A powder dry shampoo you tap on: the case for loose powder, and how to read a very small study

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Researched. We have not used this one long enough to give you a verdict, and we would rather say so than invent one. What follows is how it works, who it suits, and what it will not do. When we have used it properly, this page carries the verdict and the date.

I DEW CARE Tap Secret Dry Shampoo Powder

Before dry shampoo came in spray cans, it was a powder you shook onto your roots. The powder never really went away, and it has some real advantages over the can. This is a modern version: a small bottle of very fine powder you tap straight onto the parting.

Why powder

A spray puts powder into a cloud and some of it lands where you meant. A tap-on powder goes exactly where you put it — along the parting, around the hairline, wherever your roots get oily first. There is less waste, less on your clothes, and it is easy to carry.

There is also no propellant. In 2022, several aerosol dry shampoos were recalled in the US after benzene, a contaminant linked to the propellant, was found in them. The listing makes a point of this one being benzene-free and non-aerosol, and that is a fair thing to want reassurance on.

How to use it

Tap a little onto the roots, a section at a time, and less than you think you need. Leave it for a minute to absorb, then massage in with your fingertips and brush through. The listing says the powder is ultra-fine and absorbs excess oil, sweat and dirt. Fine powder blends in more easily, but on very dark hair any powder is worth working in thoroughly.

Reading the ingredient list

The listing names a root-boosting powder, black ginseng and biotin. The powder is doing the work: absorbing oil and lifting the roots.

The black ginseng is listed at 0.1 parts per million, which is a trace amount — a tiny fraction of a drop in a bottle this size. Biotin matters for hair when your body is short of it and you take it by mouth; rubbed onto the scalp in a dry shampoo, there is little reason to think it does anything. Neither is a reason to buy it. Neither is a reason not to.

Reading the small study

The listing cites results from an independent study: a 90% reduction in scalp oiliness and a 7.6% improvement in volume. In brackets, it gives the size of the study — 20 participants.

Credit to the brand for printing that. Twenty people is enough to show that an oil-absorbing powder absorbs oil, which is not surprising. It is not enough to tell you much about exact percentages. Read it as "yes, it does the basic job".

The buildup warning, again

Every dry shampoo leaves its absorbent on your scalp until you wash it out, and powders are no exception. Day after day without washing, it builds up at the roots — a common reason for flat hair and an itchy scalp. It is the buildup we covered in clarifying shampoo and the two kinds of buildup.

What it will not do

It will not clean your hair or scalp, and it will not replace washing. It will not grow hair or strengthen it, whatever the biotin suggests. And it will not suit everyone's hands: loose powder takes a little more care than a spray. If you would rather a spray without a propellant, we also looked at K18's non-aerosol AirWash.

The product

A small, non-aerosol dry shampoo powder that goes exactly on the roots, with a trace of the headline ingredients and a fine absorbent doing the real work. Good for travel, for touch-ups, and for anyone wary of aerosols.

The one people are searching for is the I DEW CARE Tap Secret Mattifying Dry Shampoo Powder, 0.24 oz.

I DEW CARE Tap Secret Dry Shampoo Powder

We do not print prices here, because a price we typed last month is a price that is wrong today.

Written by CatieH, who covers nails and hair here.