From citizens of ancient civilizations rubbing clay powder into their hair to the first commercially available dry shampoo hitting the market in the 1940s, people have spent their entire lives trying to bridge the gap between dirty hair and busy lifestyles. I remember vividly my mom using baby powder in the 1980s, as well as my first purchase of drugstore dry shampoo in the early 2000s. It went on like spray paint and probably contained enough chemicals to poison a small animal, but it did the job of letting me skip a couple days of my arduous wash, dry, and straighten routine. This break was good for my sanity as well as my hair.
Come 2022, commercially produced dry shampoo received its first major black eye when companies like Procter & Gamble and Unilever conducted a voluntary recall of their dry shampoos for potentially elevated levels of benzene. Familiar drugstore brands like Dove, Nexxus, and Suave were suddenly seen as being a cancer risk, which raised the question with dry shampoos in general: What is actually in this stuff?
Thankfully, since the recall most companies have taken to testing their products for benzene and other harmful chemicals. Third-party testing is hard to come by, but the nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG) is independently funded and has a Skin Deep database tool for consumers to parse what harmful ingredients might be lurking in their cosmetics and personal care products. We have included their data on specific dry shampoos in this guide. However, if you’re looking for totally chemical-free ways to extend your style, check out the Alternatives to Dry Shampoo box below.
For more hairstyling buying advice, check out our guides to the Best Hair Straighteners, Best Curling Irons, Best Hair Dryers, and Best Diffusers for Curly Hair.
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I’ve been using dry shampoo for over 20 years. For this guide I tested more than 25 popular, widely available formulas on my thick, long, heat-straightened dark hair multiple times over the course of almost four months. I used them just as I would any dry shampoo in the course of my day-to-day life—after workouts, during busy work weeks, on trips. I also solicited the opinions of friends and family with different types and textures of hair when I needed a second—or third—opinion. I focused on effectiveness (did my hair still look clean at the end of the day?); ease of application; the presence of heaviness, stickiness, or residue; value; how quickly and well a dry shampoo blended in; and whether the scent was light or overwhelming.
Tips for Using Dry Shampoo
Dry shampoo is a great tool to extend your hard-won hairstyle and will help minimize damage to your hair by lessening the frequency with which you’ll need to heat style. However, dry shampoo can only go so far.
“Dry shampoo releases and cleanses the hair of natural oils, but it won’t remove tons of product,” notes celebrity hairstylist Garren McLaren, cofounder of hair product company R+Co. “It’s best used on second- or third-day hair.” In other words, don’t skip showering for a week and expect dry shampoo to work a miracle. Dry shampoo also shouldn’t be used more than a couple of days in a row, as using it too often can cause scalp buildup and irritation.
Applying dry shampoo at night is another tactic many experts recommend, as it can work to absorb oils while you sleep—this is an especially good option for dry shampoos that tend to go on thick. McLaren also suggests running a blow-dryer on cold after applying dry shampoo: “If your hair is overly colored or brittle, and you have a lot of hairspray or product in it, if you apply dry shampoo and don’t blow it through with cold air, it can sit on top of the surface of the hair,” he said. “This can cause hair to be stiff. It won’t damage hair, but will make it feel dry or stiff.”
What Actually IS in This Stuff?
There are countless dry shampoos claiming to revolutionize the dry shampoo experience, but most work much the same way: absorbent starches, a carrier agent, fragrance, and, in the case of aerosol dry shampoos, a propellant. In the old days many dry shampoos contained talc as the absorbing agent, which was often contaminated with asbestos. Some dry shampoos may still list it as an ingredient, but none of the ones we recommend do.
Some companies add other natural, absorbent minerals in addition to starch, such as kaolin clay, diatomaceous earth, zeolite, charcoal powder, or even volcanic ash. I also tried some more unusual formulas such as a paste, liquid spray, and lotion, though I didn’t find the latter two to be particularly effective for my hair. For each dry shampoo we recommend, I tried to help demystify the marketing claims by listing the main functional ingredients that help it absorb oil.
