:The Influencer Dupe:
Dry Shampoo and My Own Neglect
I admit it. I’ve been influenced. Many times in fact. From big-time bloggers turned fashion designers to my coworkers (without much thought I can come up with three items I bought because of my coworkers that are integral to my work day), I can be easily swayed into buying things I think I need. The most recent and tragic instance was with dry shampoo.
Look, I’m not someone who knows or prioritizes the time to learn about beauty. I go to Sephora and have them tell me what I want based on my needs. And I too often don’t do the research I should on products I see other people using on the socials.
Dry shampoo is one of those things that I’ve known about for years. I used it a bit when I had Stella as a matter of fact. But my hair was much longer and thicker and redder back then. Now that I’m trying to grow out my hair, I need to be more gentle with it. The blonde is harsh on hair like mine. So, based on what I have actually read, I decided to cut back on the number of times I wash my hair each week. I kept seeing these posts from an influencer I follow about dry shampoo. Her hair is luscious and sort of her calling card and I was totally hypnotized by it. Sprinkle in a few friends telling me they rely heavily on dry shampoo and without another thought, I bought a bottle.
Over the last two weeks, I’ve used dry shampoo pretty regularly and I found my hair was feeling more brittle. I thought it was strange because I was doing “all the right things” including moisturizing my hair with argon oil. The only thing that had changed for me was the dry shampoo. So I finally did a little reading and it turns out dry shampoo can be harmful to your hair. Aerosol hair products have alcohol in the ingredients which, as I’m sure you know, will dry things out. It took just two days after I quit using dry shampoo for my hair to feel less brittle.
Maybe you knew that. Maybe it should have been obvious. Needless to say, I felt like a dummy for not taking the 90 seconds necessary to find out that dry shampoo probably isn’t good for my hair right now. I used the influencer’s experience to dupe myself into believing if I used the dry shampoo, I could have that woman’s hair. This whole experience underscored for me that I need to be better about prioritizing my own research, particularly when it comes to beauty.
