I exercise six days a week and wash my hair once a week. I do it with the help of dry shampoo. Let me show you the best drugstore dry shampoo (plus a few other faves), and some tips for applying your dry shampoo.
Want to know the best drugstore dry shampoo?
Let’s talk about dry shampoo! I wash my hair once a week, but also exercise every day, so I rely on dry shampoo to get me from wash to wash. I want to share the best drugstore dry shampoo, and how I apply it to be most effective.
Why I only wash my hair once a week
I often get asked why I don’t wash my hair very often, and this is the reason: I have so. much. hair.
Washing, blow drying, and straightening my hair takes well over an hour, and air drying takes upward of six hours to really, truly be dry. I couldn’t ever do that on a daily basis.
THIS TOOL is a complete game changer for blow drying your hair. It dries and straightens my hair in less than 20 minutes — I wrote a whole review about it HERE. But also it gets super hot and can damage your hair if you’re using it every day.
So in between washes, I use dry shampoo.
Which is the best drugstore dry shampoo?
The best drugstore dry shampoo is Suave, with the yellow cap. You can find it at Target, CVS, Walgreens, Walmart…all the regular places you shop, and it’s super inexpensive.
This is routine to help me go longer in between washes
What to do with your hair while you exercise:
- When I exercise, pull my hair into a twisted top knot to keep it out of my face as best as I can. I use THESE HAIR TIES and they’re amazing.
- My scalp and the hair around my forehead is always wet when I’m done working out. I let this air dry. Don’t think too much about it.
How do I avoid getting it wet when I shower?
- I know a lot of people use shower caps. I hate shower caps, but I use a velcro HEAD WRAP like this to keep my hair out of the water as much as possible.
How I apply dry shampoo most effectively
The key is to apply it in the right spots. If you just spray it on top and around your head, it won’t really get the most oily sections.
- First, part your hair down the middle and spray parallel along the part. Then do another part one inch down the side of your head and repeat. Then do another part one inch down from that, and so on down the side of your head. Now go back to the middle and part down the other side.
- Once you’re done with the sides and top, flip your hair upside down and spray along your neck.
- Let the dry shampoo sit for a minute or two, then rub through it with your finger tips. Now brush through with a Wet Brush (that’s the brand, don’t actually use a brush that’s wet).
- I repeat this every day after exercising and it works perfectly to help my hair look and feel fresh for the entire week.
How do you go so long between washes?
- You have to “train” your head to produce less oil. If you’re washing your hair daily, you’re stripping your scalp of its natural oils, so it learns to produce more. If you wash less often, your body learns to produce less oils over time. But be patient — it takes time!
- If you currently wash your hair every day, try going to every other day for a couple of weeks (dry shampooing in between), and then go to every three days, etc. It took me about a year to get to a once a week washing system.
Using higher quality shampoo lets you go longer between washes
- This step has made a huge difference in how long I can go in between washes. I switched to Pureology Hydrate Shampoo a few years ago and it has made all the difference for me. It’s a concentrated shampoo, so the price tag is high but it literally lasts me for over a year because I don’t need much (even with a lot of hair). Once I switched, I instantly saw a change in how my hair felt, looked, and lasted.
Other helpful tips for using dry shampoo:
- Apply it before exercising
- Apply at night before you go to bed
- Wear your hair in a high, loose pony tail on top of your head while you sleep
There are other dry shampoos that I love!
The reason I love the Suave dry shampoo so much is because it’s inexpensive and super effective. I go through a bottle of dry shampoo fairly quickly, so the higher priced bottles add up quickly.
But there are several other dry shampoo brands that I love:
- Amika Dry Shampoo
- Dove Dry Shampoo
- Not your Mother’s Dry Shampoo (they also have brunette dry shampoo, but I haven’t tried it)
- Navy Hair Care Dry Shampoo (use code MERRICK for 30% off)
- Living Proof Dry Shampoo
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You forgot to mention To spray the hair with dry shampoo right after the wash, which I learned from another post of yours. It does wonders, though I wash my hair every three days because it gets itchy and with the dry shampoo also weird to touch.I also have freak-the-stylist-out thick hair, but my solution was to keep it in a topknot 95% of the time and only style the bangs.
Ah yes! Basically I live and breathe dry shampoo 😉
I read somewhere that being able to train your hair to be less greasy was a myth. I wasn’t able to find the exact article I read, but here’s another that says almost the same thing.
http://www.youbeauty.com/beauty/can-you-train-your-hair-to-be-less-oily/
My own personal experience (with my thick wavy Hair) has been successful going longer between washes, but I think it’s more ME getting used to the change and finding better products than actually changing how my body acts.
Interesting! Maybe mythbusters did an experiment 😉
I’m training to run the salt lake marathon right now, and dry shampoo after my morning runs has been a lifesaver on days when I can’t do a full shower. Luckily my hair dries in about 30 minutes when I get out of the shower, so I wash mine more often, but dry shampoo really is the best.
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Oh man, it takes my hair like 5 hours to completely dry!
DO you use The pureology conditioner as well? I cannot wash my hair without conditioner or I won’t be able to brush it hahaha!!
I actually don’t use the pureology conditioner. I’ve tried a bunch of different conditioners – just cheap drugstore ones, and they work great. but I just do conditioner through the bottom half of my hair so it doesn’t affect the oil levels on my scalp. Also have you tried a Wet Brush? I linked to it in this post. They’re hair brushing game changers!
I have not… might have to give it a shot!
Really helpful post! How Do you keep From Getting a crease in your hair from The tight top knot at the GYm and in the shower?
I do a twisted topknot and then put my hair tie around the whole thing. If I put it in a ponytail with a hair tie and then do a second hair tie around the bun, I’ll get a crease from that ponytail hair tie. Or if you’re still having trouble, try a scrunchie!
Quick CLARIFYING Question — how much of your hair gEts wet when In the shower after your workout(not much?!)? Just trying to figure out how much hair is air dRying…thanks!
Not much at all. I pin up any hanging strands with a bobby pin. I wash my face in the shower, so some of my hairline gets a little wet, and it gets a little wet from sweat when I exercise. But when I say air drying, I mean like 5-10 minutes til those damp parts are dry. Hope that helps!
Wow!! I totally thought u had extensions! Lucky girl ! My hair wont grow. Boo. But maybe ill try dry shampoo!
Definitely try it!! xx
This is so incredibly useful right now- I live in Cape Town, South Africa, and we are going through the worst drought ever- major water restrictions and the chance of needing to ration water from collection points starting in April. I’ve been trying to cut back on hair washes to train my hair just in case that happens, so this is super helpful! At the moment it’s shoulder length- do you think that growing it longer will mean I’ll need to wash it less often?
Definitely longer hair lasts longer in between washes, but I think even with shorter hair you can train it to last longer! Definitely shoulder length is long enough to go a 3-4 days!
Do you find a huge huge difference between Amika (high end) and Suave (low end)? If it makes a difference in shampoo is it worth it for dry shampoo?
Hey! You’re hair always looks great! Have you ever tried the Kirkland Signature Pureology knock off? I tried it after reading such great reviews about its comparable formulation. It’s $10 for a liter, which is literal insanity, but I’ve been using it for two years now and LOVE it! I also have a lot of thick hair! It never even can dry overnight–but part of that is that I’m in the humid southeast.
You really make it appear really easy together with your presentation however I in finding this matter to be really one thing which I feel I might by no means understand. It kind of feels too complicated and very vast for me.
French knot looks complicated but they are really simple. Your article has been enlightening and fun to read and I am grateful so thank you for sharing. You would love this article.
Lately ive been Using a dry shampoo FoAm- cheat day from pantene- and its awesome! My hAir feels more natural than with the sprays, especially OVer MULTIPLE daYs. And It’s much easier to get the fOam right where i want it, in the amount i want in each spot, with the foam. Try It!
Sorry about all the weird caps- my phone showed it as all caps while i typed that. Weird. I promise im not a spammer!
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I appreciate the recommendation for using a Wet Brush after letting the dry shampoo sit. I’ve heard great things about Wet Brush, so I’ll definitely give it a try. It’s always good to know the right tools to use for the best results. Thank you for sharing your tips on using dry shampoo effectively!