The concept of dry shampoo seems almost too good to be true. When you’re too lazy to wash your hair, the idea that simply spritzing your scalp with a little bottle will make it look clean and fresh feels like straight-up sorcery—and yet, it works. But as amazing as dry shampoo can be, it’s not without its issues: If you’re not careful, these types of formulas can build up on your scalp and cause a whole host of issues including itching, flaking, and overall meh-looking hair.
So when I heard about the new Cake Take Out Dry Shampoo Sheets ($11), which are little papers that cleanse your hair without leaving anything behind, my interest was piqued. As a long-time beauty writer, I’ve seen my fair share of dry shampoos (some chalky, some messy, some toxic), and as a part-time travel advisor, I am always on the go—making these sheets strong potential for my own personal beauty arsenal.
What are dry shampoo sheets?
You’ve probably heard of skin blotting papers, which were first popularized in the 1920s, as an easy way to mop up oily T-zones throughout the days. These dry shampoo sheets are essentially that, but for your hair.
The oil-absorbant papers are infused with rice and filled with a transparent powder that grabs excess oil from hair without a trace. Pretty neat, right? All you need to do is press the sheet on any area that needs a refresh, and your hair should be good to go. Unlike dry shampoo, the sheets don’t require a post-application brushing to work, so they’re a great option for anyone who wants a quick clean without having to mess with their overall style.
Chris Rios, a celebrity hairstylist in Beverly Hills, confirms that these sheets are worth deserting your tried-and-trusty dry shampoo for. She likes them because they’re free from talc and alcohol, which are found in many aerosol products and can have drying effects on your scalp and strands. “Those cans commonly use alcohol which can dry out hair, along with propane which shoots the product from the can onto the scalp and hair,” she says, adding that they’re not ideal for your health or environment. “So if you care about what you put on your scalp and are someone on-the-go like most of us are, these sheets really are perfect.”
How I used them
After I left my beloved Zuvi hairdryer in a New York hotel room, I’ve recently been forced into air-drying—which makes the drying process annoying, leaves my hair looking like a frizzy mess, and has me wanting to skip as many washes as possible. But considering I’m a daily exerciser and committed home sauna user, there winds up being a lot of sebum on my scalp whenever I stretch out those shampoo sessions.
To combat these greasy effects, I used the Cake Take Out Dry Shampoo Sheets first thing in the morning. The blotting technique is definitely less messy than poofing powder all over your scalp, which is what happens when you use a non-aerosol dry shampoo, and I prefer this easy-and-unfussy delivery system to anything else I’ve tried. Much like face blotters, I could actually see the oil that the sheets were absorbing from my scalp, which served as proof that they were actually working. What I loved the most, though, was that I could throw the sheets in my cosmetics bag to use when I was out and about—I typically throw my hair into a ponytail at some point during the day, and I appreciate that these help me soak up any extra grease that could potentially be visible around my hairline.
While the sheets didn’t necessarily leave my hair looking like it was freshly washed (but, let’s be honest—no dry shampoo can really do that), they did improve its overall appearance and made me feel like I could go out in public without my slick strands revealing that I hadn’t shampooed them in days. All in all, I consider these little papers a big success.
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