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Dry shampoos can be a bit of a paradoxical oxymoron. Some are bad for your hair, but others aren’t? We use them wrong, yet there is no wrong way to use them? It’s all so confusing. All I know is that I touch my hair a lot, and half way through my second-day-post-wash hair, it starts to get limp and greasy, so I’ve accepted that dry shampoo is a must for me. I’m aware of the cons and have made my peace with them. But that doesn’t mean we couldn’t be doing better—which is exactly what Austin-based hair brand Verb thought, too.
Verb’s powder dry shampoo is beloved, but white, powdered dry shampoos aren’t for everyone. People with dark hair tones can have trouble blending in the pale powder, and even for lighter colored hair, blending it properly can be a hassle. Thus the uptick in aerated dry shampoos. They take some of the mess out of process, and certainly are much easier to blend into roots.
But what about that white powder issue? That’s still a problem modern dry shampoos are trying to solve. Thus, Verb’s Dry Shampoo Light and Dry Shampoo Dark ($16 for each), which they are predicting will be their biggest launch this year.
“It is hard to come across a great dry shampoo for $16,” says Claire Moses, founder of Verb. (And if you sign up for the waitlist now, you can get a code for 16 percent off, too.) “Price point and quality aside, these formulas are pigmented with purple and brown undertones, so we hit everyone from the pastels/grays/beach blondes to the darker colored strands. You no longer have to worry about having that white powder or residue (hello, George Washington!) at your roots, and it even covers roots in between salon appointments and removes brassiness. We are really proud of the range of people we can reach with these formulas.”
Each formula has a special tone in it that gives a super subtle boost to color. The light version has a purple undertone, while the dark option has a brownish undertone. I applied the Dry Shampoo Light on my dirty blonde hair and the light purple undertone was clear to see, but blended immediately into my hair. I can confirm it gave a major volume boost to my limp locks, as well as a slight brightness to my color, and absorbed the greasiness of day-two hair. What makes this version different is that other color-tinted dry shampoo options are usually very heavy, and messy, staining everything in sight, making it more of a hassle than it’s worth. Not this version though, with its super subtle undertones, mainly focused on absorbing oiliness in the hair.
The inclusive nature of this dry shampoo is catching on, which is exactly where the waitlist comes in. The two products will launch May 1, and the brand anticipates the waitlist will reach up to 10,000 people. And you’ll want to be on it, too, because preference for purchase will be given to those on that list. “We are not disclosing the time it is available on May 1 because the waitlist is going to be notified a few hours before everyone else to ensure they get first dibs,” says Moses.
Verb will be releasing videos with the launch to show how everyday people are using the product in various ways. But in general, they suggest a few different options: spraying on clean hair for volume. For second-day hair, apply it before going to sleep and brush out and blow dry in the morning to remove excess. Or get creative and apply it further away for a lighter coat or closer to the scalp for root coverage.
If you want to test out similar technology with an aerated, color-tinted dry shampoo, check out Bumble and Bumble’s Blondish and Brownish Hair Powder (expensive, and heavy on the hair though, tbh), or DryBar’s Detox Dry Shampoo for Brunettes (but it’s got pretty dicey reviews, so use with caution).
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