I’ve Tried Every Dry Shampoo, and This $25 Option Is The Best-of-the-Best

Dry shampoo is like the frenemy of the beauty world. If all goes well, it can help you refresh day-three hair and save you from facing an extra wash. If you do something wrong? It can totally screw you over and leave you with a head head covered in white, caked-on grease. And while proper application is certainly half the battle (pro tip: you’ll want either to hold the can 10 inches from your scalp or apply the product to a brush and comb it through your roots for best results), it’s equally as important to choose the right product. After years of testing hundreds of different iterations of the stuff, I can confidently say that Living Proof Perfect Hair Day (PhD) Dry Shampoo ($25) is the best that money can buy.

The made with fast-absorbing powders that offer a triple-threat of cleansing technology to target your hair’s look, feel, and smell. The powders soak up oil from your scalp, while odor neutralizers do away with the dreaded dirty hair smell. Plus, it’s got a scent that will help trick people into thinking your greasy scalp is actually clean. It’s made with finely milled particles that soak up grease and grime, and because they’re so delicate they’re easy to either whisk away with a brush or dust into strands so that they can keep working while remaining invisible. Because of this, the dry shampoo won’t leave behind any sort of annoying white cast—which is, of course, the guiding principle of any “good” dry shampoo.

Living Proof Perfect hair Day (PhD) Dry Shampoo, $25

Shop now: Living Proof Perfect hair Day (PhD) Dry Shampoo, $25

I’ve been a loyal user of this stuff ever since the first time I spritzed it on my roots and have found uses for it well beyond maintaining my blowout. It serves double duty as a texturizing hairspray, and has become a personal favorite for adding a little grit to my otherwise-polished curling-iron curls.

While this dry shampoo is undoubtedly the next best thing to an actual lather and rinse, it’s worth noting that you’ll still need to regularly treat yourself to an in-shower wash for the sake of your scalp health. “The key with dry shampoo is to not use it to replace your regular shampoo and conditioner, because using dry shampoo long term can wreak havoc on your skin and will ultimately wreak havoc on your skin and leave you with an unhealthy scalp and hair,” beauty scientist Rolanda Johnson Wilkerson, PhD, said in during a recent live video for Well+Good’s FinePrint Facebook Group. But on the mornings when that just isn’t happening? This stuff is all you’ll need for a perfect hair day.

To see what happens when you don’t keep your scalp clean, check out the (completely disgusting, but totally worth it) video below. 

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