Is Glitter Dry Shampoo by Lemonhead The Worst Idea Ever Or The Best?

Let’s just get this out of the way early: I hate washing my hair and I don’t do it often. No matter how many keratin treatments, $200 hair dryers, and MIT-developed products I go through, I’m still the owner of a problematic curly-straight hair hybrid that requires 45 minutes of attention to look the way I want: flat, wavy, and — I see you, irony — gloriously “effortless.” It’s a part-time job, which is why I easily go a week without washing and have accepted dry shampoo as my personal lord and savior. And while I’m a purist at heart (Psssst! ’til death), I’ve recently started branching out, which is how I wound up with two $22 bottles of Lemonhead’s Space Dust dry shampoo. Oh, and because it’s made with actual glitter, which I thought would be a cool way to jazz up my holiday-party look while masking the fact that I’m showing up with dirty hair.

Disclaimer: This stuff isn’t a spray. It’s a powder, and a super-fine one at that, which means it’s not as intuitive to apply as a traditional aerosol can. Upon first use, I shook a little out from the plastic bottle and awkwardly sprinkled it directly onto my unwashed roots. While I did see some flecks of glitter, they were all concentrated around the crown of my head — and not in a chic, ethereal way, either. I did notice, though, that the powder sucked up oil like a champ and also added a piece-y matte finish to the top of my head — a cool antidote to the glitter.

The second time I attempted to make Space Dust work, I realized I needed to think of it less as a traditional dry shampoo and focus on all my hair, not just the top. So I poured a dime-sized amount into my palm and slowly started sprinkling it vertically from root to tip. I then used my fingers to rough it up, a key move to distribute the glitter (tons of which settled under my nails, so proceed with caution.)

Although in essence, I’d decanted an ounce of silver sparkles directly onto my medium-brown hair, the result wasn’t nearly as intense as I’d expected. In fact, I kind of loved the subtle twinkle it added when I moved my head around, but the only person who called it out was my colorist, who asked if I’d been partying the night before when I was in the chair getting highlights.

Lemonhead’s website says it’s also a texturizing powder in addition to a dry shampoo, and in my mind, that’s how it should be treated. It adds the same level of grit as Davines’ cool-girl-approved This Is a Texturing Powder and a minimal amount of shimmer, so I’m actually more inclined to use this on clean hair to give it less slip and more — pardon the cliché — “I woke up like this” vibes, rather than to refresh my already-grimy style.

To its credit, the handmade-in-L.A. powder is vegan, organic, and stays put — it didn’t come off on my pillow or my clothes. It does stick to skin pretty aggressively during application, so glittery fingertips are a byproduct you’ll just have to endure if you choose to rake the product through with your hands.

After two weeks of using Space Dust on hair that had only been washed three times, I can say with confidence that while it might not be as over-the-top as the service that used to ship your enemies an envelope filled with glitter, it’s almost as satisfying.

Lemonhead Space Dust Dry Shampoo, $22; at Lemonhead

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