Sometimes, when I’m standing in front of the mirror in the morning, running 15 minutes late to work and blasting my oily roots with dry shampoo for the fifth day in a row, I start to think about our Founding Fathers — specifically, their hairstyles, and how they were often coated with powder to create a distinctive off-white finish considered quite fashionable at the time. I wonder if, with my overzealous application of oil-absorbing starches, I’m just one poorly-aimed spritz away from being mistaken for James Madison. No, of course not, I reassure myself. He was much more punctual.
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Even the best dry shampoo, I find, leaves behind at least a trace of a chalky cast on my very dark hair. This is just the nature of the beast: The particles that make it so good at soaking up oil can also lend a rough, matte look and feel. That’s the tradeoff — or it was, rather, until Verb introduced Ghost Dry Oil. Shine-enhancing, breakage-preventing, and gently detangling, it’s pretty much the antidote for everything you hate about dry shampoo.
Like the brand’s original Ghost Oil that inspired a new offshoot line, the spray gets its supernatural name from the fact that it disappears right before your eyes. Once the finely dispersed mist hits your hair, it vanishes, just like that, leaving split ends silky and frizz effectively tamed. Unlike a traditional oil, however, this dry version has no slick feeling or tendency to cross the line between shiny and greasy — and it plays especially well with hair that could use a little luster to help combat what might otherwise become a dry, powdery mess.
The dry oil is practically weightless, so it works like a charm on finer hair like mine, which tends to wilt when too much moisture is involved. It may not necessarily be a heavy-hitter for thicker, coarser hair that’s badly in need of deep hydration, but even so, it smells incredible — fresh, clean, and neutral, not at all perfume-y — and lends a nice amount of non-greasy sheen to any hair type. You'd have to be a Loyalist not to want it in your life.
Verb Ghost Dry Oil, $16, available September 1 at Verb.