hair powders?
 

I read somewhere about dry shampoos, or hair powders, as a great alternative for long trips, especially with liquid packing restrictions. It seems, upon further research, that all the products/brands have so-so reviews at best. Have the Fodors forum experts any favorites I should consider?

Thanks!

my suggestion....skip bringing the dry icky stuff that probably won't work and buy some once you get to your destination.

Hello colleen, I tried that hair powder on my aunt's hair when she was ill and bedridden..what a mess! Just take a small amount of shampoo with you (enough for one or two hair washings) and as pauljagman said buy some shampoo after you arrive at your first destination. If any is left just toss it before you fly home.

Unless you're super picky about shampoo (which I doubt it, since you're considering hair powder), most hotels provide shampoo for their guests. If you don't like what they provide, buy a small bottle after you arrive.

I agree with yk, and I'm usually picky about these things but have found most of the shampoos work just fine. Another possibility to avoid the liquid problem is to get a cake of hair shampoo from Lush. They have different kinds for different types of hair, come in a cake-like form with small tin to store it in. I've used them as body soaps as well.

I can't imagine putting powder in hair that's already dirty - ick!.

Almost all hotels provide shampoo - and if yours doesn't you can certainly get some in any local store.

They're all disgusting, but if you must, just bring regular old Baby Powder by Johnsons. But really, use normal shampoo.

My wife recently had knee surgery, and if this is the same stuff, they used it on her for the first 2 post-operative days until she could wash herself.
She thought it worked quite well, good enough to explore what it would cost at the medical supply store.
It's about $10 per use, as I recall.

We did not buy any.

You would look at LUSH brand solid bars of shampoo and conditioner,like a cake of soap .
Macy's has them.

I was also going to mention Lush - I use their solid shampoos every day and love them (actually I use a ton of their products - their Baby Face cleansing bar made my skin bearable in the winter!). The shampoos are good for traveling, although they need to be pretty dry before you pack them. lush.com has a list of stores.

never heard of the shampoo cakes, just looked it up on the Lush website, interesting stuff! Thanks everyone.

Personally I find Lush products apallingly smelly...can't even go in the shops...
I remember dry shampoo from when I was a kid....er didn't work as I remember...think I'd rather have dirty hair...

Bumble & Bumble dry shampoo (it might be called hair powder). I've used that brand for years and it's fabulous. They offer a small can that's great for travel. It definitely revives your hair for a day or so. Just spray a bit at the roots and comb through.

Didn't anyone use Psssst! back in the day?

alihutch - the smell in the stores is pretty overwhelming! Once you get the products away, though, they're much better. And the products are fantastic.

Thanks for the tip on the Lush products. Glad I found this thread, as I'll be traveling for three months starting in January, and this sounds way more convenient than lugging around bottles of shampoo :)

Out of curiosity, have you found these shampoos to be moisturizing enough to forgo conditioner? I didn't even check to see if they had conditioners on the website.

I use a "hair powder" (Gasp!) I have oily hair and they do work. The one I use is the Oscare Blandi.

(Perhaps before some of you start trashing you should at least TRY the products :) )

I don't use hotel shampoos as I find they tend to leave my hair "icky" but others may have better luck. I do use a "shine" shampoo bar by Lush which my hair seems to like. It does seem to have some conditioner in the bar.

Wow, I feel like the Lush evangelist all of a sudden. :) Kyliebaby3, some of the shampoos are more moisturizing than others. I do still use a conditioner (and they do have several - most are regular liquid, but they do have one solid, as well as a bunch of more intense hair treatments). My hair can get kind of dry, though; if yours doesn't, you may not need one. If you're close to a store, I've always found the salespeople to be VERY helpful in figuring out what might work for my hair/skin type.

They are really convenient for traveling - the only thing is that you need a way to let them drain/dry before packing them up. Otherwise they get mushy and that's no good! I keep them on one of those covered wire drain racks in my shower at home. If I'm in a rush to pack after a morning shower, sometimes I'll aim a hair dryer at them for a couple minutes - it's not perfect but it's better than packing them wet.

Left off... the dry shampoo otption really only buys you a day, but it's good for when you get off the plane!

I have the Oscar Blondi dry shampoo as well, and while it does work to a certain extent, I think it's just glorified baby powder, which we used in college as lazy sorority girls!

Thanks for the information about drying them, Jent103. That is good to know, so I'll have to devise some sort of plan, and look into getting the solid conditioner if I find the shampoos aren't cutting the mustard. I'm all about solid everything these days, including perfume. It makes it so much easier to travel!

They have solid perfume too! :)

One other warning - for the products with more oils and butters, you have to be careful about melting as well. I learned that when I left my suitcase with my Baby Face in my car trunk on a hot July day! That was my own fault, though. I have tried the solid conditioner and wasn't crazy about it, but there are people who love it. They'll give samples of a lot of things (not most of the shampoos, though, since a lot of them are preformed).