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The Best Dry Shampoo of 2019 Credit: Amazon / Sephora / Dermstore

The Best Dry Shampoos of 2024

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The Best Dry Shampoo of 2019 Credit: Amazon / Sephora / Dermstore

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Reviewed's mission is to help you buy the best stuff and get the most out of what you already own. Our team of product experts thoroughly vet every product we recommend to help you cut through the clutter and find what you need.

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Editor's Choice Product image of Dove Volume & Fullness Dry Shampoo
Best Overall

Dove Volume & Fullness Dry Shampoo

Check Price at Target

Dove's dry shampoo cleans almost as well as real shampoo, leaving almost no residue. It doesn't add much volume, but it also doesn't weigh hair down. Read More

Pros

  • Leaves little residue
  • Spray doesn't weigh hair down

Cons

  • Doesn't add much volume
2
Editor's Choice Product image of Drybar Detox Dry Shampoo
Best Luxury

Drybar Detox Dry Shampoo

Check Price at Ulta

This product works wonders on oil and grease. While it can leave residue behind, it also adds volume to hair. Read More

Pros

  • Eliminates excess oil
  • Comes in light and dark tones

Cons

  • Expensive
3
Editor's Choice Product image of Moroccanoil Dry Shampoo
Best for Curly Hair

Moroccanoil Dry Shampoo

Check Price at Amazon

This product works well with dry hair, moisturizing it and adding volume. It doesn't remove much oil, though. Read More

Pros

  • Great for dry hair
  • Adds volume

Cons

  • Doesn't soak up a lot of oil
4
Product image of Oribe Gold Lust Dry Shampoo

Oribe Gold Lust Dry Shampoo

Check Price at Amazon

Oribe eliminates oil, leaves almost no residue, and even adds a slight, citrusy smell. The spray, however, can feel powerful and wasteful. Read More

Pros

  • Nice citrus scent
  • Leaves almost no residue behind

Cons

  • Expensive
5
Product image of Psssst! Instant Dry Shampoo Spray

Psssst! Instant Dry Shampoo Spray

Check Price at Amazon

This dry shampoo gets the job done, leaving hair feeling light after use. However, it doesn't do much in the way of volume or oil reduction. Read More

Pros

  • Leaves hair feeling light after use

Cons

  • Doesn't add much volume
  • Best Overall Dove Volume & Fullness Dry Shampoo
  • Best Luxury Drybar Detox Dry Shampoo
  • Best for Curly Hair Moroccanoil Dry Shampoo
  • Other Dry Shampoos We Tested
  • How We Tested Dry Shampoo
  • What You Should Know About Dry Shampoos
  • More Articles You Might Enjoy

Editor's Note: October 26, 2022 Unilever United States issued a voluntary recall of a number of dry shampoos, including the Dove Volume & Fullness, due to "potentially elevated levels of benzene" found in certain lots produced before October 2021. You can find more information about the recall here and check your dry shampoo's UPC code to see if it's affected here.

Dry shampoo is a godsend for anyone, whether you’re looking to freshen up a days-old style, absorb excess oil, or add volume to your hair without pulling out your favorite hair styling tools. It can save you time in the morning or preserve color-treated hair by minimizing actual washing. That said, there are countless dry shampoos available everywhere from drugstores to salons, all claiming to be the best, so narrowing it down is anything but easy. That’s where we come in.

We rounded up all of the top-rated dry shampoos on the market and tested the sprays, powders, and foams on fine, straight, thick, and curly hair. After hours of testing, Dove Volume & Fullness Dry Shampoo (available at Target for $8.39) nabbed our top spot for its fresh scent, affordable price point, and truly clean feeling. What else we found might surprise you.

The best dry shampoo
Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

If you're looking for clean, fresh-feeling hair, Dove’s dry shampoo won't disappoint.

Best Overall
Dove Volume & Fullness Dry Shampoo

Dove's dry shampoo leaves hair feeling almost suspiciously clean, closer to the freshness of a real shampoo than any other product we tested. The spray is fine and leaves behind little to no visible residue or chalky buildup in any hair type, from thin, light hair to thick, dark locks. The spray doesn't weigh hair down or stiffen it up, but on the flip side, it doesn't add too much volume, either. It has the recognizably fresh scent of Dove products that so many know and love. If you're looking for clean, fresh-feeling hair, Dove’s dry shampoo won't disappoint.

Pros

  • Leaves little residue

  • Spray doesn't weigh hair down

Cons

  • Doesn't add much volume

$8.39 from Target

$7.98 from Walmart
The best dry shampoo
Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

The Drybar Detox Dry Shampoo zaps grease and oil with just a little spritz.

Best Luxury
Drybar Detox Dry Shampoo

Detox DryBar dry shampoo is the quintessential dry shampoo: Though not a texturizing spray, it adds high-impact texture and volume and zaps grease and excess oil with just a little spritz. It's amazing and effective. It has the brand's classic, musky salon scent that can be perfumey, if not overpowering at times. It leaves behind some residue that can leave roots feeling a little chalky after use, but the trade-off is incredible volume. The spray comes in both light and dark tones to match your hair color. Keep in mind you can buy 6 bottles of Dove for the price of one Detox, so it may not be the best choice for the budget-conscious consumer, but it does work great on oily hair.

Pros

  • Eliminates excess oil

  • Comes in light and dark tones

Cons

  • Expensive

Buy now at Ulta

Buy now at Amazon

$28.00 from Target

$25.99 from Walmart
Best dry shampoo - Moroccanoil
Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

The Moroccanoil Dry Shampoo is great for dry scalps.

Best for Curly Hair
Moroccanoil Dry Shampoo

Moroccanoil dry shampoo is great for dry, dehydrated, or curly hair. It's infused with argan oil, so it moisturizes as it de-greases and it actually leaves hair feeling clean and silky instead of chalky and dull, while still adding some volume. It comes in both light and dark tones to match hair, and a little scalp massage totally eliminates any visible residue. Its light vanilla scent is not overwhelming and testers noted that it "smells absolutely delicious," and "the best of the bunch." While it doesn’t soak up as much oil as DryBar’s Detox, it’s a great option for those with dryer locks or scalp issues.

Pros

  • Great for dry hair

  • Adds volume

Cons

  • Doesn't soak up a lot of oil

Buy now at Amazon

Other Dry Shampoos We Tested

Product image of Oribe Gold Lust Dry Shampoo
Oribe Gold Lust Dry Shampoo

Oribe dry shampoo is lightweight, invisible, and doesn't add any grip or weight to your hair. Made with watermelon and lychee, it has a very faint, slightly citrusy smell and it leaves almost no residue behind: most dry shampoo leaves behind white dust that must be massaged in, but Oribe is undetectable on contact in even dark hair, yet eliminates all signs of oil. In that way, its performance is similar to Dove's. It does what it's promised, but at an exorbitant price: plus, the spray comes out jet-engine fast, which can feel wasteful for such an expensive product.

Pros

  • Nice citrus scent

  • Leaves almost no residue behind

Cons

  • Expensive

Buy now at Amazon

$39.17 from Walmart
Product image of Psssst! Instant Dry Shampoo Spray
Psssst! Instant Dry Shampoo Spray

Psst! dry shampoo has been a drugstore staple for years. It leaves hair feeling light after use, leaving behind some product buildup though hair doesn't feel too chalky or heavy—however, it doesn't do a great job at reducing the appearance of oil or adding volume and texture. It gets the job done in a pinch, but there isn’t anything remarkable or life-changing about it.

Pros

  • Leaves hair feeling light after use

Cons

  • Doesn't add much volume

Buy now at Amazon

$17.95 from Walmart
Product image of Amika Perk Up Dry Shampoo
Amika Perk Up Dry Shampoo

Thanks to its packaging, Amika Perk Up dry shampoo would look gorgeous on any vanity, but it was unremarkable to use. Worse, it had a cloyingly sweet smell that overpowered our testers—one noted, "it smells like drugstore perfume." It performed just fine, absorbing excess oil, leaving hair feeling soft and fresh enough, with an inoffensive amount of white residue after use. While it helped control the oil in both straight and curly hair, the smell was a deterrent.

Pros

  • Cute packaging

  • Leaves hair feeling soft and fresh

Cons

  • Has a cloyingly sweet smell

Buy now at Sephora

Buy now at Amazon

$20.99 from Walmart
Product image of Briogeo Scalp Revival Charcoal + Biotin Dry Shampoo
Briogeo Scalp Revival Charcoal + Biotin Dry Shampoo

Briogeo’s dry shampoo is a powder formula that claims to "detoxify" the scalp with charcoal, prevent oil production with witch hazel, and de-grease with clay and rice starches. However, the user experience is a little frustrating: The powder dispenser isn’t powerful, so you’re stuck shaking the bottle into your hands or scalp at awkward angles with little payoff. The powder smells fresh and soaks up oil without leaving the starchy feel of an aerosol spray, but it doesn’t add volume or work particularly effectively: it also causes more of a mess than traditional spray variations. It's not a bad product, it just isn't stellar.

Pros

  • Soaks up a good amount of oil

  • Powder is fresh smelling

Cons

  • Doesn't add volume

Buy now at Dermstore

Buy now at Amazon

$25.00 from Target

$23.75 from Walmart
Product image of Klorane Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk
Klorane Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk

Klorane dry shampoo removes oil well enough, but it leaves behind a dusty, white residue that’s hard to shake, literally: after several minutes of massaging the product in, testers still had ashy roots. The product adds volume to fine hair, but doesn’t do much volume-wise to thicker hair. Though the spray is intense, the particles are fine which limits feelings of buildup and chalkiness: flat hair still felt light and fluffy after use. It’s a fine pick, but not a standout.

Pros

  • Adds volume

  • Removes oil

Cons

  • Leaves white residue behind

Buy now at Amazon
Product image of Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo
Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo

Living Proof is backed by MIT research with claims that this dry shampoo doesn't just soak up oil, but "actually cleans hair." It sounds great in theory, but in practice, it felt like any other dry shampoo. It left hair feeling gritty and not very clean after use, yet it didn't add much volume or body. We had to use quite a bit of it to see a grease-reducing impact, and its scent is too reminiscent of chemicals. Neither tester was a fan, and the experience was unmemorable if not unpleasant.

Pros

  • Soaks up some oil

Cons

  • Leaves hair feeling gritty

  • Smells like chemicals

Buy now at Amazon

$22.30 from Walmart
Product image of Batiste Dry Shampoo
Batiste Dry Shampoo

Batiste is the ubiquitous drugstore dry shampoo, and it is the most budget-friendly pick of the lot: However, its performance leaves a lot to be desired. Yes, it absorbs the oil in hair and gives it some body, but the plasticky smell is unpleasant and lingers throughout the day, hair feels stiff and chalky after use, and product buildup clings to roots no matter how much you try and shake it out. If you’re looking to pinch pennies on your dry shampoo, please choose Dove instead!

Pros

  • Affordable

  • Absorbs oil

Cons

  • Unpleasant smell

  • Leaves hair feeling stiff

Buy now at Amazon
Product image of R+Co Skyline Dry Shampoo Powder
R+Co Skyline Dry Shampoo Powder

R+Co’s dry shampoo is another powder formula that comes with a pump dispenser. The powder is silky, fine, and starchy—and most shockingly, it’s glittery. The shimmer likely comes from the diatomaceous earth mineral compounds, which are designed to soak up oil, but it shows up on roots. The product is chunky and settles on the scalp, which is not great for someone with a dry scalp or dandruff. It also left a visible white film on one tester's scalp and some found the smell "oddly musty."

Pros

  • Powder is silky and fine

Cons

  • Product settles on scalp

  • Leaves a visible white film

$34.00 from Amazon

$19.99 from Walmart

How We Tested Dry Shampoo

The best dry shampoo
Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

The Testers

We are Ashley Barry-Biancuzzo and Jessica Teich, professional product testers and editors at Reviewed—with very different hair types and hair goals.

Ashley is a big fan of dry shampoo, as it saves her time in the morning. She says her fine hair gets greasy after a few hours, too, which makes her the perfect candidate for using it. She started using dry shampoo over the summer to extend the time between wash days in an attempt to preserve the vibrant purple tips of her hair. Her hair is straight, fine, and noodle-like, and her ideal shampoo is one that adds volume.

Jessica was Reviewed's former health and beauty editor, who has tested everything from liquid lipstick to flat irons. She has a mass of long, thick, curly hair and a dry scalp. Because of this, she often goes 5+ days between washes (oops). Her ideal dry shampoo soaks up a serious amount of grease without making her scalp feel chalky or dry.

Like a lot of beauty products, what makes a good dry shampoo is unarguably subjective, depending on what your goals are and what your hair is like to begin with. That's why we teamed up: not only do we both regularly use dry shampoo, but we have very different hair types and preferences. That being said, we surprisingly agreed on many of the products we tested. Here's why:

The Tests

Best dry shampoo - before and after
Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

We scored each product based on how well it absorbed oil, if it left any residue, if it added any volume, and so on.

We tested the products by spritzing our limp or greasy hair at the roots with dry shampoo and letting it work its hair care magic. We also teamed up with Reviewed’s senior scientist to score and weight results on a scientifically calibrated rubric.

To find which dry shampoo really is best, we scored each product based on how well it absorbed oil, if it left any residue, whether or not it added volume, the strength and quality of the scent, and so on. We also took into account how clean our hair felt and how often we needed to re-apply the product after use.

Not every aspect of our testing was equally important: for example, oil reduction was weighted far more heavily than the amount of product used. It became obvious that while some of what makes a dry shampoo great is subjective, some are truly superior and others are simply not worth the money.

What You Should Know About Dry Shampoos

Best dry shampoo
Credit: Amazon / Sephora / Dermstore

What makes a good dry shampoo is unarguably subjective, depending on what your goals are and what your hair is like to begin with.

Washing your hair every single day can damage your scalp. That's where dry shampoo comes in. Dry shampoos not only soak up grease and sweat, but also add a fresh scent, making it a fantastic hack to prolong a blowout, freshen up after a workout, or prevent hair dye from running down the drain. However, not all dry shampoo is created equal: here's what to consider before buying:

Formula: Do you want a dry shampoo that comes in the form of an aerosol spray, a powder, or maybe even foam? Consider if you want the hands-off convenience of a spray or the precision of placing the product on your hair directly with your hands.

Scent: Is your goal to smell freshly shampooed, do you prefer a product that's more heavily scented, or could you care less about the scent? Keep in mind that some dry shampoos, like Dove's, smell just like shampoo, while others, like DryBar's and Living Proof's, smell decidedly more perfumey.

Volume: Are you aiming to add volume and texture to your style? Remember that the trade-off is typically a feeling of some grit in the hair and a slightly starchy feeling. Your hair will look fantastic, but you might not want to run your hands through it.

Cleanliness: If your goal is hair that's silky soft and touchable, make sure you look for a dry shampoo that doesn't claim to add a ton of volume or texture. Oribe's Gold Lust or Moroccanoil are great examples of products that soak up grease and actually leave hair feeling cleaner.


Meet the testers

Ashley Barry-Biancuzzo

Ashley Barry-Biancuzzo

Editor

@awitchdidit

Ashley Barry-Biancuzzo is a valued contributor to the Reviewed.com family of sites.

See all of Ashley Barry-Biancuzzo's reviews
Jessica Teich

Jessica Teich

Former Editor

@jessicarteich

Jessica covered lifestyle and beyond at Reviewed. Her work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Boston Globe.

See all of Jessica Teich's reviews

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