Unpacking Dry Shampoo with Packer’s Pine
You woke up late and you don’t have time to shower, but your hair is a ball of grease. What do you do? For most people with an extensive collection of hair care and grooming products, the answer is a simple one. A little bit of dry shampoo will take care of the grease, keep your hair looking fresh, and get you out the door in time for work. For those of us who are new to the world of grooming, let’s explore that answer a little more. What is dry shampoo?
The Basics
Dry shampoo is a product that is designed to soak up the natural oils produced by the scalp, mimicking the effect of wet shampoo, which removes them entirely. This creates hair that looks light, dry, and washed, rather than limp, damp, and dirty. Dry shampoo is popular with people who need to look fresh, but can’t necessarily make it to the shower for a full wash. Using a little dry shampoo after the gym, between wash days, in the wild, or elsewhere can help the user maintain a particular style with less maintenance.
These products are often made with alcohol or starchy ingredients to help pull oils off the hair. Additionally, these products may use fragrances or deodorizers to help remove or cover up any off-odors trapped in your hair.
What makes dry shampoo different from wet shampoo?
As the name suggests, dry shampoo is applied to dry hair and is not rinsed from the scalp. Conventional shampoos are applied in the shower and rinsed immediately after application. This is the main difference in how these products are applied. The difference between how these products function is a little more involved.
Conventional shampoos are made from soap or artificially manufactured detergents. When combined with water, soap binds and lifts dirt, grime, bacteria, and oil off of the hair and scalp, which allows all of it to be washed down the drain. This has a number of benefits. The first is that your scalp is cleaned of potentially harmful bacteria, which can cause dandruff and itchiness. The second is that your hair will smell better, feel better, and look better, as you remove the heavy oils that can make hair look heavy, damp, and unappealing.
Dry shampoo does not have these benefits. While dry shampoo does remove some oil from the hair, it does not remove all of it, nor does it clean the scalp. While dry shampoo can be a great way to stretch time between wash days or keep hair looking as fresh as possible after the gym, it can’t fully clean your head the way shampoo does. Because of this, even if you use dry shampoo daily, you will still need to keep wet shampoo in the shower and use it regularly.
Another drawback of dry shampoo is that it can cause mild irritation in some scalps, as well as compromise the overall health of your hair. Using dry soap too often can cause dry, brittle hair that breaks easily. It may also keep your hair from growing as quickly as it might otherwise. For men with concerns about thinning hair or sensitive skin, dry shampoo may not be the best fit, at least not for frequent use.
How do I use dry shampoo?
For aerosolized products, hold the canister approximately 6 inches from your scalp. Aim the product at the top of your head, where the most oil accumulates. Spray a moderate amount of product directly onto your roots, then work it into the rest of your hair. Using a blow dryer or brush can help you work the product in, while providing some extra volume or texture to your hair.
For people with textured hair, you may achieve the best results while using a dry shampoo specifically designed for your hair texture. For the sensitive-scalped members of the Packer’s Pine community, use a little caution while using dry shampoo. Using it too often may cause mild scalp irritation or itching. If this occurs, cleansing the scalp with Packer’s Pine tar shampoo can help wash away the irritant, while simultaneously relieving the irritation to the scalp itself.
Pine tar shampoo works great with dry shampoo, as it is a natural shampoo that treats dandruff and sensitive skin with gentle, healing ingredients. While dry shampoo can keep heavy oils at bay, thereby reducing dandruff, Packer’s Pine tar shampoo fully removes oil and sebum from the scalp, soothes irritated, itchy skin, and gives a pine-scented punch to any odors that come from not washing for an extra day or two.
Wait….wasn’t dry shampoo associated with cancer?
Last year, the analytical laboratory Valisure tested 34 brands of spray-on dry shampoo for a chemical known as benzene that has been associated with blood cancers like leukemia. More than 70% of the tested brands contained benzene. As a result, nearly 20 brands of dry shampoo were recalled at the end of 2022.
There is no evidence that occasional use of dry shampoo with small amounts of benzene has negative effects. However, we recommend that you play it safe and avoid these products altogether. For the convenience of dry shampoo without the risks, look for benzene-free dry shampoos.
