Hair Challenges: Dry Shampoo

So, here's a little bit of information about my own hair, I have fine stick-straight black hair. I used to have highlights that I'm now growing out. Here's a pic of my right after the hair stylist with a blow dry and a round brush.

Currently, I have to wash my hair every day and it makes me cry on the inside a little bit. I think I've conditioned it since high school when I worked out on a daily basis and had to wash it. It is so used to being washed daily that it just gets oily really fast to replenish the oils I wash out with regular shampoo on a daily basis. Now, I'm trying to be better to my hair and only wash it every other day but it drives me nuts when my hair gets oily because it just sticks straight and flat to my head and looks awful! I'm really trying to start using dry shampoos on my off days and have used a couple different brands. Here's my review. 

1. Tresemme Fresh Start. There are actually 4 different types of dry shampoo's in this line one for damaged hair, one for fine oily hair, one for straight hair, and one for curly hair. I tried the fine oily hair one and it really didn't seem to work. If anything, it made my hair more weighed down and didn't affect the greasy-ness at all.

2. Herbal Essences Naked Dry Shampoo. I got this one as a freebie with my shampoo and conditioner. It's all natural (which kind of made me worry that it wouldn't be so good...) It actually worked decently, all though I had to use a lot of it before it made a difference. It also didn't spray on white which is a big plus for girls with dark hair like me! I keep it around for work trips because it's nice and small.

3. Not Your Mother's Dry Shampoo. My favorite so far. It's cheap and available at target. It dries really fast, so work it in with your fingers right away and then brush it out, instead of letting it sit. It doesn't leave any white residue on my dark hair so that's a huge plus. So far, my best technique is spraying it on before I go to bed and just working it in with my fingers and then brushing it out the next morning (and maybe applying a little more to my bangs or the crown of my hair.)

4. Umberto Dry Shampoo. I think this was the first dry shampoo I bought and I thought, "Screw this, dry shampoos don't work," It was one of the higher rated dry shampoos on Cosmopolitan (should have known better). It's more expensive and smaller than Not Your Mother's. Unfortunately, it leaves a crazy residue. It works well for my bangs, but if I want to use it for my whole head I would look like I'm greying. When I was able to finally brush out the extra residue, it does give you some pretty good volume.

I'm sure different dry shampoos work for different people but this is how it works for me. I've also heard great things about Batiste, so that is definitely my next product to try after I'm done with Not Your Mother's. 

How often do you wash your hair? What's your favorite dry shampoo?

I'll be making a series of my hair challenges so keep around for some posts like Dry Shampoo Tips, How to Curl Stick-Straight Hair (and make it stay!), easy up-dos for the average lady, and more. If you want me to post about anything specific, of course, let me know!

P.S. A huge thank you to Christine for telling me about Canva! Can you tell I used it on the top image? Love it.