Batiste: the honest verdict.
The Church & Dwight-owned dry shampoo brand that defined the category in Australia. Tested across the Original, Tropical, and Cherry variants.
- Position
- Mass market · Hair
- Founded
- United Kingdom · 1971
- Available at
- Coles + Woolworths + Priceline
The Glow read.
Batiste owns the dry shampoo category in Australia and has done since the late 2000s. The Original formula is rice-starch-based with a synthetic fragrance load — it absorbs oil reliably, leaves a chalky cast on dark hair, and costs $7 at Coles. For buyers who use dry shampoo as a between-wash extender, this is the right product at the right price.
Where Batiste falters is in the formulation transparency conversation. The propellant + synthetic fragrance combination produces an aerosol cloud that's not ideal for indoor use, and the chalky cast on dark hair has driven the rise of premium alternatives (Bumble & Bumble Prêt-à-Powder, Living Proof Perfect Hair Day) that don't have the same problem.
Buy Batiste if your hair is light-to-medium and you want category-defining value. Buy Bumble & Bumble Prêt-à-Powder ($45) if your hair is dark and you can't tolerate the chalky cast.
What works
- Pricing is unbeatable at $7/can from Coles
- Reliable oil absorption on light-to-medium hair
- Distribution is universal — every supermarket and chemist in Australia
What doesn't
- Chalky cast on dark hair is the category's persistent problem
- Synthetic fragrance load is heavy
- Aerosol propellant is environmental and indoor-air negative
The buy.
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