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10 best dry shampoos to keep your locks looking fresh in between washes

From foams to sprays and even wipes, these powder-free finishes give all hair types a boost

Sabine Wiesel
Tuesday 30 August 2022 05:40 EDT
We’ve found the best formulas that create volume and texture
We’ve found the best formulas that create volume and texture (The Independent)
Our Top Picks

Once upon a time, dry shampoos were just for keeping on standby for hair emergencies, but today they’re an everyday essential. While the hair saviour is still a godsend for covering-up greasy roots when we oversleep or want to fit in a sweaty workout in the middle of the day, we use them more for prolonging the days between hair washes, saving time, water and energy.

If there’s a haircare product that’s come of beauty age, it’s the humble dry shampoo. Gone are the heavy talc-in-a-bottle formulas, as with new innovation comes light, invisible sprays that do more than just mop up grease. The latest spritzes work much harder.

You can use dry shampoo to boost volume and add root lift to limp, lifeless strands; spray in texture for cool-girl strands; add grip and hold to an up-do, as well as bring a new lease of life to second-day curls, braids or whichever style you’ve spent time perfecting.

The key to getting the best results, and avoiding any chalkiness, with your dry shampoo is to do two things: the first is to spray and leave the dry shampoo for a couple of minutes, so it absorbs the excess oils and sweat properly – don’t just rub in and go as most people do.

The second is to brush or blow-dry the product out and not just let it sit and build up on the scalp. Do both and your stands will not only look clean but feel it too, especially if you’re using one from our round-up of best dry shampoos.

How we tested

To help you find the best formula for your wants and needs, we put the latest sprays on trial, using them on hair that hadn’t been washed for a day or two, to see how they fared on a tester with oily roots, who usually has to wash their hair every other day without fail. We looked for ease-of-use, fragrance, oil-absorption, how it left stands feeling and whether it created volume and texture.

The best dry shampoos for 2022 are:

  • Best overall – Kérastase fresh affair dry shampoo: £24.29, Feelunique.com
  • Best for clean-feeling hair – Living Proof perfect hair day advanced clean dry shampoo: £20, Spacenk.com
  • Best for dry and damaged hair – Virtue refresh dry shampoo: £13.60, Feelunique.com
  • Best value dry shampoo – Batiste naturally dry shampoo green tea and chamomile: £2.83, Boots.com
  • Best for fine hair – Klorane volumising dry shampoo with organic flax: £9.50, Boots.com
  • Best for curls – Boucleme foaming dry shampoo: £18, Feelunique.com
  • Best for fringes – Hair by Sam McKnight lazy girl hair cleanse cloths, for 20 cloths: £17, Sammcknight.com
  • Best for volume and texture – R+Co death valley dry shampoo: £19.60, Spacenk.com
  • Best lightweight dry shampoo – Davines more inside invisible dry shampoo: £24, Cultbeauty.co.uk
  • Best dry shampoo for fragrance – Sol de Janeiro dry shampoo: £14, Feelunique.com

Kérastase fresh affair dry shampoo

Kerastase fresh affair dry shampoo.png
  • Best: Overall
  • Size: 233ml

What makes this dry shampoo stand out in a crowded haircare category is not only how well it works, but the luxe fragrance it’s coupled with. Like many dry shampoos, it uses rice starch to mop up excess oil and add body, but the spray is so fine and lightweight that there’s zero powdery residues or chance of weighing hair down. It’s also paired with a dose of moisturising vitamin E that protects the hair from daily aggressors, as well as leaves it silky soft to the touch.

But it’s the neroli scent that makes this a real winning formula. Leaving a faint whisper of what could be an expensive perfume, it doesn’t overpower but lingers throughout the day. It’s worth every penny and has the bonus of being slightly larger than most dry shampoo bottles.

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Living Proof perfect hair day advanced clean dry shampoo

Living Proof perfect hair day advanced clean dry shampoo.png
  • Best: clean-feeling hair
  • Size: 198ml

Promising comparable results to actually washing your hair with a rinse-out shampoo, we are pleased to report that this is as close to the real thing as you’re going to get. You also won’t find a dry shampoo that you can use for as many consecutive days as this – well without the dreaded itch setting in. We were impressed with how smooth, soft and shiny our strands not only looked but felt, helped by the specially-designed nozzle that evenly distributes the product with no grittiness or rough texture to the hair. A true cleansing formula rather than a volumising styling product.

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Virtue refresh dry shampoo

Virtue refresh dry shampoo.png
  • Best: Dry and damaged hair
  • Size: 51ml

This dry shampoo, like all of Virtue’s haircare, contains a keratin protein identical to the one found in our tresses that can repair the broken structure of the strand – ideal for those with fragile, frizzy or damaged hair types. The dry mist uses tapioca starch and kaolin clay to absorb excess oil and sweat without leaving behind a powdery build-up and the fresh floral scent it’s teamed with adds to its appeal. There’s no contributing to build-up so we found you can even push your roots an extra few days before washing.

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Batiste naturally dry shampoo green tea and chamomile

Batiste naturally dry shampoo green tea and chamomile.png
  • Best: Value
  • Size: 200ml

For purse-friendly hair-refreshers, you still can’t beat the endless choice from this iconic hair brand that sells over two cans every second globally. You’ll find a dry shampoo for every hair colour, hair type and styling option, but the latest Batiste naturally trio is our favourite yet. The brand has cut down on packaging use, and the formula is made with 100 per cent natural extracts, but the real winner for us are the new fragrances. You won’t find any overpowering scents like past formulas, these are more delicate and smell more like a luxe brand, especially this green tea and chamomile that reminds us of our favourite sandalwood perfume.

  1.  £2 from Boots.com
Prices may vary
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Klorane volumising dry shampoo with organic flax

Klorane volumising dry shampoo with organic flax.png
  • Best: Fine hair
  • Size: 150ml

Refreshing hair in-between washes since 1971, the French pharmacy brand Klorane is the pioneer of dry shampoo as we know it today. Originally created for mothers to use in hospital while giving birth, today the brand has a whole collection of grease-sapping bottles and sell one every nine seconds globally.

While all the formulas are worthy of a spot in your bathroom, this one is particularly good for root lift, as it’s loaded with flax fibres for body boosting as well as a blend of plant-based powders that rid strands of excess oil. For best results, remember to leave it in a couple of minutes to work its magic before styling. A few extra minutes won’t hurt either, we liked to spray, apply our make-up before coming back to brush out for super clean strands.

  1.  £9 from Boots.com
Prices may vary
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Boucleme foaming dry shampoo

Boucleme foaming dry shampoo.png
  • Best: Curls
  • Size: 100ml

Whether you’re blessed with tamer kinks or full-on coils, this brand specialises in looking after curls and has a first-rate dry shampoo for prolonging wash days in their line. With curly hair prone to dryness, this alcohol-free foam works a treat without leaving strands parched, like other formulas, with its wet foam-to-powder formula. Plus, it has a light scent that deodorises the scalp courtesy of aloe vera juice, peppermint and spearmint that adds to its performance. While we tried to apply and go with this one in a rush, we did find we preferred to use a diffuser for added root lift.

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Hair by Sam McKnight lazy girl hair cleanse cloths

Hair by Sam McKnight lazy girl hair cleanse cloths.png
  • Best: Fringes
  • Size: 20 cloths

These innovative cleansing cloths from the legendary hairstylist’s haircare line work just like dry shampoo and make a quick fix for greasy roots, hairlines and fringes on the go. Infused with witch hazel to mop up grease and impurities, simply wipe over areas that need refreshing.

We love how they leave our hair feeling clean yet glossy and well-conditioned thanks to the added hair-loving ingredients. Plus, they’re certified compostable – made from tree pulp the brand promise they’re biodegradable in as little as six weeks. The only downside is the price, but if you’ve got bangs that can’t withstand the summer heat they’re the perfect handbag hero.

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R+Co death valley dry shampoo

R+Co death valley dry shampoo.png
  • Best: Volume and texture
  • Size: 300ml

Named after one of the driest places on the planet, this works well as a dry shampoo eliminating excess oil without totally stripping strands. But, where it really comes into its own is as a root-lifter and texture spray. A must for those that get creative with their strands, and like to experiment with more lived-in looks or tousled styles – think California cool girl vibes. Fine hair types will want it in their haircare arsenal for providing body-boosting oomph too, and if you’re a master at updos it creates grit for brilliant hold. It also gets bonus points for its bergamot and woody scent that we couldn’t get enough of.

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Davines more inside invisible dry shampoo

Davines more inside invisible dry shampoo.png
  • Best: Lightweight
  • Size: 250ml

From the Italian sustainable haircare brand comes this new offering which is equal parts brilliant refresher as well as a volume booster. Fast and effective at eliminating excess oil, we were super impressed with how light and clean it left strands feeling. For root lift, blast on to your roots and team with a classic upside-down head flick to let gravity work its magic, or spritz through the lengths without brushing it out to create the illusion of a fuller mane. Either way, we found it left strands beautifully soft, shiny and manageable thanks to the added moisturisers. And the subtle fragrance mix of vanilla and grapefruit adds to its stand-out qualities.

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Sol de Janeiro dry shampoo

Sol de Janeiro dry shampoo.png
  • Best: Fragrance
  • Size: 57ml

Fans of the now infamous Sol de Janeiro bum bum body cream (£27.20, Boots.com) will love this dry shampoo with the same exotic cheirosa 62 scent. Filling the nose with its nutty, vanilla and salted caramel scent, it acts like a perfume for the hair and lingers throughout the day. Kaolin clay and rice starch draw out impurities absorbing grease, while provitamin B5 strengthens and moisturises strands making it a top choice for performance too. Plus, it comes in a mini version perfect for easy packing on a summer get-away.

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The verdict: Dry shampoos

You can’t beat the overall performance of the Kérastase fresh affair dry shampoo. It’s user-friendly, leaves no dreaded residue and smells amazing. But if you’re looking for a purse-friendly dry shampoo the Batiste naturally dry shampoo green tea and chamomile gets the job done nicely too and gives you change from a £5 note.

Level up your bedtime beauty routine with the best night creams

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