It’s not exactly news, but my poor peroxided hair is fried. When I’m on a “give it a break” kick, I opt for heatless hairstyling (tutorial here) and dry shampoo. Since I am Italian, ie oily all over, I simply cannot forgo washing my hair for any duration of time, so a dry shampoo formula has to be just as powerful as it is effective to leave my dirty hair feeling clean. Over the past few years– in between my 03853 dye jobs– I’ve shopped the hair market for the best products available, and I’ve finally found a solid 5 that I would recommend personally. If there’s a popular brand that I don’t mention, I guarantee I’ve tried it– and I hated it.

1. Klorane Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk

I tried Klorane after I did a Google search for “Best Dry Shampoo Recommendations,” and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s not cheap, but you can get it for under $20 a can from Birchbox. This fabulous product was awarded Allure’s elusive Best of Beauty Award for its undeniable grease busting, volumizing, and waterless cleansing powers. It smells great, works effectively, and leaves your hair feeling clean and oil-free. Ulta used to carry it in stores, but now I have to buy it online, which is really its only drawback.

2. Serge Normant Meta Revive Dry Shampoo

Oh, Birchbox, even though you were flaky, you did introduce me to some amazing products. A sample-sized version of Serge Normant Meta Revive was in one of my better boxes, and I was so hooked that I immediately purchased a full-sized bottle, which retails for about $25, a few days later. This formula is more powdery than the others, but it doesn’t leave a heavy residue, which is nice.

3. KMS Hair Play Makeover Spray

This was recommended to me by my pageant coaches at McKenna Walsh, and it’s solely responsible for my voluminous second and (yes) third-day pageant hair during Miss Florida week! You can find it at Ulta for just under $20, although you can get a sample-sized bottle for about $7, and it’s worth every penny. Even with my Halo extensions, gallons of hair spray, and a heavy mist of thermal heat spray to keep the curls in place, the KMS formula still managed to subdue the oil and give my hair impressive texture and firm hold.

4. drybar Detox Dry Shampoo

It’s no secret that I have a soft spot for drybar. My only qualm with their company is that they haven’t migrated their studios down to Florida yet. As far as product quality and effectiveness, drybar is hands-down consistently my favorite. Their Detox Dry Shampoo prolongs the life of your blowout without the use of parabens or sulfates, safely absorbs oil from all color-treated hair, smells amazing, as all their formulas do, and it’s available at Sephora for $20 for 3.5 oz bottle. Travel-sized bottles are available, too, for less. Love, love, love it.

5. Tigi Bed Head Rockaholic Dirty Secret Dry Shampoo

Tigi Bed Head Rockaholic Dirty Secret Dry Shampoo, aka the product with the longest descriptive name in the history of the beauty industry, is effective and can be found on the shelves of most beauty retailers and drug stores, which is nice. Its formula is near colorless, so you don’t have to worry about awkward pasty residue, and it does a great job of absorbing oil and creating volume for fresh-feeling and smelling second day hair. Rockaholic is currently on sale at Ulta for $9, although it typically retails for around $22 elsewhere.

Did I miss any good products? Which dry shampoos have you used in the past and how do you feel about them?