We Tried Bumble And Bumble's Prêt-à-Powder Dry Shampoo Mist & Our Roots Want An Apology
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
Regular workouts are great for the body, but they can wreak havoc on our hair. For many of us, daily shampooing is a no-no, as it can dry out our strands, or maybe you just want to extend the life of your blow-outs by a few days. So, how do we get our hair to look fresh after a sweaty gym sesh? Haircare brand Bumble and Bumble's answer was its Prêt-à-Powder, a post-workout dry shampoo mist.
Unlike standard dry shampoos that come in aerosol cans, Bumble and Bumble's version is a spray-on non-aerosol that's safer for your scalp and doesn't leave a white residue. According to the company's website, the formula contains bamboo extract and silica to absorb sweat and oil. The fragrance — a blend of citrus, floral, and sandalwood notes — helps rid the hair of any unwanted odors, too. A 4-oz. bottle costs $33, while a smaller 1.5-oz. retails for $16 from Bumble and Bumble and Sephora. If a product promises clean-looking hair after a workout, we're naturally going to try it, but in this case, the results didn't quite live up to the hype.
Bumble and Bumble's Dry Shampoo Mist wasn't as absorbent as we'd liked
To thoroughly test Bumble and Bumble's Prêt-à-Powder Dry Shampoo Mist, we used it on sweaty hair. After a 30-minute cardio blast, our scalp was sufficiently damp. As instructed, we shook the bottle vigorously to redistribute the ingredients and sprayed the dry shampoo on our wet hair — first all over our roots, working in sections, and then all around our hairline, including the nape. The scent was a bit strong and reminded us of getting our hair colored at a salon. In fact, the mist contains calendula, whose floral smell we certainly caught. Unfortunately, the fragrance may be overwhelming to those who have sensitive noses.
After 30 seconds, we brushed the product into our hair with our fingers. We didn't see any white residue, as promised, but our hair was left looking damp at the roots. It didn't absorb sweat and oil as well as more traditional, aerosol dry shampoos, and our hair actually looked greasier after using it. Ultimately, some products work better over time, so we decided to wait a little while and see before cementing our final thoughts on the product.
Our hair looked better after leaving the dry shampoo in for a bit
We know dry shampoos are supposed to deliver instant results, but Bumble and Bumble's Prêt-à-Powder Dry Shampoo Mist requires a bit of patience. We were disappointed with the initial results but tried to give the product a chance. Indeed, after three or four hours, we found that the product had fully absorbed the sweat and oil from our hair. It did leave a sticky feeling, but we've often found that other dry shampoos do as well. After all, if you want squeaky clean hair, you're going to have to shampoo and condition it, not rely on dry shampoo alone.
Overall, this dry shampoo mist wasn't a home run for us. The formula left our hair looking damp and took hours to get rid of excess oil. We found the scent too overpowering as well, and we couldn't wait to shower it off, which entirely defeats the purpose of dry shampoo in our opinion. One thing to note was that we didn't heat-style our hair afterward, so perhaps that contributed to our roots still looking greasy — but for a spray-and-go product, you really shouldn't have to.