I Ditched My Hairspray For This Multitasker When I Cut My Hair Short

"The higher the hair, the closer to God" isn't just a cute saying in the South. It's a lifestyle. From homecoming to prom, choir concerts to school musicals, if there was a special occasion, my very Oklahoman mother would send me to the bathroom with a straightener, curling iron, and her gigantic bottle of hairspray. For the most part, coating my hair in the wind-, dance-, and breakup-proof stuff hasn't lead me astray as an adult — until I go short. And then, it's time to banish my own mammoth bottle to below my bathroom sink, and pull out my favorite dry shampoo styling trick. No hairspray required.

Or, really, wanted. I currently have something along the lines of a bob, and I've found it surprisingly challenging to use hairspray while it's this short. One wrong spritz is the difference between locking my waves in place and looking like I've applied hair oil directly to the scalp — a look, for sure, but not always what I'm going for.

Instead, dry shampoo has become the star of my styling routine. Since I apparently wanted to make this my most challenging hair year ever, I'm also in the process of growing out bangs, and a quick poof of dry shampoo makes the finicky front pieces lay perfectly. (It's the difference between getting my grown-out bangs to do that '90s Winona Ryder swoop and having them fall into my eyes.)

There are two reasons I think this works so well. One, dry shampoo gives your hair grip and volume at the roots — meaning it defines and bolsters up where my thick hair might naturally weigh down. Then, there's the simple fact that, in my experience, it's pretty hard to overdo it with dry shampoo like you can with hairspray. Even stark-white formulas can be rubbed away with enough elbow grease.

Currently, I've been reaching for OUAI and BYREDO's new dry shampoo collab; though the limited-edition product won't be around forever. Here are the formulas I'll have on hand once I have to cross that bridge.

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