When dry shampoo first hit the market in the 1940s, it offered the perfect solution for oily, days-old hair. One spritz of an aerosol can could revive your style without ever having to step foot in the shower. “Dry shampoo was made to to absorb any excess oils from your scalp, and by doing so, extend the longevity of your hairstyle between washes,” New York City–based hairstylist Devin Toth tells POPSUGAR. As a result, the powder has become as essential to styling as it is to the cleanliness of your hair.
Flash forward to today and there are countless formulas available for every hair type and need. Still, people are looking for at-home solutions to every part of their beauty routines, including dry shampoo. Recently, hairstylist Matt Newman posted a video to Instagram outlining how he uses only two ingredients to create a DIY dry shampoo formula. But how effective are these homemade versions, really? Here’s what you need to know about the hair hack.
Does Homemade Dry Shampoo Work?
While people have been using at-home remedies to sop up hair oil for centuries, there are a few specific “recipes” making the rounds today. “The most common home remedy would be a cornstarch-based baby powder,” Toth says. Think Burt’s Bees’s Baby Bee Dusting Powder ($9) or Johnson’s Naturally Derived Cornstarch Baby Powder ($4). The standalone powders or cornstarch act as a quick-and-dirty version, but some people put essential oils into their mixtures or even dried herbs. “Another version is Arrow Root powder ($10) and dried lavender,” he adds. “This is less of a drastically white color, so it can suit quite a few more hair colors, and it has a much better fragrance too.”
The last part of the equation is some sort of bottle or container that dispenses the powder in a fine mist like this Barber Powder Bottle Spray ($10, originally $11). “It’s important that whichever storage method you use, that it disperses the powder in a fine mist so that you don’t create a severe splotch of unnatural-looking color on your hair parting,” Toth says.
Whether you decide to try this hack or not, a DIY dry-shampoo recipe is always a good option to have in your back pocket. Play around with the ingredients in your kitchen to create the formula of your dreams, or stick to the one-and-done version if you tend to always be in a rush. Either way, this is a beauty secret that you’ll want to share far and wide for years to come.
