Oily Hair? - Not Your Mother's Clean Freak Review

I can't say that I've always been a big fan of spending a lot time on my hair. I have extra-dry, extra-wavy, extra-frizzy hair. My strands are a nightmare. Most days I just braid it to the back and forget it, since that seems to be the best way to keep everything under control.

But for date-night (and other events where I don't want people to see me looking like I stepped out of a prairie schoolhouse), I like to dress it up a bit. My hair-straightener is a favorite go-to, but it quite literally takes me hours to straighten my hair. After I put all that energy into it, there is no way I'm going to wash it the next morning because I want to look good for as long as possible! Sadly, I already only wash my hair every other day (it's sooo dry!) and I know that the max I can get out of my locks without looking like a grease-ball is three days. (Don't worry, I still wash, I just cover my hair up!)

When I got chosen as an Influenster Violet VoxBox tester, I was excited to see that I received some water-less shampoo from Not Your Mother's to try out. I received the sample to try for free, but please know that this review is completely my own! (And also voluntary, since writing one isn't a requirement, but more of a gesture of gratitude towards the company.) For more on my disclosure policy, please see the tab titled, 'Let me disclose to you'.

Now on to the review!

I was initially worried that the formula inside this bottle would be sticky for some reason. I've never used a water-less shampoo before, but had definitely heard of them. I didn't hear bad things about water-less shampoos, but I didn't hear good things either - and for me, testing out stuff on my hair is a big deal. My hair is too 'sensitive' to bombard it constantly with testing out mystery products.

The good? This stuff worked. I straightened my hair and then shower-capped it for four days. I wanted to see this water-less shampoo in action! I figure that my four days with extra-dry hair is equal to about the grease build-up of two days for someone with regular hair. I took before and after pics, and was actually really impressed with the look of my strands. Before, you can definitely see the shiny (not the good shiny either!) way my hair looks in the light. In the After picture the shine is toned down a lot, and my hair has more of a 'matte' look.

And my hair didn't feel sticky. If anything, I was a bit surprised that the After pictures didn't look even better because my hair felt very light and, well, clean! I investigated a bit and found that this 'shampoo' is really just a fine powder that is misted into your hair, causing it to absorb grease and reduce shine. Neat, huh?

Well, it was neat until I had to shower anyhow! The bad part? This stuff is powder! Have you ever dampened a wad of corn starch? No? I'll wait while you go do that now... ... ... What's that? Powder is nearly water-resistant? It will coat your strands and be difficult to get off like turtle wax?! It will strip your strands of all their oils and take several conditionings for them to get soft again? No!!!!! But yes, it's true. My hair was still misbehaving and acting extra-super-duper dry & frizzy for at least a week after that.

So we're at an impasse: We can keep that fancy 'do for an extra day or so, but only if we are willing to 'rough it' for a few days after that. I would imagine that someone with hair that isn't as naturally dry as mine would get their natural oils back much faster - but for me, it was quite troublesome!

Would I still use this though? Yes. But - only for a very special occasion. For instance, I don't wear fake nails on any sort of regular basis. But I would wear them (and have worn them) for special events. Things like prom, or getting married, or a weekend getaway with friends, family or co-workers. These are the times I'd like to look my best so it makes it worth it to use these extra products. This isn't a product I would use every day - or even every week - but it definitely has its place on our list of beauty necessities.

You can connect with Not Your Mother's on their website at www.nymbrands.com, or check out what they're doing in social media on any of their profiles here:   Pinterest, YouTube, and tumblr.