IGK First Class Charcoal Dry Shampoo – Worth the Hype?

Around a year ago I would have easily have been finishing a bottle of dry shampoo on a monthly basis, probably even more like every 3 weeks or so. My hair was three times longer and because I had an office job seeing clients usually every other day I needed to keep my hair looking fresh. I’d heard that the IGK First Class Charcoal Dry Shampoo was quite frankly the dogs bollocks of dry shampoo but at the time the price point put me off for how often I ran through a bottle. When we were away for my birthday in February I went into Space NK to pick up my free birthday gift and spotted this half-size by the checkout. I was out of dry shampoo and hadn’t packed any with me – so I decided to get a bottle.

Now I work at home I’m a little less bothered about keeping my hair looking fresh between every wash, I can cope with a semi greasy root as the only people who see it is me and my dogs during the day. But there can be days where I need to go to a meeting or at the weekend where I still want to use a dry shampoo to refresh. So spending more on something that I’ll run through far less often seemed okay – providing that it did turn out to be truly a First Class dry shampoo. During Lockdown I’ve barely bothered at all with dry shampoo, I’ve been washing my hair for something to do most days towards the beginning and I’ve managed to get my hair to a place where it looks greasy in less than 24 hours thanks to my boredom induced regimen and I’m now trying to get back to washing my hair every other day.

I’d used this a lot between February and March and only have had a couple of uses left of this to finish up to polish up my review of this. I find this works best when left on the hair for around about 5 minutes plus – if I’ve been getting ready in the morning I’ve either left it on whilst doing my makeup and brushed it out after or gone and ate my breakfast. Whilst it can be applied and brushed out instantly if you need to get out the door quickly I’ve found it’s much more effective if it’s given a few minutes to work it’s magic.

It applies on the head quite white and powdery feeling, it’s probably the most similar dry shampoo to original Batiste that I’ve tried in terms of just how white it is. Over my dark roots it does brush out well. I tend to first rub my hands through my hair to give some volume to my roots, and then bush it out – I do think it leaves the slightest cast on my hair – just a tinge – If I follow up with my fingers again just massaging in around my parting it’s barely noticeable. The rave reviews I heard of this dry shampoo were from a Youtuber called Andréa Matillano who has very dark brown hair verging on black.

The formula in addition to being a dry shampoo offers UV Protection, and the formula is Vegan friendly, Gluten Free, Cruelty Free, Mineral Oil, Petroleum, Paraben & Sulphate Free – so free of a lot of nasties, although I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not someone who knows the ins and outs of dry shampoo ingredients to know whether any of those are common.

When my hair gets greasy it looses a lot of volume, I find often that dry shampoos can either help improve volume but make my hair still look greasy, or it will sort out the greasy appearance but it will still look lank. This one does both really well adding a boost of volume which holds well in the hair until it’s washed. With most dry shampoos I find I can get maybe 1 extra day out of my hair and a second coating doesn’t do anything – this I can get rid of the grease on a second day, but my hair does feel noticeably powerdry and heavy if I do and find myself sticking it out of the way in a ponytail or bun – but it does stop the appearance of slicked back greasy roots.

This does have a slight scent but nothing too significant, personally I prefer this to the sometimes overwhelming smell of other dry shampoos like Batiste which I can find can be quite synthetic. This has enough fragrance that it’s enough to freshen up slightly without it being like a perfume for the hair.

Overall I do think that IGK First Class Charcoal Dry Shampoo is worth the hype – it’s expensive and will be something I buy again as a treat. It’s rare I find something that’s as good as an all rounder as this that combats grease and adds volume too. In the UK this is only available in Space NK – next time I’m there I’ll be treating myself to the larger can – for now I’m mourning the last few sprays of this. The 90ml works out at 9ml per £1, and the 288ml can converts to 12ml per £1.

Check out other dry shampoo reviews from me here.

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Email: helplesswhilstdrying@gmail.com

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