Beauty Sleuth #10: Can Dry Shampoos Make You Bald?
Hmmm. A few weeks ago the New York Times came out with an article about how people were not washing their hair often enough because of dry shampoo “addiction”. No judgements! (47% of women say bad hair can ruin their day! - Allure poll). The internet went viral when this gal wrote a Facebook post that said her doctor told her that dry shampoo made her hair fall out. So fact or fib: can dry shampoo make your hair fall out? Your Beauty Sleuth investigates!
First, let’s be clear. These products are mis-named. Dry shampoos do not contain surfactants, meaning they do not clean the scalp or the hair. They contain ingredients like starch and silica to absorb oil and dirt. Those that are sprays also contain propellants (butane, alcohol) to help distribute these ingredients evenly.
There are several different flavors of dry shampoo that are targeted to do different things with the hair. At first, back in the day of Pssst! , it was all about soaking up a little oil so that you could extend your salon visit (shout out to my Mom who dragged me once a week to Ross McArthur Salon for her blow out…I actually loved watching, naturally). But now, there is a broad spectrum of products marketed under the same umbrella as “dry shampoo”.
You will find products meant to give your hair texture and volume, all the way to products meant to soak up some oil at the roots. Some products should be applied only to the roots, while others (like the cult fave Oaui product) are mousses that are meant to be applied down the entire strand of hair to add volume. Which you choose depends on what you are going for. Read the labels and check ingredients.
Generally, those that are in pure powder form, and meant to texturize the hair and should be applied to the roots by squeezing the bottles a few inches from the scalp. I find the powder-based lines that are dispensed through a shaker very difficult to control, but should you use these, shake the power by holding the bottle a few inches from your part. Sprays should be applied by holding the can at least 6 inches from the scalp. Section your hair and spray / apply powder a bit at each part.
All dry shampoos should be allowed to work for a few minutes before being massaged in (powders) or brushed out (sprays). Set a timer. You would be surprised how long two minutes takes. Let the product do its work first, or it won’t actually in fact ”work”. Tips: if your hair tends to be oily when you wake up, try spraying the dry shampoo on at night before bed and brushing it out in the AM. If you have curly hair, do NOT brush the shampoo out, but instead massage it around the head with your fingers.
So now that we have that cleared up (pun intended), let’s move on to the issue at hand. The whole “make my hair fall out” is sort of / kind of is true but only IF THERE IS OPERATOR-ERROR. That’s right my friends…it IS YOU!
It’s the overuse of these products that has the damaging side-effects. Like just about everything in life, over doing it is bad for you.
What is over doing it? Using dry shampoo several times a week AND not washing your hair with shampoo frequently enough. Now I know you are all saying, “But Liz, you told us not to wash our hair with shampoo more than twice a week.” That’s right. But I didn’t say “Only wash your hair every 10 days and use a ton of dry shampoo in between.” Shampoo is needed to remove dirt, sweat and residue from your scalp, as hair care products like dry shampoo can lead to unwanted build up (i.e. clog hair follicles, and disrupt the balance of a healthy scalp.)
And with the powders, too much use of starch and silica based formulas can wear away at the surface of the hair shaft, causing breakage. These products add a sort of friction to your hair, so don’t be too rough or you’ll feel like you’re pulling your hair out.
Here’s a suggested schedule:
Day 1: Wash and condition hair
Day 2: Co Wash (i.e. wash your hair with conditioner, no shampoo)
Day 3: Dry Shampoo
Day 4: Wash and condition your hair
Day 5: Dry Shampoo
Day 6: Co Wash (i.e. wash your hair with conditioner, no shampoo)
Day 7: Wear a hat, messy bun, etc
And it’s very important to condition your scalp. People don’t realize that skin on your scalp is but one millimeter from your face and yet we don’t think we need to pay that area some love! We do, in order to keep our scalp in the best condition we can, and to grow healthy hair. One scalp mask I love is here.
