London - For busy people dry shampoo is a godsend.
All it takes is a few spritzes from a can aimed at your scalp and the superfine powder suspended in the spray helps to absorb oil and ‘refreshes’ the hair.
It is little wonder then that more and more of us are using dry shampoo, but could there be a downside to this marvellous convenience?
Last April, Nicole Baxter from Belfast warned her friends in a post on Facebook that using a popular brand of dry shampoo had caused her to develop a bald patch and had given her a sore, itchy, flaky scalp.
The message went viral and has been shared more than 30,000 times.
Nicole said a doctor had suggested to herthat dry shampoo was to blame for herproblems.
She also claimed her symptoms almost cleared up when she stopped using it, though she still has a bald patch.
Using powder to ‘clean’ the hair is not a new idea. The Victorians used to sprinkle arrowroot powder on their hair to absorb grease.
Other powders, including corn starch and even oatmeal, have been used in the past.
These days, dry shampoos use such ingredients as powdered rice protein, tapioca starch and even clay, delivered in aerosol form.
However, the problem is that dry shampoo is not actually a shampoo at all.
Trichologist Iain Sallis, of the Hairmedic group of hair loss clinics, explains: ‘The word “shampoo” in this case is a misnomer.
‘A conventional shampoo cleans the scalp and hair using a combination of detergent-type ingredients, which help to break down and remove dirt.
‘Dry shampoo does not work like that. All it is doing is absorbing the oil so that hair no longer looks or feels greasy.’
It does not clean the hair and scalp and so, like any other cosmetic product, it needs to be washed out regularly, and if it isn’t, this can cause you problems.
It can block pores and cause irritation and scaling and can lead to seborrheic dermatitis - characterised by red, itchy, flaky and inflamed skin - which can cause hair loss.
So what can you safely get away with? Dry shampoo is useful for extending your style by an extra day, but it’s not a substitute for washing your hair.
Daily Mail