Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Several years ago, I decided to transition to “no shampoo”. Shampooing everyday can be extremely terrible for your hair and scalp; the harsh SLS detergents in most shampoos strip the oils from your scalp which paradoxically prompts the scalp to produce even more oils, so that the more you shampoo, the more you NEED to shampoo. However, almost everyone online who switched to a ‘no ‘poo’ method used baking soda to cut their hair grease, followed up by a vinegar wash as a conditioner replacement (the vinegar works primarily to balance the ph of the baking soda, there is nothing inherently ‘conditioning’ about vinegar.) After the first time trying this, I noticed that the baking soda stripped my hair oils way worse than shampoo ever did - it left me with an extremely dry and itchy scalp. It was awful. So, I decided to try something different. Instead of using baking soda to substitute for shampoo as everyone else was doing, I would just use plain water and maybe once per week use shampoo (but a brand that didn’t contain any SLS or related ingredients). This strategy worked SO MUCH BETTER! Doing this, my scalp doesn’t produce anywhere near the level of oil it used to. Over the years, this developed into my current routine, which is that I shower almost every day (sometimes twice in the summer since Florida summers are so hot and humid), but I mainly just use plain water; I use my SLS-free shampoo once every 10-14 days. This works well if when my hair is dry, I brush it with a boar hair brush (this is CRITICAL!) which evenly distributes what little hair oils I do have. The nice thing about this routine is that my natural oils act as a really good protection for my hair on the rare occasion when I use a flat iron, so there is no need to add extra product that then would need to be shampooed out. Then, I heard something about dry shampoo and my curiosity was piqued. While I was pretty happy with my routine, it would be nice to have a way to ‘clean’ my hair when a shower wasn’t available, say when primitive camping or traveling in areas where I’d prefer to avoid a dodgy shower situation, or when I was running late and just didn’t have time. Before buying anything, I decided to try to make my own at home, which is what I usually do before spending money on something that seems like it lends itself to a DIY version. My homemade dry shampoo was terrible! I tried various combinations of baby powder, chocolate powder (since I have light brown hair), even flour…none of my mixtures them really absorbed oil very well, and all left me looking like I had a serious dandruff problem. Finally, I decided it was time to just buy a legit product. I chose Batiste after reading an article in Buzzfeed that compared several brands from least to most expensive - their conclusion was that while some of the crazy expensive brands work better, Batiste is really the best bang for the buck. I paid around $6-7 for the can, and I’m keeping track of how many times I use it by putting a slash mark with a permanent marker on the can so I can figure out how much it costs per use. Once I’ve completely finished the can, I’ll update this review in case anyone else is curious about this but doesn’t want to figure it out themselves. So far, I’m really pleased with Batiste’s dry shampoo. I have used it 10 times, sometimes at home and a few times while traveling and camping, in situations where I either didn’t have access to a shower, didn’t have time to shower. What I like: -Batiste does seem to be a great price compared to other brands I’ve investigated. Once I’ve finished the bottle, I’ll include the cost per use. -It smells great! Usually, women’s fragrances tend to be citrusy, fruity, floral, with vanilla notes, or generally sweet. This shampoo doesn’t smell like any of those, in fact, it seems more like what I would associate with a men’s fragrance. It’s not overpowering, it’s mild. My husband describes the smell as ‘elegant’ and ‘pleasant’. So this would equally well for men and women. -After you spray it on your scalp, you massage it in a bit and it disappears - I have light brown hair and this dry shampoo doesn’t hang out pretending to look like dandruff (which my homemade concoctions did). I recommend spraying a small amount and working it in until you get a feel for how much you need to use. -It gives my hair the same fullness/volume/texture that I get after showing with proper shampoo and blowdrying. If I kept my hair down everyday instead of up in a ponytail, I would definitely use this on a more regular basis. As a side note… When you spray this dry shampoo, it will emit a faint cloud of spray, similar to hairspray. Since I neither want to breath this in, nor add more bathroom cleaning to my list of annoying things to do, I always use this outside or on a screened patio. I would do the same for hairspray. If you ultimately don’t care about breathing in the aerosol vapors and particulate matter, and you also don’t care about potentially adding a layer of dry shampoo to your bathroom surfaces, then feel free to ignore this. However, I highly recommend stepping outside or on a deck and holding your breath when you spray this. After you’re done spraying, you can go back to the bathroom to massage it in. I always try to be as helpful in my reviews as possible, so if you find this helpful, consider letting me know below; understanding which reviews people like helps me to improve what I focus on (photos vs. videos, pros/cons, comparison with other products, etc…) And if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask! Overall, I love this product. It does exactly what it claims to do, the price is right, the smell is pleasant, and it solves bad hair days in seconds. I will definitely buy more when I run out. I have noticed that several reviews I have written on items purchased through Amazon have had the "Verified Purchase" removed incorrectly and as a result are no longer visible, which is likely happening to other people as well. When you read reviews, be sure to sort by 'All reviews' since there is obviously a bug in the system and many helpful and detailed reviews are now hidden.