Fashion

Don't Wash Your Hair. Hide It.

by Julia Teen

With winter officially on us, it’s now time to avoid the whole wash, dry, style time-consuming routine as much as we can and get creative with our unwashed trickery. (What? I don't want to step outside with a wet head. You don't want to step outside with a wet head. I think this conversation is done here.) Here’s our top tip: hide your brush. Just don’t even touch it once day three rolls around. Brushing distributes the oil throughout your hair leaving it droopy and stringy, and you want to keep all the oil concentrated up on the scalp. Then, enter our savior: dry shampoo.

Here are our tried and tested answers to the eternal what-to-do-with-dirty-hair question:

The ol’ headwear con

Why do you think celebrities wear so many hats (and hair scarves)? They can’t do their own blowouts either, so bide the in-between hairstylist time with a little felt. Let’s call Jessica Alba the queen of this hat bluff.

BCBGeneration Chained Panama Hat, $10.97, Amazon

Work with it

Some of the best hair magic happen when you’ve got excessive oiliness, believe it or not. Add some volumizing powder into it (or baby powder, if you’re desperate) and you’ve got yourself a texture party that’s great for going with the beach hair look, ‘Kate Moss coming out of the club’ hair ('90s Kate, though... the perfect dirty hair inspo) or some equally grungy concoction you can make up on the spot. Keep adding powder for this one; the more the better.

Big Sexy Hair Volumizing and Texturizing Powder, $8.69, Amazon

Side-part bun

Often, the concentration of oil will be along the center-part line so you can get away with spritzing dry shampoo over a side part and gently backcombing so you’ve got height at the roots and through the lengths. Affix into a side-pony or low-bun, keeping the whole look loose and relaxed.

Batiste Dry Shampoo, $5.94, Amazon

Work with, not against

Not for the faint-hearted, but for the hair experimental types why not take a note from the runway with a wet look effect? Steal your boyfriend’s pomade or gel, and work a deliberately downtown, Alexander Wang-esque effect.

American Crew Hair Pomade, $12.77, Amazon

L'Oreal Paris Mega Hair Gel, $7.43, Amazon

Delay it

Living Proof’s Prime Style Extender: Get on it. The buzz on this product is huge, and with good reason — it allows you to starve off dirty hair for 2x longer than regular styling products using their technology that repels dirt and oil. It also works to hold styles for longer... double win!

Living Proof Prime Style Extender, $13.75, Amazon