Living Proof’s Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo Is a Savior for My Day Two Hair

I have *very* thin hair. It has its perks, for sure. I can blow dry my whole head in five minutes and it’s relatively easy to manage. The downside? It gets greasy—fast. I’m talking shower-in-the-morning-and-slicked-to-my-forehead-by-four-pm fast. I’ve used every clarifying shampoo known to man and have tried a disturbingly large number of volumizing serums, mousses, and texturizers. Through this ~journey~ I’ve come to the conclusion that the Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo is my be-all-end-all hair product. It absorbs dirt and grease like no other, doesn’t leave a crunchy, powdery film in its wake, and, with some magic voodoo, creates volume that lasts the entire day. 

The Formula

This dry shampoo has been around the block. It’s been on the market for roughly seven years, has won countless beauty awards, and has even spurred the creation of an “Advanced Clean” formula following its success. So, what makes it so good? 

First and foremost, it’s benzene-free, which is *extremely* important given the recall of dozens of dry shampoos late last year. Then comes the brand’s Triple Action Cleaning Technology, which is a fancy way of saying that the aerosol spray is capable of absorbing the trifecta of hair enemies: Oil, sweat, and odor. Starch and minerals swoop in to deal with the former two, while odor neutralizers and a time-released soft citrus fragrance deal with the smell that comes with less-than-fresh hair (I’m not here to judge). 

The Texture

In my humble opinion, there are two pain points that come along with dry shampoos: They can feel crunchy and/or disgusting. And, they can look super powder-y along the hairline. But this dry shampoo—it's different. It goes on with a slight white cast, settles in over the course of 30 seconds, and soaks up oil like magic. I normally take a brush or my fingers to tousle through the roots, and I'm amazed every damn time. I mean that without an iota of exaggeration. The powder vanishes and leaves behind hair that might as well have been washed that morning. It doesn't have a chalky or oddly pasty residue; instead it makes my hair look (and feel) like I just had a fresh blowout. Instead of masking the gunk, it actually cleans it up. 

The Staying Power

Allow me to be blunt for a moment. Every dry shampoo out there claims to keep your hair clean for the whole day. Is that the reality? Absolutely not. Hair looks good for a few hours and then oil grabs hold once again. Living Proof’s Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo however actually has crazy staying power. Is it possible you’ll look a little greasy at 10 p.m. that night? Definitely, it’s not literal magic. But it does work better than the majority of competitors. The time-release fragrance is majorly effective (you’ll actually get compliments) and your hair will 100 percent still look cleaner at the end of the day than it did that morning. 

My Review

I’ve been using the Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo for years—it’s genuinely part of my normal, weekly hair routine. But for the purposes of this review, I set aside a single, extra greasy hair-ed day to “test” the product. My baseline was borderline disgusting (sorry not sorry). My hair was two days post-blowout, looked legitimately shiny, and had negative volume. Normally, I’ll slick it back into a bun, but this particular day I was going to attempt to salvage it. I shook my dry shampoo bottle, held it approximately six inches away from my hair, and spritzed away. I focused on my part-line and gave a little extra love to my face-framing layers, which have a tendency to get particularly nasty.  

I really let it soak in, giving it way longer than 30 seconds to sink in. I completed my entire makeup routine before massaging the dry shampoo into the strands with my fingers. It required a little muscle, and if I’m being candid—I really had to shake it up and brush out the residue. But once all was said and done, the results were truly mesmerizing. My hair was matte—no shine, no slip, no oil. It was completely dry and had the added bonus of volume. It gave a little grit to my hair and I personally find that the added texture helpful during the styling process. 

As the day went on, I re-remembered why this particular dry shampoo has always been one of my favorites. I was stopped a grand total of four times to see what “fragrance” I was wearing. It was dry shampoo. I did mirror checks every hour, on the hour, and didn’t spy any oil whatsoever until around eight at night. Even then, my hair looked 900 times better than it did that morning. In fact, I even contemplated letting my hair go an extra day—it’s really, truly that powerful.