It’s a beauty heavy week on kelseyybarnes.com, but this is a post that I’ve been wanting to share with you guys for a while, so I’m doing it. I have been a huge fan of dry shampoo since discovering it in college, and was reluctant to stop using it. But the reason I stopped using dry shampoo turned out to be a really good one – and one you might want to consider if you’re an avid dry shampoo user.
I started using dry shampoo early on, even though I never had super greasy hair. I just found that between washes it helped give my hair a little boost and a lot of volume. Being able to wake up, spray it on and walk out the door with bouncy locks was a godsend. At first I only used it in between washes as a refresh, but last year I also started using it on my fresh, clean hair. Even if I had just showered, I felt that a small spritz on my scalp lifted my hair at the roots and made it look fuller.
I ended up using dry shampoo almost every day, whether my hair was clean or not. Then last summer I used this dry shampoo from Hask that made my scalp itch. I thought it was that brand, so I switched back to one of my regular drugstore favorites by Dove. I went on a two week Baltic cruise with my family and still found that my scalp was itching all the time, regardless of whether I was using dry shampoo or not. I didn’t think this had anything to do with my dry shampoo, since my scalp always itched, so I kept using it.
About a month or two before we moved from NYC to Amsterdam, I started noticing my hair fall out. In the shower I would rinse out my shampoo and come away with a handful of hairs. I chalked this up to stress because I was working insane hours at work and dealing with figuring out our move. Once we moved to Amsterdam, the hair loss didn’t subside. In fact, I developed these red bumps on my scalp, particularly at the hairline on the sides of my head. I thought that I might just be breaking out, but they were itchy and hurt. Sometimes they would end up scabbing over.
I realized that something was majorly wrong, and had an inkling that it was due to my dry shampoo. By this point I had read a lot of articles about the side effects of dry shampoo, including this scary photo. I never believed any of them, until I started to get these bumps on my head.
I’ve been dry shampoo free for six months now, and I couldn’t be happier. I don’t have an itchy scalp, and I haven’t seen any more red bumps. My hair also stopped falling out about a month after stopping the dry shampoo.
I’ll admit it was pretty difficult to cut out something that had become so essential to my hair routine. I still have to deal with greasy second day hair, which means washing my hair much more often. But if it means avoiding the pain and discomfort that dry shampoo caused me, I’m all for it.
One of the questions I know you probably have is whether a certain brand was causing my problems. I switched between several brands throughout the time that I was experiencing the itching and bumps, and I still had symptoms with all of them. In fact, if I use dry shampoo now (because yes, I’ve tried it again to see if I could use it now) I end up getting an itchy scalp within an hour or two.
This is my personal story and my experience with dry shampoo, and it may be totally different for you. I just wanted to share a cautionary tale with you.
Have any of you ever had a bad experience with dry shampoo?
Xx, Kelsey
OUTFIT DETAILS:
Topshop black blazer | Zara leopard scarf | Old J. Crew cropped pants (similar pair linked here) | Similar black loafers here and here | Amazon cateye sunglasses
