of any oil on your hair.  I usually use dry shampoos when I haven't washed my hair for three days straight (I was my hair every other day, which means that these cases are usually when I missed the day I was supposed to wash it).  My hair in the summer can get pretty greasy and that's why I wanted to get some dry shampoo for those late nights where I miss the wash but need to make sure my hair still smells okay until I wash it (or the wintery days I go to hot pot with terrible ventilation and have my hair smelling like Chinese food).  Anyways, the point is that it's a great dry shampoo to freshen the smell of your hair but it probably won't do anything if you have a greasy head.

FYI: if you have really greasy hair, I don't think you should even bother with dry shampoo.  At that point, you're better off washing it.  Cleaning your scalp and hair will not only be more hygienic, but it'll also help reduce hair loss because if your pores get blocked with oil and dirt, the hair is just going to fall out!  Trust me, whenever my hair is greasy/dirty, when I brush my hair I lose way more hairs than if they are clean.

All in all, I will still keep my Tresemme dry shampoo for the days I need to freshen my hair, but that's about it.  There's no starch or talc in it, and that probably explains why it won't absorb any oils on your scalp (which may be the reason why you're using dry shampoo in the first place!)

Aveeno Active Naturals Dry Shampoo

This one is sulfate free, which is a plus, because I like to go towards more natural products.  That aside, this one does in fact have some starch in it (which was evidenced when I brushed my hair after spraying it in - my bristles had a thin layer of white powder that I had to wash off).

The Aveeno dry shampoo bottle is a bit larger than the Tresemme, and the application is similar to hairspray (the bottle is the same concept - compressed spray).  I usually section my hair at the crown and spray underneath because that's where most of the grease is anyways - on top of that, it helps to give a little bit of volume and make it look less greasy.  After doing the top, I flip my hair upside down and spray a bit behind and into my hair (if that makes sense?), and then run my fingers through to distribute the product and tousle my hair a bit.

The good thing about this one is that the smell is fresh and not like hair spray - I cannot STAND hair spray smells (my grandma has 3 different bottles and whenever she uses ANY of them I want to gag...my room is near the bathroom so I can smell it pretty strongly).  I also cannot stand hairspray in my hair (there's so far only one that I can bear with - will review later on).  One of my biggest qualms about compressed air bottles is that there is no way to control how much is being dispensed.  However, this one does a pretty decent job - you can press down as normal and it dispenses a reasonable amount that I feel is just enough for my hair.

Overall, does it actually help with my greasy problem?  Yes it does - when I used it the past few times (twice this past week already), I totally forgot that I hadn't washed my hair because I didn't feel the greasy feeling on my head (today I do because I didn't spray enough...I only did one spray because my mom was nagging me to hurry up so we could get to church on time), and my hair smelt nice.  It also didn't leave any weird crunchy feeling, or any residue feeling on my hair.

So between the two dry shampoos, I would definitely recommend the Aveeno one.  It works, it's readily available, and it's not that expensive.  I have yet to try the Oscar Blandi one (which was the starting point of dry shampoo but also costs a lot more), which I've heard is supposed to be "amazing".  Either way, I don't recommend any girls to be constantly using dry shampoos in lieu of actually wet washing their hair - at the end of the day, if you are using any spray dry shampoos, there is alcohol (which allows the product to be dispensed in a mist AND to dry out really fast so your hair isn't wet), which will dry out your hair and also contribute to hair loss.  That's why I limit my usage to the times when I really need it (around once or twice a week).

Readers: what do you think about dry shampoos?  Do you use them?  If not, would you want to try them out?

PS: Part 2 of CherryTravels (my Halifax leg of training and restaurant adventures) will be posted soon...I've just been super busy at work since I just got back from my 6 month study leave!