You’ve probably used baby powder as a substitute for dry shampoo before, but what do you do when you have 10 minutes to prep for the party of the year, uber-greasy hair and zero dry shampoo or baby powder on hand?
Well, nymag.com readers have confessed to using seven questionable household ingredients as an alternative.
Desperate times call for desperate measures (and we all do crazy things for beauty every now and then), but some might say these beauties took the quest for fresh hair a bit too far…
1. Baking soda
“It actually worked out okay. I was white-blonde at the time, so that may have helped. It felt clean, but I didn’t love my hair’s texture with it in.” – Crystal
2. Make-up
“Sometimes I just try to sweep a bit of my foundation and powder into my hairline. It does not work.” – Claire
3. Hairspray
“I once had to go to an event immediately after working out, and I timed my workout all wrong so I couldn’t wash my hair and dry it properly afterward. I basically used a mix of hair spray and sweat, and blow-dried the crap out of my roots to get it to dry. You basically spray the hair spray into your hand so it becomes liquid instead of a mist, and then work that through your hair in sections, blow-drying it as you go so it can’t really dry the old-fashioned way. The oil from my workout sweat kept my hair from getting crunchy, and to be honest, I’d probably do it again.” – Ella
4. Cocoa powder and cinnamon
“I have this Oscar Blandi powder that is real dry shampoo, but it makes my roots look whitish, so I tried cocoa powder and cinnamon and it worked on my hair, but it made my scalp look brown and I smelled like dessert.” – Alison
5. Corn starch
“When my mom was sick, we tried several things because the sprays were too hard on her breathing mask. Corn starch worked the best; the others were too fine for hair that didn’t really get oily, just dusty.” – Sarah
6. Flour
“The sweat/oil actually made it all crumbly/cakey.” – Amanda
7. Kitty Litter
“I once tried to use kitty litter as dry shampoo. It did not work. Yes, it was clean kitty litter.” – Laura
Flour? Corn starch? Kitty litter?!
We have no words.
The only weird substitute that sounds remotely appealing to me is Alison’s cocoa powder and cinnamon combo – it did leave her smelling “like dessert”, after all.
I’m definitely not sold on the brown scalp though. Plus, that’s what perfume is for!
Have you ever used any of these strange dry shampoo alternatives? What’s the craziest thing you’ve done for beauty?
