My Cheap Favorites: the best bath, body, and hair products for $10 and under

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It's been over a year since I wrote my last cheap favorites master post! I still stand by my choices there, and I don't think I'd change any of them now if I had to do it over. I've had in mind to write this additional post all along, but since I'm admittedly not that picky about products in this category, it hasn't felt so pressing. Still, maybe there's something here for you to discover (or something you can suggest to me!).

Favorite Body Washes: I don't really take baths, so all I've got here are shower products. My criteria for a good body wash or shower gel are simple: gets me clean, doesn't dry out my skin, smells good. There are lots of affordable options that check all of those boxes. I love almond fragrance when it's done well, and Tree Hut Almond and Honey Body Wash does it well. It's also very moisturizing and has a lovely texture. Luxurious, even. I like this so much that I haven't tried any of the other scents, though I suppose I should. The Almond variety is a bit difficult to find in stores. I got this one at Bed, Bath & Beyond for $6.

Miscellany: Dry shampoo hysteria, tricky sunscreen, Amazon sales, and Too Faced on HauteLook

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First: My husband shared an article from the Atlantic with me today linking dry shampoo with hair loss. "It's in the Atlantic; it can't be complete garbage." Oh, no? You can read it for yourself. It's the typical beauty article where the writer ask "experts" (in this case some combination of hair stylists and dermatologists) about her theory, and they basically respond, "Yeah, I guess it's possible that something like that could happen." I'm not going to throw out my Batiste. The lesson is probably that you can't replace actually washing your hair with using dry shampoo, because building up all the product on your scalp isn't great. I imagine it would feel pretty gross, though, so I don't know how someone could stand to regularly use dry shampoo without washing it out. (There was a similar article in Refinery 29 where the woman clearly had some kind of allergic reaction to an ingredient in her dry shampoo that caused the hair loss. If it hurts you, stop using it!)

Second: Evangeline emailed me with some helpful information about that Sephora Sun Safety Kit. I've never bought one of those, because I'm picky about what sunscreen I use on my face (though sometimes I use sample packets like these ones I reviewed on Instagram), but not at all picky about what I use on my body. That means a bunch of mini sunscreens isn't going to be much use to me. But if you are still trying to find your ideal sunscreen, buying a kit full of various minis seems like a potentially useful way to narrow down the search.

But here's what Evangeline says: "I recently bought the Sephora sun safety kit. I knew that $32 was a lot to spend on the total amount of sunscreen in the kit. It really annoys me to find that some of (all?) the small tubes are only half full. This trickery came as a complete surprise to me. I weighed the cost against the size of those small tubes. They fooled me."

So it sounds like this is one of those cases where you have to pay close attention to the labels in order to determine how good a deal it really is, because they've used tricky packaging to make it look like you're getting more product than you really are. That is something I often forget to do, as evidenced in my "tricky, tricky" series.

Third: Amazon has a deal right now where Prime Members get $25 back when they spend $50 on luxury beauty, so if you've been biding your time to buy something fancy on sale, now might be your chance. The downside is that it seems like you also have to spend the $25 you get back in the luxury beauty department, so you'll have to think about whether or not there are $75 worth of things you need right now. Use code PRIMEBEAUTY25. They also have a 35% off section, which seems to include mainly LORAC, Mario Basescu, Make, and Gorgeous.

ETA: Too Faced is on HauteLook today for 40-60% off, if you're looking for any eyeshadow palettes or lipsticks. Their eyeshadow primer is also marked down to $12.

My favorite dry shampoo: Batiste Cherry

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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.

Poof! Review of Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk

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I'm a big user of dry shampoo, since I have oily-yet-dry hair. If I can go a day without washing it, I will, to prevent the lengths from drying it out any more than necessary. But the roots get greasy quickly, so dry shampoo is absolutely necessary if I want to go more than 24 hours between washes. In fact, even if I wash my hair before bed, I usually need a little dry shampoo to get me through the next day without my hair going limp and stringy. In a pinch, corn starch works just fine. But sprays are usually easier and quicker to use, so I've tried (and reviewed) a lot of them in an attempt to identify my favorite one.

And I think I have found the best one! Only it's not the product I'm reviewing here. It's Batiste Dry Shampoo in Cherry, which costs about $8. The many other fragrances of Batiste presumably work just as well, but this is my favorite scent. I went through two cans last fall and winter and didn't have time to write up a proper review (just a quick one on Instagram). When I replace it, I will review it, finally.

In the meantime, I've been using Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk. Like many of the other pricier products I've reviewed here during the last year, I wouldn't have tried this if I hadn't been able to use Birchbox points to buy it. Even so, I got it in a Birchbox sale, so I didn't have to spend a full $20 worth of points on it. Klorane always pops up when people talk about their favorite dry shampoos, so I wanted to see if it was somehow better than the cheaper ones I've used. I've fallen into that trap before. It's not. But it does have some good qualities.

One of the most interesting things about this dry shampoo is the packaging. It's not an aerosol can. It's a flexible plastic bottle that you squeeze to send a poof of powder out of the nozzle. It works pretty well, although of course you can't get a continuous spray like you can with an aerosol, so you tend to end up with powder concentrated in certain spots. But non-aerosol dry shampoos seem to last a lot longer than aerosols. I just finished the Oscar Blandi powder reviewed here last week, and I've been alternating this Klorane with that since at least last December, and I think it's still about half full. (It also comes in a regular aerosol can.)

Empties 2015, Part III (Hair and Body)

Here are some more things I've finished up so far this year. It's kind of fun to keep track of this shit. It's nice to feel like I've accomplished something, even if it is incredibly fucking trivial. I finished a bottle of shampoo! Whatever! So many things in my life are incomplete, but that's not. Plus I have a record to look back at for future purchases.

Hair Products

Generally, I don't write much about shampoo and conditioner or foils, since the former are rarely exciting enough in a good or bad way to warrant comment, and the latter are usually too small to form an opinion about. In the absence of any other information, assume something is just fine. So this should be fairly short.

Batiste Dry Shampoo in Cherry: I've reviewed a bajillion dry shampoos on the blog here, but even though I went through two cans of this in the fall, and it's the best one I've tried yet, I haven't written a proper review of it. (Mini Instagram review here, though.) I'll do one with before and after photos when I buy some more, but first I have to use up some more expensive and less impressive dry shampoos (including the Oscar Blandi one reviewed here).

Davines OI Conditioner (mini)

Pantene Smooth & Sleek Shampoo and Conditioner (minis)

Carol's Daughter Sacred Tiare Anti-Breakage Anti-Frizz Leave-In Cream (mini): It didn't really seem to do anything. I don't have much frizz, per se, though I do get quite a bit of breakage. Maybe didn't use this regularly enough to notice a difference.

Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Renewal Beach Spray (mini): I like this product, and it smells great. If I were in the market for another beach spray, I'd get this one. I used it to make loose waves in this post, which is maybe not the best advertisement for it. My favorite part is the spray nozzle, so I saved this bottle for some future purpose, to be determined.

Davines Minu shampoo (mini)

John Frieda Luxurious Volume Shampoo and Conditioner (foils)

Teadora Rainforest at Dusk Shampoo and Conditioner (minis): Smelled better that Rainforest at Dawn (mentioned here), but otherwise just as mediocre and overpriced.

DermOrganic Daily Conditioning Shampoo and Masque (minis)

Pantene Expert Age Defy Shampoo and Conditioner (foils)

L'Oreal Total Repair 5 Shampoo and Conditioner (foils)


Body Products

Unknown foaming body wash: Got it as a consumer trial, so I have no idea what it is. It comes out of the pump as a moussey foam, and I haven't seen anything like it in store yet. It lasted forever.

Essential Elements Wake Up Rosemary Body Lotion (mini): One of the endless fucking supply of hotel lotions Birchbox has been sending me. Very strongly scented; the initial rosemary fragrance fades quickly to just mint. Worked okay as a hand lotion.

Vitabath Fragrance Mist in Nouveau Rose: I got this from Influenster a million years ago (or October 2012, to be more precise). It had a perfectly fine rose scent, but I don't really use body sprays, so it took some creativity to finish it up. I used it as room freshener, fabric deodorizer, etc. Finally, when there was about an inch and a half of liquid left in the bottle, I just started spraying it on myself every single time I got out of the shower and that eventually killed it.

Nivea Extended Moisture Body Lotion (foil): Makes a good moisturizing hand lotion.

Caudalie Hand and Nail Cream: Spent some Birchbox points on this and used it for most of the winter. It has a nice, fresh grapefruit scent. I wasn't particularly impressed by it while I was using it, but when it was gone and I was left with other things, I missed it. It moisturized well without being greasy, yet it didn't leave my hands feeling really soft. I think I prefer hand creams with a little more silicone for a smoother sensation. While I liked it, I wouldn't spend real money on it, because it costs $15 for 2.5 oz. That's too much for hand cream.

Avon Haiku Roll-On Antiperspirant: I don't usually include deodorant in these things, but there it is. Pretty fragrance, incredibly fucking cheap ($2), and it works well, but there is something supremely unpleasant about rolling cold goo in your pits - and then flapping around like a chicken while you wait for it to dry.

Curel Intensive Healing Cream (mini): I think I finally only have 1.5 of these little tubs left. I use it as hand cream before bed. It's okay (reviewed here).

So that's that, though I still have photos of empty makeup and skincare stuff to post once I have a chance. Getting shit done.

Are expensive dry shampoos better? Review of Oscar Blandi Pronto Dry Shampoo

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Okay, so maybe the title of this post is a little grand considering I'm just going to discuss whether or not one particular example of an expensive dry shampoo is "better." But I've pointed out before that I'm a dry shampoo Goldilocks, and I still haven't found the one that's just right. (If you would like to spend your precious time looking at dozens of nearly identical photos of the top of my head - who wouldn't! - check out my dry shampoo tag.) So when I had some HauteLook credits and Oscar Blandi showed up, I decided I would give their dry shampoo a try. I'd heard about it from a few people who love it.

So fancy and Italian., it's like the Renaissance.

This stuff sells for $21 at Sephora (though you can find it for less on Amazon and it was $10.50 on HauteLook), so I sure as shit wouldn't have bought it at full price. Consider also that my $3 Suave dry shampoo contains 5 oz. and the Oscar Blandi only contains 2.5 oz. (though I'm not sure if the propellant etc. in the Suave can counts toward that weight?). But what if paying more is really the secret? What if, to find the perfect dry shampoo, I actually had to spend more than $5? Ugh. What a thought.

Maybe there are brilliant and expensive dry shampoos out there.  But my conclusion from trying this product, at least, is that you're not necessarily going to get a superior dry shampoo just by spending more. This stuff works, and it's fine, but it's not noticeably better than any of the cheap dry shampoos I've used in the past.

Yet Another Damned Dry Shampoo Review: Herbal Essences Naked Dry Shampoo

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Herbal Essences Naked Dry Shampoo is an interesting one. It's not powdery. Like, at all. Hence the name, I guess. That quality has its pros and cons.

An obvious benefit is that you don't end up with grey powdery-looking roots, like this. That's going to be particularly good if you have dark hair.

The downside is that it doesn't seem to absorb oil as well as more powdery formulas. The weird thing is that after using this stuff, my hair looks cleaner and has more volume. But it still feels dirty. Some dry shampoos leave my roots feeling kind of stiff and rough, but that's not what I'm talking about. It feels pretty much exactly the same as before I added the shampoo, but with some more lift. Look:

Hair not washed for 24 hours.

Hair after using Herbal Essences Naked Dry Shampoo.

So it does make your hair look cleaner, which is the main goal, right? To not look like a mess? I also really like the scent. It has a subtle mint fragrance. FINALLY. I'm so sick of dry shampoos that make me sneeze with their over-perfumed granny smells.

Overall, I like it, but I have such an oily scalp that it bothers me a little that I don't really feel any cleaner after I've used it. It's not refreshing, you know? The trade off is a lack of white residue in your hair. I think that if you have dark hair, this is definitely worth trying. I wish I could find something affordable that combined the light fragrance of this stuff with the results of one of the good Suave dry shampoos. As I've said before, I'm a bit of a dry shampoo Goldilocks.

Dry Shampoo Disappointment: Suave Moroccan Infusion Weightless Dry Shampoo Review

Originally I was going to put this one in my adequate product roundup, because it sort of does the job. But the more I thought about it, I realized that I really only had complaints, so it gets its own post. (Here's a link to the product since I didn't take a photo of the packaging.)

First off, let's address the product name. Moroccan Infusion? Why? Well, I know why - it's so Suave can cash in on the popularity of their Moroccan Infusion shampoos and conditioners. They've put out a whole line of products under this name now. But this dry shampoo has no argan oil in it, so there's nothing "Moroccan" about it. It also doesn't have the same fragrance as the shampoo and conditioner, which may be disappointing to people who are a fan of that scent. Personally, since I don't like that fragrance, it's not a problem for me. Unfortunately, I don't like the smell of this product either.

That's my first complaint: the fragrance is way too fucking strong. It's overwhelming. I'd been happy with the basic Suave dry shampoo for a while, but when I bought my last can I found the scent annoying. I doubt the product has changed, but my tolerance for its extreme perfuminess has definitely decreased. This new version is just as bad, though. It has a different scent - I think the same one as the original gold can of Suave dry shampoo. It's way too much for me. It gives me a headache and makes my skin itch. That second part might be somewhat psychosomatic, to be fair, because just writing about it is making me itch a little. The issue, though, is that the fragrance is so obnoxious that I can't ignore it. It's in my nose constantly after I use the product. It never fades.

As for performance, well it does absorb oil, and it does add volume. But there's a problem. See for yourself:

Before: gross greasy hair.

After: gross powdery hair.

The lighting in the second photo might be a bit brighter, but nevertheless you can clearly see the white powder near my roots along the part and at my forehead. This is the result I got after a lot of fussing with it. First I sprayed it on at the roots. Then I rubbed it through with my fingers. Then I let it sit for about 5 minutes. Finally I brushed it out. A lot. I brushed every direction and I bent over and flipped my hair over my head and tried to brush it out that way. No good. There's still visible residue. Plus I feel like it makes my sad roots that are in need of coloring more obvious for some reason. They're more grey.

I can go out in public like this without looking too weird, but my hair is pretty light. If you have darker hair, you're probably going to have trouble with this. You could maybe get it to work if you have very light hair and you use only a very, very small amount of product. In that case you might not get as much volume, though.

I'm going to keep playing around with it to see if I can find the ideal amount of product to use that will actually make my hair look clean without turning it grey. So far I haven't struck that balance. Even if I manage to, I'm not sure I'll keep using it, just because I found the perfume so excessive.

How does this one compare to the other two Suave dry shampoos I've reviewed? Compared to the silver can, it's just as strongly scented, but the fragrance is different. It works as well for absorbing oil and adding volume, but it leaves more white powder behind. Compared to the original Keratin Infusion version, it smells the same (from what I remember), absorbs oil as well, leaves hair feeling softer, but again leaves more powder behind. (Having references like this available is a nice thing about blogging. Though maybe I should check them more often, because I didn't remember that I apparently liked the gold can better than the silver one, overall. Hmmm.)

Does anyone know of an affordable dry shampoo that works and doesn't smell like an entire army of heavily perfumed grandmas has set up camp on my scalp? I can't stand baby powder fragrances, so I know that limits my options. I might just have to stick with plain old corn starch, though it isn't quite as effective as some dry shampoos, and it doesn't come in a handy dandy aerosol can.

White rice powder as a cheap dry shampoo (from The Beauty Department)

Has anyone tried this? The advantage over other dry shampoos is supposed to be that rice flour turns transparent when it absorbs oil from your scalp.

Suave Dry Professionals Shampoo 95 cents from Amazon

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This deal is very exciting for me, because the Suave Professionals Dry Shampoo is my favorite of the many dry shampoos I've tried. You can see my review here (same as above link). (Most recently I've tried Pssst! and don't like it much. I'll post a review soon.)

To get a can for 95 cents, go to this Amazon listing and check the "clip coupon" box to the bottom right of the product photo. That will deduct $1.50 from the price in your cart. Then on the right, where you add it to your cart, choose Subscribe and Save. You can cancel the subscription at any time. That brings it down to 95 cents. Shipping is free if you have an Amazon Prime account.

Even after the coupon expires or if you don't want to subscribe, it's still only $2.88 a can, which is as good as Walmart and cheaper than Walgreens.

Four things I didn't pack for my one-week visit to my parents' place in rural Canada

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Well, there are a lot of things that I didn't pack, because I didn't want to check a bag, but these are the only ones I've missed so far.

1. My camera

Avon Speed Dry+ Nail Enamel in Mambo Melon

I wish I could take a good photo of my nails right now. Before I left, I used some of the Sally Hansen Real Nail Polish Strips for the first time. I used the Check Please! pattern, and I wasn't sure if I would like how they looked, since I'm not a big fan of nail art (on my own nails). But I found them surprisingly mod and mesmerizing, as well as easy to use. They advertise that they will last "up to 10 days", so I thought maybe I would get a week out of them. But no. They started to chip the third day, even after I added topcoat a few times, and by the fourth day, I couldn't stand it any longer and peeled them off. That's a day longer than most nail polish lasts on me, though.

Anyway, that's not what I wanted to take a photo of. My mother has a bottle of Avon Speed Dry+ Nail Enamel in Mambo Melon, so I decided to paint my nails with that, and it is fucking gorgeous. Plus the formula is amazing. I'm not sure it dries any faster than usual, but it was really smooth and easy to apply and almost opaque in one coat. Two thin coats was perfect. It's a coral red with pinkish shimmer. Unfortunately, without my camera I had to settle for the webcam shot above, so you'll have to trust me on this one. Imagine it just slightly brighter and slightly oranger. If you like that sort of shade, this is an awesome choice.

The cheapest and easiest DIY dry shampoo (PLUS a review of Aveeno Pure Renewal Dry Shampoo with photos)

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You may have realized I've been on a quest to find the best (cheap) dry shampoo out there. I've found some good ones, but I always feel like they could be a little bit better. The most recent contestant is Aveeno Pure Renewal Dry Shampoo. It seems to get decent reviews, and sells for around $8, which is not mega-cheap, but affordable enough.

When I was looking at the ingredients list (after I'd already bought it - which is usually the wrong order to do things), I saw that one of its main ingredients is corn starch. That reminded me that before dry shampoo was readily available and affordable, I used to use corn starch regularly, mainly on my bangs. So I figured that a comparison was in order - if the corn starch works just as well, it's a hell of a lot cheaper.

A dry shampoo dupe? (got2be Rockin' It Dry Shampoo vs. Suave Professionals Dry Shampoo)

So in my quest for the perfect dry shampoo, I decided to give got2be Rockin' It Dry Shampoo a shot. I hate the company's stupid product names and packaging that looks like Ed Hardy barfed all over it, but if it works, I don't really care.

Badass Hair: Suave Professionals Keratin Infusion Dry Shampoo

I previously reviewed Suave's regular dry shampoo and liked it. I thought I'd give their new version, also $3-4, a try.

Badass Hair: Suave Professionals Dry Shampoo Spray

Dry shampoo is awesome in general. But some brands are more awesome than others. One of the cheapest and awesomest is made by Suave and costs less than $4.

If you’re lazy and don’t feel like washing your hair, you can keep it going for another day or so with this stuff. You just shake it, spray it on your roots, and rub it in. It is pretty strongly scented, but I actually like the smell a lot. If you are not a fan of citrusy scents, though, this might not work for you. But it smells the best of any of the inexpensive dry shampoos I’ve tried, in my opinion.