After 10 Years of Testing, These Are My All-Time Favorite Dry Shampoos (2024)

Lining your hair-washing schedule up with your workout routine can be complicated (not to mention frustrating). I’ll be honest: I definitely don’t wash my hair every day—usually just once or twice a week, even when I work out daily. (I know!) That’s because, as a former beauty editor with over 10 years of experience testing hundreds of products, I’ve found the best dry shampoos that absorb oil, sweat, and dirt fast.

Even outside of the gym, dry shampoo can be a hero product in your hair care routine—I’ve used it for years to keep my blonde, highlighted hair looking brighter longer between appointments. “Dry shampoo is a total game-changer for preserving your color,” Lauren Paglionico, hair color specialist and founder of lrn beauty in New York City, tells SELF. “It’s normal for your hair color to fade from your water or shampoos that contain sulfates. With dry shampoo, you’re able to wash your hair less because it absorbs the oil on your scalp. Your color will stay vibrant longer.”

After speaking with experts like Paglionico and gathering recommendations from other SELF staffers, I’m pretty confident that this list will save you time and money. Shop SELF’s favorite dry shampoos for refreshing your hair in mere minutes below.

Our top picks

1. Best Overall: Living proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo
2. Best for All Hair Colors: Amika Perk Up Talc-Free Dry Shampoo
3. Best Powder: Lush No Drought Dry Shampoo
4. Best Drugstore: Dove Advanced Volume & Fullness Dry Shampoo
5. Best Non-Aerosol Spray: Bumble and bumble Prêt-à-Powder Post Workout Dry Shampoo Mist

Best Overall: Living proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo

Pros

• Absorbs sweat, oil, and odors
• Works on all hair colors
• Adds volume to hair

Cons

• Pricey
• Some Sephora reviewers don’t love the scent

I vividly remember attending the launch event for this dry shampoo back in 2015, and I was as impressed by the instant difference it made in my hair then as I am now. Unlike most other dry shampoos at the time that just masked my oily problems, this formula truly absorbs odors, sweat, and dirt. And it couldn’t be easier to use: Just shake the bottle, spray it about eight inches away from your head, and wait 30 seconds for the formula to activate. Then, massage the dry shampoo through your hair to get the rice starch (a key absorbent ingredient) working.

It also works great on all hair colors: “It left a little white residue on my hair that went away almost instantly with a little tousling,” says one brunette SELF editor. Another tester raved that it’s a “very lightweight spray—it doesn’t feel heavy or tacky on my scalp or face.”

Best for All Hair Colors: Amika Perk Up Dry Shampoo

Pros

• Works on all hair colors
• Sea buckthorn adds antioxidants
• Adds major volume to your hair

Cons

• Pricey
• Can is sometimes hard to spray

This is one of my all-time favorite dry shampoos—I’ve been using it for years. It’s become my savior after an intense sweat session, leaving my hair feeling (and looking) clean. The Perk Up Dry Shampoo expertly absorbs oil and shine with rice starch, plus it’s paraben-free and works on a wide range of hair types and textures. The clear aerosol spray easily disappears as you massage it into your scalp, or brush it through to truly leave no trace. “This left absolutely NO white residue on my hair and soaked oil up almost instantly,” one brunette SELF editor agreed. “I was shocked.”

While I love Amika’s original formula, I’m also a fan of the brand’s oil control and extended clean dry shampoos after an extra hot Bikram yoga class.

Best Powder: Lush No Drought

Pros

• Bottle lasts a long time
• TSA-friendly
• Better for lighter-colored hair

Cons

• Loose powder is a bit messy
• Not for those sensitive to essential oils
• Contains talc

This was the first powder dry shampoo I was introduced to years ago, and it’s been a staple in my routine ever since. I absolutely love that the 4-ounce bottle seems to last forever. A little goes a long way—and if you’re not careful, you can easily end up with too much powder in your hair (and on your bathmat).

Lush’s No Drought is made with cornstarch and magnesium carbonate to absorb grease, and grapefruit, lemon, and lime oils to give your hair a fresh scent. “It smells great!” raved one SELF tester. “Slightly citrusy and not too strong.” However, it also contains talc, which is great at soaking up oil but can irritate sensitive skin, Ife Rodney, MD, board-certified dermatologist and founding director of Eternal Dermatology Aesthetics in Fulton, Maryland, previously told SELF.

Best Drugstore: Dove Advanced Volume and Fullness Dry Shampoo

Pros

• Budget-friendly
• Easy to find
• Lots of sizes available

Cons

• Better for slightly dirty hair vs. extra oily strands
• Some Amazon reviewers say the scent is too strong

Our top drugstore pick, Dove’s Volume & Fullness Dry Shampoo, does exactly what it says on the can: It delivers a major boost in volume and fullness to hair, even after a long Peloton ride. I appreciate that this pick is easy to find in drugstores, and I truly love the scent. It’s very lightweight and uses tapioca starch to absorb sweat and oil. Even better, it’s PETA-certified cruelty-free and is not tested on animals.

As someone with fine, straight hair, I use this all the time as a little pick-me-up to deliver freshness and some extra body to my strands. For those with darker hair, it “shows up pretty white and took some time to massage in,” said one SELF staffer, but it’s still a great budget pick in our book.

Best Non-Aerosol Spray: Bumble and bumble Prêt-à-Powder Post Workout Dry Shampoo Mist

Pros

• Two sizes available
• Great for using on the go
• Works on most hair textures and colors

Cons

• Takes some trial and error

This Bumble and Bumble dry shampoo is very different from most traditional sprays in aerosol cans—instead, it comes out as a fine mist loaded with bamboo extract and silica to refresh your hair. In my experience, using your hands (or a brush) to work the product into your scalp delivers great results, although the brand also says you can blow dry your hair after applying it to get it to work even faster. The bottle is small, portable, and perfect for stashing in your gym bag. And if you have dark hair, rest assured it’ll still be invisible: “It didn’t show up white at all on my hair,” one brunette tester confirmed.

More great options

Still haven’t found your perfect match? These dry shampoos are also backed by the experts we spoke with (not to mention tons of five-star reviews).

Odele Dry Shampoo

Pros

• TSA-friendly
• Vegan, cruelty-free formula
• Budget-friendly

Cons

• Smaller bottle
• Pump may dispense more product than needed

One of my favorite powder formulas, Odele’s Dry Shampoo, comes in an easy to use pump. It contains no parabens, dyes, synthetic fragrances, sulfates, or phthalates. It’s also vegan, safe to use on color-treated hair, and really easy to blend into your roots. It has a subtle fragrance that isn’t strong at all, with notes of cucumber and ylang ylang (perfect for those with a sensitive nose).

Drybar Detox Thickening Dry Shampoo for Thinning Hair

Pros

• Delivers a lot of fullness and volume
• Contains caffeine to help prevent hair loss

Cons

• Strong scent
• Some Ulta reviewers say it leaves a white cast

For thin hair, I’m a huge fan of this Drybar option. (The scent takes me back to the many, many hours I spent getting blowouts at the OG salon when it first opened in NYC.) It’s made with caffeine, which studies show can help prevent hair loss, plus rice starch and silica to refresh your roots. And I’m not its only fan—Ulta shoppers love it too: “I have straight, flat hair, and this not only does a great job of absorbing oil, but also really gives me some volume,” someone wrote. “I like that it seems to last for multiple days. With other dry shampoos, I feel like I have to reapply if I go more than one day, but this one seems to continuously absorb oil over time.”

Verb Refresh Dry Shampoo for Light Hair

Pros

• Great for colored hair
• Also comes in a version for dark hair

Cons

• Only comes in one size
• Some Sephora reviewers say it leaves some build-up in their hair

Perfect for blonde and gray hair, this light formula uses rice starch for oil absorption and isn’t chalky. It gently cleanses, leaving behind a clean, fresh smell. Pomegranate extracts contain antioxidants that help protect colored hair, while rice starch and aluminum starch do their part to stamp out grease. FYI: It also comes in a version for dark hair.

Hask Charcoal Clarifying Dry Shampoo

Pros

• Lightweight and ultra-fine
• Budget-friendly
• Benzene-free

Cons

• Can is smaller than others

Along with the usual rice starch, Hask’s Purifying Dry Shampoo contains charcoal, which also absorbs oil and can help remove some of the build-up on your scalp between washes. In my experience, this spray won’t leave your hair looking or feeling weighed down—plus, I love the fragrance (it has notes of geranium, lemon, and peony).

IGK Jet Lag Invisible Dry Shampoo

Pros

• Lightweight spray
• Packaging is easy to use
• Scent isn’t overpowering

Cons

• Not strong enough for really dirty hair

Lightweight and invisible, this dry shampoo is great for all hair colors. “I really like this product for days when your hair is only a little greasy,” raved one SELF editor. “I love that it doesn't have a strong scent and doesn't leave a white cast on my hair.” Our tester added that this gave her a perfect pick-me-up in between washes, thanks to hero ingredients magnesium carbonate and potato starch.

Olaplex No.4D Clean Volume Detox Dry Shampoo

Pros

• Adds body and volume
• Lightweight spray

Cons

• Pricey, but “worth the investment,” says our tester

This great-smelling dry shampoo from Olaplex is lightweight and easy to use—perfect for extending your style by a day or two. “It definitely makes my hair feel less oily without suffocating my scalp, and it's really nice to add a little body and life to a second-day blowout,” says one SELF editor. “I've happily added it to my weekly hair rotation.”

The Clean Volume Dry Shampoo does what it should without weighing down your hair: “It gets the job done with very few drawbacks, and it feels like a high-quality product that won't harm my hair or dry out my scalp,” our tester adds. With an ingredient list that includes rice and aluminum starches, it’s a gym bag staple you can lean on after a high-powered spin class or an intense high-intensity interval training (HIIT) circuit.

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