I love a sweaty workout that leaves me hobbling out of the gym and (almost) regret signing up for something called ‘FULL BODY DESTRUCTOR🔥☠️!!!’ at 6am. That is until the endorphins kick in and I feel smug for the rest of the day.
I also love my hair to feel clean, fresh and look as good as it possibly can at all times, which is a hard feat when you have the greasiest hair in the whole world (I do, I swear!) and just don’t suit those cool slick buns.
To make matters worse, I now have hair extensions and I can no longer wash my hair every single day for my sanity’s sake. I finally understand the whole ‘designated hair wash day’ malarky and it’s a hard life.
So, when Batiste’s new 24-hour Active Sweat Activated Dry Shampoo promises to work as you sweat, meaning you can exercise and live your life without washing your hair, I was very intrigued. Especially when a bottle of the stuff is just five British pounds.
batistePros
- Really does keep your hair fresh all day, even after a workout
- Smells incredible
- Affordable
- Needs less applications than normal
Cons
- Slight white residue but easy to zhuzh in
The science explained
Two years in the making, the new edition to Batiste’s sizzling roster promises to work as you sweat, meaning you don’t have to choose between your hair and a workout. It has a ‘sweat-activated technology’ that releases bursts of freshness as you exercise, ensuring your hair looks and smells good for up to 24 hours.
Honestly? It sounds too good to be true. But as a good journalist, I decided to put the new launch through its paces. Would it really survive a spicy leg day at the gym and then still look good for date night? Reader, I was cynical.
Does it actually work?
On the day of testing, I woke up and my hair already looked greasy and dishevelled, despite washing it the morning before. This always happens and I'm envious of anyone who can go a full week without washing their hair.
I started sectioning my hair and began to spray the product at my roots. I noticed straight away how nice the dry shampoo smells (very fresh with a hint of floral) and as you sweat, it promises to smell even better.
On reflection, maybe I was spraying a little too close to my roots (Batiste recommends spraying 30cm away) and I did get some white residue from the product. It was easy to zhuzh in, especially compared to other dry shampoos I've tried in the past.
The slight white residue isn't an accident and the Batiste team told me how they actually formulated it that way as it turns out their customer prefers it and reckons it gives a cleaner, longer-lasting result. IF YOU SAY SO, GUYS.
I massaged in the product and brushed my hair before getting ready for the gym. Today was leg day and I was dead worried about how greasy my scalp was about to become. Maybe I'm a lost cause! But afterwards, was so impressed at how the product managed to absorb all the sweat and my hair was COMPLETELY DRY.
It’s a Christmas miracle.
As well as leg day, it also was raining and I needed to tie it up for an ‘everything shower’ before my evening date. My boyfriend had booked somewhere special for a belated Valentine’s Day, so I needed to look hot fire flames and remind him that I am a catch.
When getting ready, I was so impressed how just a bit of brushing and Dyson Airwrapin’ transformed my gym hair. To keep it a fair test, I didn’t use any more dry shampoo and my hair still looked great. You could easily add a few more spritzes if you felt like you needed it, but for me, this wasn't essential.
Then after a few glasses of wine, great food and some torrential rain on the way home (I had an umbrella, but fml!) we got home in time to watch the brand new The 1% Club and my hair was still looking pretty good.
Not the best it’s ever looked by this point, but it’s still definitely not bad! My boyfriend’s mum even said my hair smelt great that evening, which was so perfect, it was almost like I planned it.
All in all, I am very impressed with the new dry shampoo and it’s going to save my life for those early morning gym sessions where I still want to look babein’ in the office. It’s a decent size, smells great and you need a lot less than your standard dry shampoo - what more could you want?
If there was zero white residue from the shampoo, I would give it full marks, but it is easy to massage out, so will let that one slide. Brb, off to stock up.
Aimee Jakes is the shopping editor across heat and Closer. As well as mainly writing about skincare launches, high-street fashion and gym bag essentials, she also regularly chats to celebs about their wellness routines for heat's Self-Care Sunday.