Washing minus the suds
Dry shampoos can save time and add oomph!
Ann-Marie Colacino, Special to QMI Agency
While daily bathing may be de rigueur -- thank goodness! -- there's a dirty little secret women are increasingly adopting to cut down time spent on their 'do.
This growing market is dry shampoo, which allows users to forgo everyday lathering and still look fabulous and even feel fresh. What's more, some products even promise to add body and volume to limp locks.
We hold the fat on our lattes, find our faux glow in a bottle, so why not get a shampoo without the rinse? Women's ever-busy lifestyles require it, says writer Kelsey Malenchak, the creator of Toronto-based fashion and beauty blog The-dressingroom.ca.
"So many of us have jam-packed schedules that it becomes nearly impossible to always look done-up," points out Malenchak, who uses a dry product five times a week. "When you think of all the time we spend washing and styling our hair, using dry shampoos can give hours back."
Blow-dry bars becoming more and more popular is another reason women turn to no-rinse treatments, says Alain Larivee, John Frieda's Canadian creative consultant and owner of Cajh hair salon in Montreal.
Women want to extend these "investments" as much as possible, he explains, referring to the good old days when women first used mass marketed dry shampoos to hold onto to their salon-derived '60s beehives and bouffants as long as possible.
"It's really great for that trade show weekend "¦ and you got your hair done at the salon the day before leaving," says Larivee. "[Dry shampoos can] give you that extra mileage."
So how does it work? Available in wet, powder or aerosol form, dry shampoo essentially absorbs the excess oils and dirt on the scalp.
Most of these products contain rice starch, which has a translucent quality to it, and some use neutralizing odours and astringent ingredients. Customers can also find all or mostly natural products too.
Malenchak says she prefers dry sprays because they are easier to use then powders; however, she find the powder (if used properly) boost longevity.
"The trick [with dry sprays] is to shake the bottle after every spray. The formula separates from the gas quickly in the bottle and causes a block so it's important to shake constantly."
When it comes to powders, she offers this tip from her blog: "Try squeezing the bottle on an angle to get a puff of the powder rather than sprinkling it directly on the hair."
Deciding on what works best depends on a person's lifestyle and needs, says Charles Booth, founder of LaCoupe. "A major reason for their new popularity is that people have discovered that they give fabulous body to fine hair. And you can achieve all sorts of unique looks that are tousled and fun."
To get great results, Booth recommends using dry shampoo in moderation. He warns that if overused some of the aerosol powder sprays can make hair look dull. He suggests starting with a little, aiming near the roots and brushing it through.
Larivee agrees that brushing is key. "There's a reason they're called classic habits, it's because they are a good thing to do."
A dry history
When it comes to dry shampoo, what's old is new again. The lack of suds dates back centuries. According to the Encyclopedia of Hair: A Cultural History by Victoria Sherrow (Greenwood Press, 2006), during the slavery era in colonial United States Africans brought their own hair care methods with them to North America. To cleanse and groom strands they used what could be found in their new surroundings, including kitchens. Due to the lack of running water in homes, a form of dry shampooing was created using powder, starch or cornmeal.
http://www.torontosun.com/life/fashion/2011/04/12/17965121.htmlThis growing market is dry shampoo, which allows users to forgo everyday lathering and still look fabulous and even feel fresh. What's more, some products even promise to add body and volume to limp locks.
We hold the fat on our lattes, find our faux glow in a bottle, so why not get a shampoo without the rinse? Women's ever-busy lifestyles require it, says writer Kelsey Malenchak, the creator of Toronto-based fashion and beauty blog The-dressingroom.ca.
"So many of us have jam-packed schedules that it becomes nearly impossible to always look done-up," points out Malenchak, who uses a dry product five times a week. "When you think of all the time we spend washing and styling our hair, using dry shampoos can give hours back."
Blow-dry bars becoming more and more popular is another reason women turn to no-rinse treatments, says Alain Larivee, John Frieda's Canadian creative consultant and owner of Cajh hair salon in Montreal.
Women want to extend these "investments" as much as possible, he explains, referring to the good old days when women first used mass marketed dry shampoos to hold onto to their salon-derived '60s beehives and bouffants as long as possible.
"It's really great for that trade show weekend "¦ and you got your hair done at the salon the day before leaving," says Larivee. "[Dry shampoos can] give you that extra mileage."
So how does it work? Available in wet, powder or aerosol form, dry shampoo essentially absorbs the excess oils and dirt on the scalp.
Most of these products contain rice starch, which has a translucent quality to it, and some use neutralizing odours and astringent ingredients. Customers can also find all or mostly natural products too.
Malenchak says she prefers dry sprays because they are easier to use then powders; however, she find the powder (if used properly) boost longevity.
"The trick [with dry sprays] is to shake the bottle after every spray. The formula separates from the gas quickly in the bottle and causes a block so it's important to shake constantly."
When it comes to powders, she offers this tip from her blog: "Try squeezing the bottle on an angle to get a puff of the powder rather than sprinkling it directly on the hair."
Deciding on what works best depends on a person's lifestyle and needs, says Charles Booth, founder of LaCoupe. "A major reason for their new popularity is that people have discovered that they give fabulous body to fine hair. And you can achieve all sorts of unique looks that are tousled and fun."
To get great results, Booth recommends using dry shampoo in moderation. He warns that if overused some of the aerosol powder sprays can make hair look dull. He suggests starting with a little, aiming near the roots and brushing it through.
Larivee agrees that brushing is key. "There's a reason they're called classic habits, it's because they are a good thing to do."
A dry history
When it comes to dry shampoo, what's old is new again. The lack of suds dates back centuries. According to the Encyclopedia of Hair: A Cultural History by Victoria Sherrow (Greenwood Press, 2006), during the slavery era in colonial United States Africans brought their own hair care methods with them to North America. To cleanse and groom strands they used what could be found in their new surroundings, including kitchens. Due to the lack of running water in homes, a form of dry shampooing was created using powder, starch or cornmeal.