This hair invention is a game-changer for washing your hair after the gym
Chloe Pantazi/INSIDER
The INSIDER Summary:
- The PonyDry is a hair sleeve that covers the ends of your hair so you can just wash your roots.
- I tried it at home, and it kept the bottom of my hair dry while the top got a thorough clean.
- No one could tell that half of my hair hadn't been washed in a few days!
As part of this year's Grammy's goody bag, celebrities got to take home a PonyDry — a hair sleeve that covers the ends of your hair in the shower so you can just wash your roots.
This invention sounded like a dream to me. I work out a few times a week and always wash my hair after, which puts a lot of strain on it — especially my dry ends, which I don't like to wash too frequently since certain shampoos can strip away moisture. I also don't love using dry shampoo.
Curious to see if the contraption actually works, and always game to try weird new hair-washing tricks, I tested the PonyDry at home.
The method
1. Tie your hair
First, I tied my hair into a high ponytail, following the directions on the back of the plastic wallet the PonyDry, which costs $19.99, comes in. They're pretty self-explanatory.
Chloe Pantazi/INSIDER
Here's what my hair looked like before I used the PonyDry:
Chloe Pantazi/INSIDER
2. Put on the sleeve
Then, I went about the elaborate process of putting the PonyDry on my head, which is harder than it looks in the instructions.
Taking the PonyDry out of the packet, my first impression is that it's kind of a weird, horn shape. It's about the same length as a hair towel, but much narrower, and the texture is lighter, made out of polyester with an acrylic coating to keep water out.
It looks like this:
Chloe Pantazi/INSIDER
To secure the PonyDry in place, I tipped my head forward, and fit the sleeve over my ponytail.
Once it was on, I kept my head angled down as I tugged the drawstring at the top of my now pink pony so no water could get through.
Then, I spun the ponytail into a bun, and pulled the black triangle-shaped piece of plastic at the back of the bun through a small loop to seal the deal.
I looked super stylish:
Chloe Pantazi/INSIDER
3. Wash hair
I stepped into the shower feeling pretty confident. While it looked a bit silly, the PonyDry felt like a miniature shower cap, but more secure thanks to the drawstring.
My only concern was that the PonyDry wasn't holding enough of my hair, and that I'd end up washing more of it than I wanted to. My hair is fine, so there were little bits of hair that I couldn't quite fit into the sleeve.
I was convinced that no water would get through — and it didn't. I submerged my head under the water, massaged shampoo into my hair, and even worked the shampoo over the PonyDry to really test its limits. The little triangle button at the back really pulled its weight, and my pink bun stayed firmly in place.
Finally, I rinsed off, and stepped out of the shower. Since I only ever condition the ends of my hair — which, in this case, were busy staying dry — I just shampooed.
4. Remove sleeve and dry hair
The moment of truth came when I took off the sleeve — the ends of my hair were completely dry.
Though most people leave the PonyDry on when they blow-dry their hair, I let my hair dry naturally. When I have the time, I prefer not to use heat on my hair since that dries it out more.
With the PonyDry off, leaving my wet hair on the top and dry hair on the bottom, I realized later that I was breaking a cardinal PonyDry rule — in the product's tips and tricks online, it specifically says you should leave the pink bun in place while your hair is drying.
Either way, it worked just fine, and the wet hair on top didn't really affect the tips of my hair. I went to bed with the top half of my head wet, and woke to what looked and felt like very clean hair.
I left the style natural, smoothing the ends with a touch of argan oil — which usually makes my hair look greasy if I haven't washed it in a few days. But not today. Half my hair is technically unclean, but no one's even noticed.
Chloe Pantazi/INSIDER
The verdict
I was pleasantly surprised that the PonyDry didn't budge in the shower, under the water pressure or the force of my shampoo massage.
My only quibble is that it could've been easier to put on — the triangle button was a little tough to find once I'd spun the PonyDry into a bun — but at least once it was on, it stayed on. And next time, I'll have a better idea of how it works.
I'll definitely use it again. Most likely when I'm feeling lazy but really need to wash (at least some of) my hair, or when I'm at the gym and just need to get the sweat out of my roots. In that sense, it beats dry shampoo.
Overall, I'm impressed with the PonyDry, even if it has a dumb name. It did what it said on the packet, and kept my hair dry.
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