Honorable Mentions
Photograph: Kat Merck
R+Co Death Valley Dry Shampoo for $37: I loved the landscape label on this generously sized aerosol spray but not the overpowering scent or lack of effectiveness.
Divi Dry Shampoo for $28: This brand is best known for its viral scalp serum, but it makes plenty of other hair products too, including a starch-based dry shampoo. I liked that Divi's formula was free of benzene and propellants like butane, but it left a heavy white residue that turned into a mess of flakes during blending.
Davines This Is an Invisible Dry Shampoo for $40: Multiple people I know swear by this vanilla-and-grapefruit-scented dry shampoo. I loved the scent, but I didn't find it to be all that effective in my tests, especially for the price.
Oribe Gold Lust Dry Shampoo for $26: I'm a huge fan of the heat protectant spray from Oribe's Gold Lust line, but this powder-based spray went on so thick I looked like I had just finished plastering a house.
IGK First Class Charcoal Detox for $34: One of my testers raved about this formula, but both I and another tester thought this charcoal- and white tea-containing spray left too much of a white cast for dark hair that was difficult to blend. The tinted version did make our list, however.
IGK Direct Flight Style Preserving Matcha for $34: I really like the artsy packaging of this line of aerosols, but the oil-absorbing power didn’t last a whole day, and none of my testers (including myself) cared for the scent.
R+Co Bleu Retroactive Dry Shampoo for $52: This aerosol in a sleek aluminum bottle went on sheer and added shine, but my hair felt greasy again near the end of the day.
FoxyBae Brunette Breeze Dry Shampoo for $12: As someone with dark hair, I'm always on the lookout for excellent tinted dry shampoos. I appreciated the lightness of this generously sized, rice starch-based spray, but despite the “brunette” claim, it seemed to go on almost sheer and did not absorb oils particularly well.
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