Not the most glamorous of subjects, but let's talk dry shampoo ladies. As a girl with little time and a lot of hair dry shampoo is an absolute must have for me. These products are the easiest way to stretch your hair that extra day and still look fabulous and I have tested many in my quest to find the perfect one - lightweight, effective, volume building, transparent (no one enjoys looking prematurely grey!) and affordable. So here is the line up.
Let's begin with the original: Batiste. Batiste comes in many 'flavours' and luckily have tried most of them ;).
The original (as well as blush, tropical and diva) have a very similar formulation, but differ in fragrance. They refresh your hair effectively, but unfortunately leave a white cast which is especially visible on darker hair. I tend to struggle with these as it takes a lot of effort to massage into the roots and brush through the hair to work the powder in and remove that 'grey' look. On the plus side, they are widely available and very affordable at £2.50.
Batiste Coloured Dry Shampoo. To combat the 'grey hair' issue Batiste developed a different formulation for darker hair. This is available in Black and Brunette and works just as effectively. My only gripe with this is that instead of making the spray clear Batiste have simply coloured it. Although when you spray it on it doesn't leave any hint of white, when it comes to washing it out the colour does run out of your hair making the water somewhat murky. It has also stained the bristles of my brush, which doesn't look too pleasant. Despite this minor defect, this is definitely one of my favourites.
One of the new editions to the Batiste line is Nude, which is fragrance free and 100% natural (I assume they are talking about packaging rather than ingredients.. correct me if I'm wrong). The bottle is 100% recyclable and comes with a nozzle applicator, instead of a spray. This works well and despite the powder being white it doesn't leave the hair too dull.
The last in the Batiste line up is their Shimmer dry shampoo (comes in Silver and Gold). This was sent to me in silver for review purposes. It works the same as the others, but if you use enough to absorb some oil you are left with visible streaks of silver at your roots that are difficult to brush out. The silver particles are small, no scary glitter to speak of, so it is quite pretty. The best way of using it is as a light all over spray to add some shimmer to your hair (if you are into that sort of thing?).
Next up is the new Tre Semme Instant Refresh range, which includes a dry shampoo for normal to oily hair and a waterless foam for dry, frizz prone hair. This was also sent to me for review and it was made very clear that both products will not suit me. Even though I have frizzy, dry hair I couldn't make the waterless foam work for me. However, the dry shampoo worked perfectly. As promised it soaks up oil effortlessly, builds up volume and doesn't leave any unwanted residue behind. Although the scent of alcohol is quite prevalent at first the fragrance it leaves behind is clean and pleasant. I will be sure to repurchase once this one runs out!
The Charles Worthington balancing act dry shampoo was wisely recommended to me by a friend. Effective, lightweight, transparent and with a pleasant fragrance this one ticks most of the boxes, however it is a little more pricey at £5.
Last, but not least, is the Big Sexy Hair mineral and clay based dry shampoo. I was sent this to review in the mini size and have kept it in my bag for on the spot touch ups throughout the last couple of weeks. This is perhaps the most potent dry shampoo as a little really does go a long way and it is great for creating volume at the root. However, it does smell very strongly of alcohol and can leave a little bit of residue behind (though if you use a small amount this should not be a problem). The full size (150ml) is about £11.
I hope this mammoth review was useful to some of you! xxx
