This week I’ve been the girl that got away.
Allow me to explain.
I’ve been wearing and testing new Elizabeth and James Nirvana Dry Shampoo ($28 for a 4.4-oz. bottle), and my hair has smelled like the hair of the girl that got away…who had great smelling hair.
I can’t remember where I heard this before, and something tells me it was in a shampoo commercial (LOL!), but I’ve heard that your hair should smell like the girl who got away, as in the stranger who walks by you on the sidewalk or the train one day, and you catch a whiff of his or her wonderful hair, which is, of course, perfectly styled, and the memory of said hair haunts your dreams for all time. From that day forward, you remember him or her as the guy or gal with the amazing smelling hair who got away.
You know a hair product smells good when you can’t stop sniffing handfuls of your hair, and I’ve been doing that a lot with this new dry shampoo. It’s the best smelling dry shampoo I’ve ever smelled.
Correction — there are two of them, and they’re both the best smelling dry shampoos I’ve ever smelled. One is called Nirvana White, and the other’s Nirvana Black, and they’re after their respective perfumes by Elizabeth and James (otherwise known as Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson’s company).
Nirvana White is the lighter, fresher of the two, a strappy sandals and ruffled dress girly girl scent with notes of peony, muguet (lily of the valley) and musk. Meanwhile, Nirvana Black is a sensual, moody motorcycle jacket with sky-high stilettos and dark lipstick with notes of violet, sandalwood and vanilla.
Both are fine mist aerosol sprays that absorb oil while adding texture and volume (and one of two freaking amazing scents) without leaving behind a heavy residue.
I’m on day four of my current blowout, and wow! — I’m like Pharrell right now (happy). 🙂 These are the real deal. I’ve also walked three times on the treadmill over the four days, so I can say that my roots should be sufficiently janky, but these dry shampoos have handled the oil, junk and funk well.
And the mist, too! I’m weirdly particular about my mists when it comes to dry shampoos, and this one is great. It comes out of the bottles strong and fine and covers a large area.
Once in a while, if I spray too close to my head, I’ll get a little of that telltale dry shampoo white powder mist, but it’s nothing that a quick scalp massage and a brush through can’t fix.
Overall, me likey. Me likely a lot. These are light, airy and don’t leave my roots feeling stiff. Instead, I get great root lift — even better than the lift I get from my beloved Living Proof Dry Shampoo.
I know! I’m pretty excited too.
But are they as good overall as Living Proof?
Ah, the million dollar question…
For me, almost, but not quite. While Nirvana White and Black leave my hair feeling light and refreshed, I think my hair feels cleaner (and has less residue around my roots) when I use Living Proof.
That’s not to say that Nirvana leaves a ton of gunky root residue, because it doesn’t. Actually, it leaves very little, even after four days. In fact, gunky root-wise, Nirvana’s residue situation is much, most better than most dry shampoos, in my opinion.
That’s good stuff.
Who would have thought it would take a dry shampoo to turn me into an Elizabeth and James Nirvana perfume fan?
I know! It only took forever, LOL!
Yeah…I’ve also been wearing the brand’s fragrances to go along with my new scented hair, and man, sometimes it’s REALLY FUN to be a girly-girl, because we get to do things like match our perfumes to our dry shampoos.
Ha! It’s the little things. 🙂
If you want to give these a sniff, Nirvana White and Nirvana Black are available now exclusively at Sephora and sephora.com ($28 each).
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Nice! Sounds good. Pretty sure we don’t get this brand here though.
Nirvana Black has been on my perfume wishlist forever! It’s an absolutely gorgeous smell. I’d love that matching dry shampoo too!
So you are a stiletto and motojacket wearing badass? Who would have thought!
I tried dry shampoo once, never again.
I’m too dry. My hair and skin drink oil.
I’ve had the perfumes for a while and have been going back and forth about buying the dry shampoo. I think I’m sold now lol. Hey you should try their body oils too, I use them when I get out of the shower and they work so good.
Yeah, I’m a MAJOR fan of Nirvana White. Major fan. My only gripe is that it’s not long lasting. I got a whiff of it using a sample at Sephora & eventually ended up getting the rollerball. Wish I could use dry shampoos. My hair is still in my Marley twists and even though my scalp still looks good, I do wonder how a dry shampoo would work. I like Nirvana White better than Nirvana Black but I’d love to smell these shampoos 🙂
Wow I’m so glad you reviewed this! As I was thinking about getting the Nirvana Black one but didn’t know if it was as good as Living Proof dry shampoo I’ve been hearing so much about. I’m going to Sephora today to use my ViB discount and I’ll pick this up because I like the idea of a perfumed dry shampoo . Great timing!
Thanks for the heads up! I had no idea there was Nirvana Black dry shampoo. Woohoo! A dry shampoo that smells pretty! I need to obtain some ASAP!
If it’s almost as good as Living Proof I’ll have to try it!
Love,love, love Nirvana Black. Thank you so much for your review. I will now get the dry, Nirvana Black shampoo.
Karen, you enabler, I added this to my Sephora VIB cart! Fingers cross it doesn’t disappoint!
How does this work for baby fine hair???
Hi Elizabeth! It works great. I’ve been using the Nirvana White dry shampoo for several weeks and it’s super. Dry shampoo can be tricky with baby fine hair because our 2nd day hair needs a volume boost, and I’m really liking this. I wash my hair every other day though, so I can’t speak to whether it builds up or weighs hair down after 3 or 4 days. But I’ve tried a lot of dry shampoos and this is definitely a favorite!
I’ve been wearing Nirvana white for a while and just bought another bottle during the vib sale. I also finally got the black but in the travel size, so I’ve been wearing them together and love it!
I’ve never been a big fan of dry shampoo cause I hate the residue they leave behind, but these are so good. I can easily get 3-4 days before needing to wash my hair and they smell so divine! I also have the perfumes and love them. I think I prefer the black, but just barely. I picked up a couple of the White and Black during the Sephora sale. They can seem expensive at first but they’re totally worth it to me. I might try the Living Proof Dry Shampoo in the future for the days that I’m not wearing the E&J perfumes.
Thanks for the review on these Karen.
You may be late to the party but I wasn’t even invited! I have never heard of Elizabeth and James, so I’m totally out of it. 🙂 I really like the sound of Black, though, so I’ll have to check it out!
Girl, it’s about time you jumped on the Nirvana bandwagon. Nirvana white is all I’ve been wearing since it came out. I absolutely love that fragrance. I have a big bottle for home and roller balls for my purse, makeup bag and office.
I’ve been debating the dry shampoo. Normally I’m not a fan of it so I’m still on the fence. I have been trying it though every time I go to Sephora so they’re going to make me buy a bottle soon! In fact, there’s what now, an hour left of the sale? I should sign off and go order a bottle