It’s been almost four years to the day since my breast cancer diagnosis, which means almost three and a half years to the day that I’ve had the hair currently residing on my head. I’ve never been super high-maintenance about my hair, but I will say that, right up until that fateful phone call in October 2016, I was in the midst of a pretty good hair year.
No impulsive cut n’ color jobs — and my ill-fated “no-poo” phase (which basically involved apple cider vinegar and prayer) was long behind me. Just a solid head of long, healthy hair — that I even made time to wash and quasi-style most days of the week. Funny how I remember this being a decent point of pride during that era; like, “hi, I’m Emily, I work from home with an 18-month-old and why yes I did just regain the ability to wash my hair on the daily.”
Ha. Fast-forward to 2020, where I now still work from home while supporting the remote-schooling of a 5-year-old…aaaand I wash my hair maybe once a week. But here’s the thing. This brand-new head of hair? I’m doing my darndest to treat it right, COVID or not, and the infrequent hair-washing thing is perhaps the best thing to have happened to it: it’s fuller, shinier and easier to care for than ever. And my secret? Well, if you’ve been reading along for a bit, you know it’s no secret at all: scads of dry shampoo. So when Ulta and Batiste reached out to ask if I’d like to try Batiste Dry Shampoo and Foam, I jumped at the chance.
From Left to Right: Mini | Original | Tropical | Cherry
My Initial Review Of Batiste Dry Shampoo
How I haven’t tried Batiste until now is beyond me. It’s a total cult fave (it’s rated nearly 5-stars with 5K+ reviews at Ulta), it’s affordable, and it smells so freaking good (there are loads of scents to choose from, but my personal fave is Original, which is really fresh and light, and the Tropical — also lighter than it sounds. Moreover? It works, friends. Even Chris mentioned how “great” my hair looked the first few days I switched to Batiste — and he doesn’t just drop compliments willy-nilly, so that’s a fairly legit testament.
Batiste Dry Shampoo is made with rice starch (no aluminum!) and sprays in some magical way that allows the product to be dispensed with very little effort. (I’ve used some dry shampoos where, even with loads of shaking, you have to spray the product for quite a while before it actually comes out — not the case here. A few quick bursts and the product is sufficiently and evenly dispensed.)
It’s good stuff, friends. Second, third, fourth — even fifth day hair that genuinely looks and feels clean. This is the kind of easy, effortless hack that COVID-era beauty dreams are made of.
My Weekly Dry Shampoo & Hair-Washing Routine
I’ve gotten a few comments and DMs recently asking for a few more details on this whole washing my hair once a week thing, so I thought I’d break down my routine — namely, how I get hair that genuinely looks and feels freshly washed every day with only Batiste’s Dry Shampoo and Foam products. (Literally, these are the only two hair products, aside from my once-weekly shampoo and conditioner, that I’ve used on my hair for the past few weeks. Couldn’t be easier.)
Day 1: Shampoo/condition hair. I use a sulfate-free formula that still adequately lifts and cleans any excess product. Comb through. Towel or air dry.
Day 2: No product. I don’t generally “style” my hair. I might brush it through once in the morning, and the rest is left up to fate. If I happened to sleep on wet hair and I have any goofy cowlicks, I might lightly hit them them with the flat iron.
Day 3: The great thing about washing my hair so infrequently for some time now is that my scalp has kinda balanced itself out, so it’s actually producing less oil than it was when I was washing my hair all the time (My hair is fine, and it’s not the thickest, so less oil is a good thing.) By Day 3, I might use a burst of Batiste Dry Shampoo right around any slightly greasy areas — usually focused on the roots right at the sides of my head (imagine parting your hair behind your temples and lightly bursting the product there). If I’m wearing my hair up in a bun, I also lift up a couple layers of hair and add a few bursts of Batiste around the crown of my head, just for volume and texture. I let the Dry Shampoo sit for a few minutes, and then I flip my head upside down and vigorously rub the product into my roots and down through my hair. Since I’m not using a ton, I don’t fully brush it through. Oh, and I’ve never had an issue with a white cast on my dark hair.
Day 4: Lana has swim class weekly, and due to the current COVID precautions, adults are required to be in the pool to help with form and adjustments while teachers maintain the appropriate distance. While my hair doesn’t typically get saturated in the pool, it gets splashed from time to time. Couple that with wearing a face shield in the 80-degree water, and there’s generally some dampness (read: sweat) around my hairline. Following swim (but when my hair is mostly dry), I’ve been using Batiste Foam to freshen my hair, which goes on wet (think of a soft, mousse-like texture) and gives hair more of a “just-showered” feeling. The moisture also revives a little bit of my hair’s natural texture if I make the effort to scrunch it a bit — it’s been more than a year since I’ve had a proper haircut, and I’m still hanging onto a bit of chemo-curl at the ends.
Day 5-7: This is around the time I more fully load up with dry shampoo. I’ll brush out my hair in the morning, and then lift sections of hair and burst the roots from ear to ear, and then again around the crown of my head, temple to temple. I’ll pull my hair into a loose bun to let the dry shampoo do its thing for a few mins while I wash my face and make the bed (on really productive days I might even do my makeup! huzzah!), and then I invert my head and do the vigorous finger comb thing. Right before bed, I brush my hair through once again. Come Day 7, I might pull my hair into a bun or a braid, but it’s more for the sake of change than necessity.
Note: right now, my exercise routine is pretty low-impact, so I’m not dealing with super sweaty hair; but if I were and I wanted to avoid having to wash it, I’m confident that a little Batiste Dry Shampoo or Batiste Foam at the roots (once hair is dry) would be sufficient to quickly refresh things. I might not stretch my routine to seven days in this instance, but I’d still milk it for all it was worth.
From Left to Right: Original | Tropical | Cherry
From Left to Right: Cleanse + Hydrate | Cleanse + Shine | Cleanse + Strengthen
Shop Batiste Dry Shampoo & Foam at Ulta
I’m a total sucker for Ulta — so many good deals, a whopping selection and a rewards program that is genuinely, well, rewarding. And right now, all full-sized products of both Batiste Dry Shampoo and Foam are Buy One Get One 50% Off at Ulta (discount in cart).
Anyhow that’s it, friends. Not saying everyone out there necessarily wants to scale back to washing your hair so infrequently, but if you’ve been contemplating it, it’s seriously doable — especially if you just slowly stretch your current routine by one day at a time and rock the heck outta some dry shampoo. It’s all but changed the game for me.
In fact, I might even be more prideful of my lack of hair-washing routine now than I was of my daily wash n’ style schtick four years ago. As in, “hi, I’m Emily, I’m homeschooling a kindergartener and washing my hair less than ever before.” I mean, prideful or not, that seems pretty on-brand for 2020.
Or maybe that’s just all this new hair talking.
xo,
Em
Big thanks to Ulta & ShopStyle for sponsoring this post. Perusing Ulta was one of my favorite indulgences back in the time of leisurely errand-running, and now I find myself loading up my virtual shopping cart more often than I should probably admit. And thanks to our readers for continuing to support the brands that allow us to keep doing our thing. We appreciate it so much!
Guys! Follow me on Instagram for more peeks into our life on the Northern California coast. And if you feel so inclined, pop over to my personal food + lifestyle blog, The Pig & Quill, where I share salty scribblings from my kitchen and home life. Byeeeeee!
Question: how would you achieve this with curly hair… I mean, I brush my hair like 3x/wk max… and only after I shampoo it (usually every other day). How could you use dry shampoo without brushing it through your hair? Or is this just a pipe dream of mine?
Hi Kari! I’m not sure how curly your hair is, but I would take the same approach that I do of working the product through your roots with just your fingers and not actually brushing it through. If your hair isn’t oily, the foam might work for you, too (I think it’s formulated for normal to dry hair) — it goes on wet, like mousse, so you can kinda scrunch it through, if that makes sense? Love to hear if you give it a try!
Love Batiste. I use it *at night* before bed and then just rub my scalp in the morning. Most of the white stuff has absorbed by the time I wake up, which means far less fall out of white stuff during the day. There’s also brown batiste, which works great when I use it in the AM. Try the evening application–even easier!!
I’ve heard of this strategy, but for some reason I always imagine that if I don’t work it through, the product will end up on my pillow? But I’m going to have to give it a try!
Solidarity from another breast cancer survivor! (Diagnosed two years ago this December….)
Ugh, so sorry to hear we’re in the same boat, but so glad it’s behind us!
Kari, I have curly hair and use dry shampoo. Instead of brushing after spraying, I use my fingers to lightly tousle my hair. I also use Batiste, and would agree with Emily that you don’t need a lot. Hope this helps!
I also use Batiste and have a similar routine to Emily’s. I have fine hair and I workout a decent amount, think heavy weight lifting and crossfit 5x a week. I get super sweaty but still manage to go 5 to 7 days between washes with Batiste. This stuff is the best! After my workout I let my hair/sweat dry around the crown of my head (yep, gross). Then I hit it with a few sprays – but don’t touch it! Next, I’ll throw my hair up in a messy loose bun and take my shower. I don’t brush my hair (not even with my fingers) until after my shower, but when I finally do – viola! Hair looks clean and smells fresh. And I 100% agree with Emily’s scent selections, those are my favorites too.
It does not work for oily bangs st all