A Very Long Story about Dry Shampoo and why I Love it

My hair’s personality is that of a girl who just hit puberty for the first time. If I don’t wash it every day, paying attention to its immature needs, it ends up oily and as depressed as Bella Swan when Edward leaves. Then, if I pay too much attention to my hormone charged locks they slam the door and lock themselves in their room.  Truly, I came to the point where I started to believe there was no winning this hair battle.

Then I found dry shampoo.  I should mention my hair doesn’t react well to products either, so I was skeptical when I purchased my first trial at Target.  It was really hard to find, only one brand in the isle long hair section but I spent $4.99 and made my way over to the clothing section of the store to buy more dresses that seem like a cute idea but fall apart after two wears.

With a new hipster granny dress, economy size bag of cat litter and a new Real Simple magazine (I act like I’m a 40 something year old house wife – trust me, I’m not) I made my way home and promptly forgot about the dry shampoo.

Fast forward a week or so later.  I woke up to my 20 lb cat pouncing on my belly but was relieved that it wasn’t yet time for work – no alarm going off is the sweetest sound to wake up to. Of course (as I am trying to make this the most dramatic story of dry shampoo in the history of the internet) something was amiss! It wasn’t until I looked at the window and noticed it was far too bright in the room that I shot up in a panic realizing I had slept through my alarm and bolted out of bed.

Thursday evenings have come to hold a dear and dangerous place in my heart.  After Harold Night gets out at ImprovBoston we all tend do mosie our way over to the Field for what I promise myself will be one drink.  One drink turns into three Whiskeys’ and talking about comic books at the end of the bar while your closest friends get sloppy drunk around you.  Life is wonderful!

Fridays are not.  As I struggled to put the same clothes back on my body that I had worn the night before I realized that I wouldn’t be able to shower.  My hair was the worst kind of teenage girl going through puberty: finding out the boy you like has a girlfriend and you just got your period for the first time and your mom is being unfair about everything and you have gym class. The. Worst.

I could not go to work like that.  I panicked as I put more red lipstick on over the red lipstick I was wearing from night before when a little gold bottle shined in the corner of my eye.  Dry shampoo!

I grabbed the bottle got in the car and drove to work.  I read the instructions and sprayed my roots while I zipped through morningSomerville traffic.  I let it sit for a second and then gently tussled my locks. When I flipped down the vanity mirror on the visor I was shocked at the girl staring back at me.  Gone was the bitch hair and a put together 28 year old Bearcat stared back. Dry Shampoo for the win!

Okay, now that I’ve gotten out the very dramatic story of my discovery of DS here are some dry shampoo fun facts!

–          It comes in a spray can so it’s easy to manage.  Most of the time it comes out a little white and powdery so using the spray version is recommended. They have some that you use kind of like baby powder but that tends to get everywhere.

–          It’s NOT just for when you haven’t washed your hair, it’s a great end of the day hair pick me up and even volumizer!  Sometimes after I’ve washed and blown out my hair I’ll spray some in my roots to give me body.

–          It is a life saver if you have bangs.  I rocked that blunt bang cut last year, and let me tell you it stopped me from looking unsexy homeless.

–          I haven’t found a brand I don’t like, but I do prefer Dove or Tresume.

–          It makes you look less like a hangover victim and more like a perky first lady.

–          It says it covers up odors, now my hair has never smelled gross, but if I did I would be sure glad to have some DS.

–          It’s inexpensive.  I keep one at home, one at work, one in my car and one in my purse.  Listen, you never know when you’re going to be hung over.

Well.  Those were a lot of words devoted to Dry Shampoo. I don’t regret a single one of them.

 

-Shannon