9 Best Dry Shampoos, Editor Tested and Reviewed (2025)

1 week ago

From citizens of ancient civilizations rubbing clay powder into their hairsbreadth to nan first commercially disposable barren shampoo hitting nan marketplace successful nan 1940s, group person spent their full lives trying to span nan spread betwixt soiled hairsbreadth and engaged lifestyles. I retrieve vividly my mom utilizing babe powder successful nan 1980s, arsenic good arsenic my first acquisition of drugstore barren shampoo successful nan early 2000s. It went connected for illustration spray overgarment and astir apt contained capable chemicals to poison a mini animal, but it did nan occupation of letting maine skip a mates days of my arduous wash, dry, and straighten routine. This break was bully for my sanity arsenic good arsenic my hair.

Come 2022, commercially produced barren shampoo received its first awesome achromatic oculus erstwhile companies for illustration Procter & Gamble and Unilever conducted a voluntary callback of their barren shampoos for potentially elevated levels of benzene. Familiar drugstore brands for illustration Dove, Nexxus, and Suave were abruptly seen arsenic being a crab risk, which raised nan mobility pinch barren shampoos successful general: What is really successful this stuff?

Thankfully, since nan callback astir companies person taken to testing their products for benzene and different harmful chemicals. Third-party testing is difficult to travel by, but nan nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG) is independently funded and has a Skin Deep database tool for consumers to parse what harmful ingredients mightiness beryllium lurking successful their cosmetics and individual attraction products. We person included their information connected circumstantial barren shampoos successful this guide. However, if you're looking for wholly chemical-free ways to widen your style, cheque retired nan Alternatives to Dry Shampoo container below.

For much hairstyling buying advice, cheque retired our guides to nan Best Hair Straighteners, Best Heat Protectant Sprays, Best Blow-Dry Brushes, Best Curling Irons, Best Hair Dryers, and Best Diffusers for Curly Hair.

Updated May 2025: We’ve added caller barren shampoos from Davines, Divi, Pureology, Pharma-C, and Biolage, and ensured accuracy of links and prices.

Power up pinch unlimited entree to WIRED. Get best-in-class reporting that's excessively important to disregard for conscionable $2.50 $1 per period for 1 year. Includes unlimited integer entree and exclusive subscriber-only content. Subscribe Today.

I've been utilizing barren shampoo for complete 20 years. For this guideline I tested much than 25 popular, wide disposable formulas connected my thick, long, heat-straightened acheronian hairsbreadth aggregate times complete nan people of almost 4 months. I utilized them conscionable arsenic I would immoderate barren shampoo successful nan people of my day-to-day life—after workouts, during engaged activity weeks, connected trips. I besides solicited nan opinions of friends and family pinch different types and textures of hairsbreadth erstwhile I needed a second—or third—opinion. I focused connected effectiveness (did my hairsbreadth still look cleanable astatine nan extremity of nan day?); easiness of application; nan beingness of heaviness, stickiness, aliases residue; value; really quickly and good a barren shampoo blended in; and whether nan scent was ray aliases overwhelming.

Tips for Using Dry Shampoo

Dry shampoo is simply a awesome instrumentality to widen your hard-won hairstyle and will thief minimize harm to your hairsbreadth by lessening nan wave pinch which you'll request to heat-style. However, barren shampoo tin only spell truthful far.

“Dry shampoo releases and cleanses nan hairsbreadth of earthy oils, but it won’t region tons of product,” notes personage hairstylist Garren, cofounder of hairsbreadth merchandise institution R+Co. “It’s champion utilized connected second- aliases third-day hair.” In different words, don't skip showering for a week and expect barren shampoo to activity a miracle. Dry shampoo besides shouldn't beryllium utilized much than a mates of days successful a row, arsenic utilizing it excessively often tin origin scalp buildup and irritation.

Applying barren shampoo astatine nighttime is different maneuver galore experts recommend, arsenic it tin activity to sorb oils while you sleep—this is an particularly bully action for barren shampoos that thin to spell connected thick. Garrren besides suggests moving a blow-dryer connected acold aft applying barren shampoo: “If your hairsbreadth is overly colored aliases brittle, and you person a batch of hairspray aliases merchandise successful it, if you use barren shampoo and don’t rustle it done pinch acold air, it tin beryllium connected apical of nan aboveground of nan hair,” he said. "This tin origin hairsbreadth to beryllium stiff. It won’t harm hair, but will make it consciousness barren aliases stiff.”

What Actually IS successful This Stuff?

There are countless barren shampoos claiming to revolutionize nan barren shampoo experience, but astir activity overmuch nan aforesaid way: absorbent starches, a bearer agent, fragrance, and, successful nan lawsuit of aerosol barren shampoos, a propellant. In nan aged days galore barren shampoos contained talc arsenic nan absorbing agent, which was often contaminated pinch asbestos. Some barren shampoos whitethorn still database it arsenic an ingredient, but nary of nan ones we urge do.

Some companies adhd different natural, absorbent minerals successful summation to starch, specified arsenic kaolin clay, diatomaceous earth, zeolite, charcoal powder, aliases moreover volcanic ash. I besides tried immoderate much different formulas specified arsenic a paste, liquid spray, and lotion, though I didn't find nan second 2 to beryllium peculiarly effective for my hair. For each barren shampoo we recommend, I tried to thief demystify nan trading claims by listing nan main functional ingredients that thief it sorb oil.