Dry shampoo has become one of those beauty products I think is genuinely useful rather than simply nice to have. Whether I’m trying to stretch out a blowout, avoid washing my hair every single day, or give flat roots a little more life, a decent dry shampoo can make an enormous difference.
One affordable option that continually pops up in recommendations is Not Your Mother’s Beach Babe Texturizing Dry Shampoo.
It promises to do more than simply disguise oily roots. This particular dry shampoo is designed to absorb excess oil while adding texture, volume, and that slightly tousled beach-hair effect the Beach Babe range is known for.
So, is it actually worth buying?
Based on its formulation, price, and thousands of customer reviews, I think this is one of the more interesting budget dry shampoos for anyone who wants both an oil refresh and some extra body.
Looking for more options? Read our Guide to the Best Dry Shampoo
What Is Not Your Mother’s Beach Babe Texturizing Dry Shampoo?
Not Your Mother’s Beach Babe Texturizing Dry Shampoo is an aerosol dry shampoo designed for use between regular hair washes.
Instead of washing oil away with water and shampoo, it contains absorbent ingredients that help soak up excess oils around the roots.
The formula uses rice starch and barley seed flour as absorbing ingredients. The brand says it provides instant oil absorption while refreshing the hair and adding texture.
That’s an important distinction because some dry shampoos leave my favorite hairstyles looking rather flat. Beach Babe is specifically designed to give hair more of a textured, voluminous finish.
There is also a very definite fragrance.
This one has a toasted coconut scent, so expect something noticeably tropical rather than a subtle or fragrance-free dry shampoo.
At a Glance
Best for: Oily roots, fine or flat hair, extending time between washes and adding texture
Finish: Freshened, more textured hair with added body
Fragrance: Toasted coconut
Main oil-absorbing ingredients: Rice starch and barley
Vegan: Yes
Cruelty-free: Yes
Silicone-free: Yes
Paraben-free: Yes
Sulfate surfactant-free: Yes
Price range: Budget/drugstore
The manufacturer also lists the formula as phthalate-free, aluminum-free and dye-free.
What I Like About the Formula
The biggest attraction for me is that this isn’t trying to be nothing more than an emergency grease absorber.
It combines two things I often want at the same time: less-visible oil and more volume.
Fine hair in particular can start looking flat long before it looks terribly dirty. Adding a little dry shampoo around the roots can therefore make the whole hairstyle look fresher.
Rice starch is fairly common in dry shampoos because starches are able to absorb some of the oil sitting on the hair.
The Beach Babe formula contains both rice starch and barley seed flour.
That makes much more sense to me than expecting a dry shampoo to somehow “clean” hair in the conventional sense. Dry shampoo doesn’t replace a proper shampoo and water wash. Its real job is temporarily reducing the appearance and feel of excess oil.
Does Not Your Mother’s Beach Babe Dry Shampoo Work?
Customer feedback suggests it works particularly well for oil absorption and volume.
At the time I checked, Ulta listed Beach Babe Texturizing Dry Shampoo at 4.4 out of 5 stars from more than 4,700 reviews, with 77% of reviewers saying they would recommend it to a friend.
Among the commonly mentioned positives were:
Pleasant fragrance
Added volume
Cleaner-looking hair
Gentleness
Ease of refreshing oily hair
Recent reviewers also mention that it absorbs oil while providing extra volume and can refresh hair between washes without an obvious white cast when worked in properly.
Walmart’s listing shows similarly positive feedback, with the product receiving around 4.5 stars from thousands of ratings.
That’s a pretty substantial pool of reviews for an inexpensive hair product.
What About White Residue?
This is always one of my first questions about dry shampoo.
Nobody wants to cure greasy roots only to replace them with hair that looks as though someone sprinkled flour over it.
Not Your Mother’s markets Beach Babe as leaving no white residue.
Customer experiences aren’t completely identical, though.
Many reviewers report little or no visible white cast, while others say they can see some powder, particularly if too much is applied.
That doesn’t surprise me. With virtually any starch-based dry shampoo, application technique can make a significant difference.
If your hair is very dark, I’d use a light hand initially rather than spraying half the can onto your roots.
How I Would Use It
The manufacturer’s directions are straightforward:
Shake the can vigorously.
Hold it around 8–10 inches away from your hair.
Spray it primarily onto the roots.
Massage the product thoroughly into the hair with your fingertips.
Brush through.
Style your hair normally.
My preference with any dry shampoo is to start with a small amount.
You can always add more.
I would divide particularly oily hair into a few sections and concentrate on areas such as the crown, hairline and parting rather than spraying absolutely everything.
Once applied, giving the product a little time to absorb oil before massaging it through can also help.
Does It Add Texture?
This is where Beach Babe becomes more interesting than a very basic dry shampoo.
Yes, reducing oil naturally gives hair a little more lift, but customer reviews specifically mention increased volume and texture as benefits.
That makes it particularly appealing for:
Fine hair
Flat roots
Messy buns
Ponytails
Braids
Tousled waves
Second-day curls
Hair that is difficult to style immediately after washing
Freshly washed hair can sometimes be almost too silky when you’re trying to create an updo or braid.
A texturizing dry shampoo can give it a little extra grip.
The Coconut Fragrance
This is probably going to divide opinion more than almost anything else about this dry shampoo.
Beach Babe has a toasted coconut fragrance.
If you enjoy tropical, summery hair products, that may be one of its biggest attractions.
Some Ulta reviewers specifically identify the scent as one of the product’s strong points.
On the other hand, fragrance is incredibly personal.
If you’re sensitive to scented hair products or you simply prefer your beauty products to disappear into the background, I’d probably choose an unscented dry shampoo instead.
This isn’t really attempting to be discreetly fragranced.
Is It Good for Fine Hair?
I think fine hair is potentially one of the best matches for this product.
Fine hair can become visibly oily quickly because there’s less hair volume to disguise the oils around the scalp.
It can also fall flat.
A product that tackles oil while creating a bit of additional texture therefore addresses both problems at once.
Fine hair is also listed among the hair types for which Ulta reviewers commonly use the product.
The trick is not to overdo it.
Fine hair can become weighed down or dull if you keep layering dry shampoo on top of dry shampoo for several days.
Is It Suitable for Color-Treated Hair?
The product is marketed as suitable for all hair types, including natural and color-treated hair.
That’s useful if you’re deliberately stretching the period between washes to help maintain your color.
Just remember that dry shampoo is an addition to your hair-care routine rather than a substitute for properly cleansing the scalp.
Ingredients
The ingredient list currently published by Not Your Mother’s is:
Isobutane, Hydrofluorocarbon 152A, Alcohol Denat., Oryza Sativa (Rice) Starch, Hordeum Vulgare Seed Flour, Distearyldimonium Chloride, Cetrimonium Chloride, Fragrance (Parfum), Vanillin and Coumarin.
There are a couple of things worth noting here.
First, this is an aerosol product.
Second, it contains denatured alcohol and fragrance, so people with particularly dry or sensitive scalps may prefer not to use it excessively.
The fragrance ingredients also mean this wouldn’t be my first choice for someone deliberately seeking fragrance-free hair care.
Will Dry Shampoo Damage My Hair?
Occasional use of dry shampoo is very different from relying on it indefinitely instead of washing your scalp.
I think the most sensible approach is to use products like this exactly as they were intended: between washes.
Dry shampoo absorbs oil, but it doesn’t rinse away sweat, styling-product residue, dead skin and everything else accumulating on the scalp.
I therefore wouldn’t repeatedly pile it onto the roots for a week without washing my hair.
If your scalp begins to feel itchy, uncomfortable or extremely dry, that’s a good sign to stop layering on more product and wash your hair properly.
Pros and Cons
What I Like
Affordable
It sits firmly within the drugstore end of the market rather than costing salon-product prices.
Absorbs oil
Rice and barley starches provide the oil-absorbing element that you’d expect from a dry shampoo.
Adds texture as well as freshness
This is probably the biggest reason I’d choose Beach Babe over a very basic dry shampoo.
Good for flat hair
The volume and texture can be particularly useful for finer hair.
Vegan and cruelty-free
The current formula is listed by Not Your Mother’s as both vegan and cruelty-free.
No silicones or parabens
It’s also marketed as silicone-free, paraben-free and sulfate surfactant-free.
What I Don’t Like
The fragrance is fairly distinctive
Toasted coconut won’t appeal to everyone.
White residue is still possible
Although it’s marketed as having no white residue, some customers report visible powder, so people with very dark hair may need to take extra care with application.
It contains alcohol and fragrance
Not necessarily ideal if your scalp is particularly dry or sensitive.
It doesn’t actually wash your hair
No dry shampoo does. It’s worth remembering what this type of product can and cannot accomplish.
Who Would I Recommend It For?
I’d consider Not Your Mother’s Beach Babe particularly suitable if you:
Have oily roots between washes
Have fine or flat hair
Want additional volume
Enjoy tousled hairstyles
Like coconut-scented beauty products
Want an inexpensive dry shampoo
Want to extend the life of a blowout
Prefer vegan and cruelty-free hair products
I’d probably look elsewhere if you:
Have a very fragrance-sensitive scalp
Strongly dislike coconut scents
Want a completely fragrance-free product
Have extremely dry hair or scalp
Want a dry shampoo specifically formulated for very dark hair
My Verdict: Is Not Your Mother’s Beach Babe Dry Shampoo Worth It?
Yes — particularly if your main problems are oily roots and flat hair.
What makes Not Your Mother’s Beach Babe Texturizing Dry Shampoo stand out isn’t necessarily that it performs some revolutionary new trick.
It’s that it combines several useful things in one affordable product.
You get oil absorption, a fresher appearance, more texture and extra root volume without moving into premium dry-shampoo pricing.
The thousands of broadly positive customer reviews are reassuring too. Ulta customers currently give the product an average rating of around 4.4 stars, while Walmart’s ratings are similarly strong.
My main reservations would be the relatively strong fragrance and the possibility of visible powder if it’s applied too enthusiastically.
Used lightly and worked properly into the roots, though, I can see why Beach Babe has become such a popular drugstore option.
Beautifully Alive Rating: 4.3/5
Best feature: Oil absorption plus noticeably more texture
Biggest drawback: The coconut fragrance may be too much if you prefer unscented products
Best suited to: Fine, oily or flat hair that needs refreshing between washes
Would I recommend it? Yes, particularly as an affordable texturizing dry shampoo.
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