My favorite dry shampoo: Batiste Cherry

Disclosure: Affiliate links.

I use dry shampoo pretty regularly. I have what I think is best described as combination hair: oily at the roots, dry at the ends. Because it's oily, I can't do that whole thing where you don't wash your hair for 4-5 days that I always see recommended on blogs. It would get nasty. I know people say if you stop washing your hair as frequently, it stops being as oily, but I don't know if I believe that--and I am not willing to go a few weeks with smelly, greasy hair to test that theory. If you have been endowed with hair the "looks better the second day," I fully admit my jealousy. Without dry shampoo, if I wash my hair before bed the night before, it's limp and stringy by the following late afternoon or evening. With dry shampoo, I can go between 36-48 hours without washing my hair, but that's it. I'm fine with that. I try to stretch it out to those 48 hours so that I can avoid drying out the rest of my hair with excessive washing, and that's where dry shampoo fits into my routine.

So it serves a definite function, but at the same time, I know that I don't need to keep buying cans of it for $6, because lots of less expensive substances, like corn starch, will work just about as well. That's what I used to use before I even knew that dry shampoo in a can existed. The advantage of a simple loose powder, other than cost, is that it doesn't create a cloud around your head that you have to avoid inhaling. The disadvantage is that it's messier and harder to distribute evenly than an aerosol. I also prefer my dry shampoo to have a nice scent, and though I've thought about ways to add fragrance to corn starch, I've never got around to actually experimenting with that. I end up going back to dry shampoo cans, even though I sometimes think I shouldn't.

Accordingly, I've reviewed a lot of dry shampoos on this blog. Some of them good, some of them terrible, but I kept trying new ones, because I felt like there had to be one out there that ticked all the boxes for me: pleasant but not overwhelming fragrance that doesn't make me cough or sneeze, doesn't leave powdery residue on my scalp, absorbs oil, doesn't give a bad texture to my hair, doesn't make my hair look dull, adds a little volume, easy to spread though the hair and brush out. I've used some dry shampoos do well on some or most of those requirements, but there was almost always something not quite right.

Lots of people recommended Batiste, but I'd tried their original scent ages ago and didn't like it, so I sort of ruled them out. Most of the other scent descriptions don't sound like things I would like: "wild" (i.e. vanilla and musk) or "blush" etc. But I do like fruity scents, so long as the fruit isn't apple or watermelon. Or banana. Or coconut or raspberry. I'm really picky about fragrance, apparently. An unpleasant perfume can ruin an otherwise decent product for me. I'd never seen the Cherry scent in a store, but I noticed it one day last fall on Ulta's website and decided to go for it. It was an excellent choice, because this dry shampoo covers all the bases for me. So, to repeat myself for eeeeemphasis, these are all the things I like about Batiste Cherry Dry Shampoo:

• Smells good, but not overpowering.
• Not messy.
• Doesn't leave white residue on my scalp or roots.
• Absorbs oil well.
• Easy to distribute evenly through hair and to brush out.
• Leaves my hair feeling soft and normal, not rough or stiff. Easy to run my fingers through my hair after using it.
• Adds a little volume.
• Leaves my hair looking as shiny as it ordinarily is rather than dulling the shine at the roots/crown.
• Can matches my blog's color scheme. (Obviously the most important feature.)

Here are the requisite awkward before and after photos of the top of my head. Before (24 hours after washing):

After (just looks like normal, clean hair, I think):

If I had to come up with a criticism, it's that sometimes I find the fragrance that lingers in my bathroom after I use it a little strong. Other days, I'm not sure why I had a problem with it. I think it just depends on my mood. It is a slightly floral, cherry scent, a bit like the opening, very ephemeral notes of Escada's Cherry in the Air perfume. If you don't like the taste/smell of cherry candy, then you should probably choose a different scent.

I reviewed this stuff on Instagram last year, but then I decided to use up all my old, inferior dry shampoos before buying any more. I almost made it through them, but I do still have a little bit of that Klorane dry shampoo to finish. I picked up my latest (third) can of Batiste when Target had a beauty sale recently, because Target seems to sell it for slightly cheaper than most other places to begin with ($6). It costs the same amount in store or online at Target, unlike some things they sell, and I have actually seen the Cherry variety on the shelves there recently. Amazon has it for $6 right now too.

So that's it! I've found my favorite, and as of now I plan to keep using this until I become ambitious and responsible enough to DIY a scented corn starch, I guess.