Should I use dry shampoo before bed? If you deal with oily hair, dry shampoo has the potential to transform your hair routine. But as with literally every hair product out there, dry shampoo should be used correctly if you want it to do its job.
Ever since it was introduced in the 70s, people have experimented with dry shampoo to find out the best way to use it, and as of late, people have begun to use it before bed. Could you do the same? How would it affect your hair? That’s what we’ll get into in this article.
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Should I Use Dry Shampoo Before Bed?
We recommend using a dry shampoo before bed if you have oily, greasy strands. When dry shampoo is applied to the hair right before bed, leaving the hair undisturbed after applying the product can make it more effective.
Consider how dry shampoo is typically used: users spray a bit of the stuff on their roots and then start fluffing their hair less than a minute later to achieve a particular look. The problem with this is that the dry shampoo isn’t able to sit on the hair long enough for it to absorb the oil effectively.
Alternatively, when applying the dry shampoo at night (without disturbing your hair until morning), you’ll give the product more than enough time to sit and absorb the oil. Using this application method, you’ll wake up with voluminous, non-oily strands that are easy to style and gorgeous to look at.
How to Apply Dry Shampoo to Your Hair at Night
Using dry shampoo at night isn’t rocket science, especially if you regularly use it as part of your hair routine. But there are a few things you should be aware of if you go the overnight route:
- Be generous with the dry shampoo. Since you’ll leave it on overnight, you don’t have to worry about over-applying it. If your roots are super oily, it’s totally okay to spray until your hair is damp. You may see some whiteness forming wherever you sprayed the product but don’t worry about that. It’ll go away by morning.
- Don’t touch your hair afterward. Touching, combing, brushing, or otherwise manipulating your hair after applying the dry shampoo can remove some of it from your hair. So, refrain from doing so and catch your Zs.
- Do your zhuzhing in the morning. When you wake up, your hair will be dry and look like you just washed it. But you may need to do a little bit of styling to get your hair to look the way you desire.
You Don’t Have to Use Dry Shampoo Before Bed
Using dry shampoo before bed is something you can do if you’d like, but you don’t have to use it this way. Dry shampoo was designed to be used whenever you need it. That means you can spritz away morning, noon, or night; it really is all up to you!
The key is if your hair is super oily and you want your dry shampoo to work to its full capacity, allow it to sit on your hair undisturbed for as long as you can. Instead of waiting only 30 seconds to a minute to start styling after applying the dry shampoo, try to stretch that out to 2 minutes or even 10 minutes. Then, finish styling.
After witnessing the genius of dry shampoo, you might be tempted to use it every single day without fail. You might even forget that you need to wash your hair with traditional shampoo and water to keep your scalp healthy.
Can You Use Dry Shampoo Every Day?
Dry shampoo isn’t able to function like regular shampoo can. While dry shampoo can absorb scalp oils, it also leaves behind a film that can cause scalp and hair issues down the line. This buildup can accumulate indefinitely, and as it does, it can eventually clog your hair follicles.
Clogged hair follicles can lead to a plethora of scalp problems ranging from itchiness to irritation to infections. That’s not what you want. So, try to limit how often you use dry shampoo.
A frequency of once or twice a week is about right for most people. If you wash your hair a couple of times per week and need to use dry shampoo more than twice a week, something may be wrong.
You could be dealing with a scalp condition that needs some attention. Excessive scalp oiliness can be a sign of dandruff, uncontrolled stress, a less-than-ideal diet, and more.
Dos and Don’t of Using Dry Shampoo
In addition to the information above, there are some more things to keep in mind when using dry shampoo. Here are some dos and don’ts to keep in mind:
Dos
- Do spray your hair in sections. If all of your roots are dry, you’ll need to section your hair to access all the roots. For many, it’s easiest to part your hair into 4 sections and then work with smaller subsections from within each section.
- Do focus the spray on your roots instead of the mid-lengths and ends of your hair. Oil accumulates primarily in your roots, so that’s where you’ll spray the dry shampoo. You may occasionally need to spray the dry shampoo a little past your roots, but that won’t happen often. If you feel the need to apply the product all over your head, you’re better off washing your hair with shampoo and water.
- Do allow the dry shampoo to sit for a while after spraying it. Though many say you should brush, comb, or fluff your hair right away, doing so may sabotage your results. Wait at least a few minutes before styling if you can. If you apply the dry shampoo at night, you can wait until morning to style it.
Don’ts
- Don’t spray dry shampoo on wet hair. It’s designed to be used on dry, oily hair.
- Don’t spray dry shampoo on areas that aren’t oily. If you do so, you’re more likely to deal with product buildup.
Where to Find Good Dry Shampoo
It’s important to know that not every dry shampoo is created equally. Some simply don’t remove oils very well, and others are more likely to leave behind a gunky residue. You don’t want either of these.
If you want to know how a product performs, a reliable way to find out is to look at online reviews. One of the best dry shampoos on the market is Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo.
The great thing about this particular dry shampoo is that it actually cleanses the hair – it not only absorbs oil, but it removes odors and absorbs sweat as well. If you want a dry shampoo that will perform better than you could imagine, Living Proof is the way to go.
So, there you have it! You can use dry shampoo at night, and that may be the right choice if your roots are super oily. But you don’t have to take this route if the oiliness is mild. Either way, we hope you found all the information you were looking for, and we wish you the best of luck in your fight against greasy hair!
Kenneth Byrd holds a BS in Accounting and Management Information Systems and an MBA from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. With over 15 years of experience, Kenneth has been dedicated to hair care since 2008, when he co-founded Curl Centric® and Natural Hair Box alongside his wife. As a team, they promote healthy hair care practices through their comprehensive platform, Curl Centric. Curl Centric is a website operated by a husband and wife team that encourages healthy hair care. At Curl Centric, we aim to help our readers take control of their hair care journey and make good decisions about products, hairstyles, and maintenance techniques. We also have strict editorial integrity; here’s an explanation of our editorial guidelines and how we make money.