K18 have launched a dry shampoo and it's a game changer
Between the shiny, millennial-centric brands delivering fresh drops through your letter box, to the more established, cult buys and the indie outfits selling 'natural and organic' products, the beauty landscape has never felt more cluttered.
To help you to navigate this brave new world of retinol, AHAs, jade rollers and double cleansing, WH beauty editor, Perdita Nouril, is here to try and test the new drops that are making their way into her (very full) bathroom, via her column, Beauty Dispatch.
Here, she'll share the freshly released heroes that she loves: ready to let you know where to spend your skin and hair care cash. This time around, she tests the K18 Air Wash Dry Shampoo.
Dry shampoo is perhaps the Marmite of the haircare world: some adore it for its ability to mop up grease when dashing from Pilates to a party, or for reviving and refreshing an expensive blow-dry, while others can’t stand the white cast or gritty buildup that can clog hair follicles.
Over the years several brands have worked tirelessly to improve dry shampoo formulas and they have certainly made leaps and bounds. Living Proof and Olaplex in particular are the heavy lifters that spring to mind, but these products almost always appear in either powder or aerosol form—until now.
Haircare innovators K18 have released Air Wash, a non-aerosol dry shampoo that is said to soak up excess oil, infuse hair with moisture and eliminate odours without causing a build up of product in the hair. I put it to the test during a busy week of gym sessions, school runs, and work events. Here’s how it went.
What is K18 Air Wash?
For those who aren't familiar with the brand, K18 have earned a legion of fans thanks to their haircare mask that's made with their signature K18 peptide, a molecule that works deep inside the hair fiber at a molecular level, where all hair is the same, delivering results on all hair types and reverses damage in 4 minutes.
Now, the brand have gone back to the drawing board to see how they can reinvent dry shampoo. They've chosen to ditch the aerosol formula entirely because the particles are pressurised inside the bottle, which means they’re often distributed unevenly through the small nozzle and can result in an uneven coating or can leave streaky marks.
Secondly, the shampoo formula doesn’t mask odours—instead it recognises and eliminates them. How you ask? K18 bioscientists found the strongest odour-detection system in nature and used its mapped genome from DNA databases alongside synthetic biology to create a new molecule that traps and eliminates bacteria.
If that wasn't enough, the formula is also plastic free (yep, some dry shampoos contain microplastics) and relies only on translucent microbeads (that are made from minerals) to sponge up excess oil without the white cast or buildup, meaning all hair types, textures, and colours will get on with it.
My honest review of K18 Air Wash Dry Shampoo
I was not blessed in the hair department when God was handing out thick, luscious locks. Now, two rounds of postpartum hair loss and regrowth later, I've chopped my hair into a manageable bob that looks and feels thicker. However, I still need all the help I can get when it comes to volume and bounce.
Dry shampoos and root-lifting powders are staples in my arsenal and while most work well, this formula truly goes above and beyond.
I was hesitant at first because it’s non-aerosol, meaning the first few spritzes leave your hair feeling damp. Though the initial wetness can be off-putting, the good news is it dries remarkably quickly, before transforming into an almost invisible powder that’s easy to work with, giving you time to style your hair before it ‘sets.’
The best part? It doesn’t feel gritty or weigh my hair down. Instead, it miraculously absorbs two days’ worth of grease. I was also able to massage it into my roots for lift that lasted the entire evening. It strikes the perfect balance between a dry shampoo and a root-lifting powder—something other products haven’t quite mastered.
As for the cons? Washing it out takes effort. The first time, I was too lax and still felt some residue afterward. A thorough lather of shampoo is essential, so be aware of this. The second issue is the price: £48 is undeniably an investment. However, a little goes a long way— less is definitely more with this product. Ultimately though, if you’re looking for something that goes the extra mile, this one truly delivers.
More hair stories this way...
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