Every once in a while, a press release crosses my desk that has me shaking my head. “Salon Grafix Invisible Dry Spray Shampoo is an ideal personal hygiene product not to be forgotten when camping or hiking.” Yeah, sure…everyone wants to carry a spray can of Salon Grafix Dry Spray Shampoo when backpacking!

But, then I thought…my sweetheart Susan has what would best be described as a “mane” of long, very thick hair. After a day or two of hiking, it’s sweaty, greasy, and full of bug dope.  It’s virtually impossible to wash on the trail; takes w-a-y too long for it to dry. And aside from her not liking the way it feels, it makes a mess of her sleeping bag hood area; we have to wash her sleeping bags much more often than mine. Maybe there is a value to the dry shampoo!

Test time. The first thing is that the can is very light, aluminum rather than steel. That’s a bonus. It’s also relatively small; it’s almost like they were thinking of backpackers when they designed the package! Retail price is $7.99, so not exactly our of reach for most people, and it’s available from all the usual suspects (Target, Walgreens, CVS, Wal-Mart, etc.).  The list of ingredients is, to a layman, totally impenetrable…is it actually safe for her hair? I consulted with Susan’s stylist, Sonja Terlaje of Synergy in Portland, who was actually impressed with the level of herbal and natural products in the list. So far, so good!

Now, anything can sound good, but if it doesn’t work, it’s worthless. And this time of year, it’s hard to get as sweaty and nasty as would be ideal for testing. Still, Susan and I had an overnight on top of a mountain planned, and the weather was forecast to be warm. Nothing like carrying a heavy pack up a mountain with snowshoes on in the blazing sun to turn you into a dripping sweatball! When we returned home, her hair wasn’t quite as nasty as it gets in the summer, but it was definitely heavy and snarled. I tossed her the can, and off she went. A minute later, I heard a “wow!”…uh, oh. Good or bad? Out she came, and said “I can’t believe it; I can run a comb through my hair!” Clearly, good! Her hair was lighter and fluffier…when I took the “before” photo, the wind didn’t even move it, but in the after, it blew all over. No sign of split ends, nothing that irritated her.

Now, this is not a long-term product endorsement. Neither Susan nor Sonja have had a chance to use Salon Grafix more than a couple of times, so we can’t report on whether there are any issues with using it over and over. However, for backpacking use, we can’t see that there would be any problems; could anything do more damage than leaving DEET in your hair for days on end? The fact is, this is a product that will make Susan’s time in the woods more pleasant, her nights more comfortable, and probably more than pay for itself in reduced sleeping bag cleaning costs. One thing that I know for sure…it’ll be in Susan’s backpack this summer!