I <3 Dirty Hair!

The truth is, I hate washing my hair. There, I said it. When squeaky clean, my tresses never seem to behave as well, have as much volume, and take away the Kate Moss quality of messiness I’ve been defined by for years. Luckily, there are products designed to muss up my locks, (Bumble and Bumble make great messy hair helpers) but even luckier still, dry shampoos have finally become mainstream. My messy locks became my signature back in high school, before dry shampoos really existed. My friends and I used to shake baby powder into our roots, but the thick powder was fairly evident and I always smelled ever so slightly of a baby change room, even overpowering my penchant for Miss Dior Cherie perfume in my teens.  Far more sophisticated formulas exist today — here are my expertly tried and true top choices.

Psssssst! is an award winning formula that is as joyful to say as its results. I became obsessed with this stuff working at a summer camp in Los Angeles with a bi-weekly schedule of 5-day overnight camping trips with no running water. I loved it so much I continued to use it while back in the cabins, with access to water. My campers loved it too, gleefully shouting, “PSSSSSSST!!!” every time they used it. My co-counselor? Not so much. (16 dirty haired little girls is no one’s idea of fun.) The original, retro can houses scentless, volumizing, light coloured spray that gives even 5 day old, unwashed California-hiking hair a refreshed look, and although my tent-pitching, hiking, s’more making days are over, Psssssst! is still a staple in my hair care routine.

Cake is a Canadian beauty line that’s as sweet as sugar. One of their staple products (and one of my longtime faves) is their Satin Sugar Fuss-Free Dry Shampoo, but this season, a new formula was introduced and I’m seriously in love. With ingredients that absorb excess oil, pump up limp strands and soothe and condition the hair and scalp, this stuff is magic in a can, and its subtly sweet vanilla and citrus scent is pretty good proof.

Oscar Blandi Pronto Dry Shampoo‘s pro shaped pointed tip allows for maximum styling by sectioning off hair, squeezing a cloud of refreshingly lemon verbena scented powder into the roots, and massaging the product in. The powder can also be sprinkled into your hands first to really control the amount of product in your hair. Powders tend to require a bit less product and can be worked in little by little to achieve mussed up, degreased locks with tons of volume.