Lets get one thing straight, hair powders are not dry shampoos. At least not in the traditional sense that you only use them on days when you drank too much the night before, overslept by 45 minutes and had to leave for work sans showering. New breed hair powders are about giving your hair some oomph and boy, are there loads of them.

That said, much mystery exists around what they are and how to use them. When fielding enquiries of this nature I like to compare hair powder to scaffolding. Think of it if you will as a substance that gets between your roots and connects to form a structure that literally holds your hair up and away from your scalp. And so the miracle of hair powder is demystified in one fell swoop.

The best way to use it? Here apply the universal beauty mantra of less is more. Start with just a small amount deployed at the roots and then use your hands to work it in a bit. You can always add more but getting the stuff out is a harder fish to fry, just ask Edward Scissorhands. 

Here are five we tried...

Lynn, staff writer tried Aveda pure abundance hair potion, £19

'I am consistently striving for hair that is simultaneously glossy and fluffy, much like Lou Doillon’s, say, or Clemence Poesy’s. You know that French, just-shagged-a-rock-star hair. If I straighten my hair it has a tendency to go flat and lacklustre and it is only when it is exposed to a little rain that it relaxes into the slightly unkempt style that I crave. But waiting for it to drizzle is an unfeasible beauty regime. Thankfully, this product from Aveda performs a similar function to rain. It looks like a powder but when it hits your hair and fingers it somehow transforms into something wetter, like a gel, and goes about volumising your roots in quite an unexpected way. Very useful…'     

Joanna, beauty director tried Bumble and bumble Pret-a-powder, £21.50

'I used to be quite coy about my rampant use of dry shampoo. Since, long into adulthood, I’m still wrestling with sodden, chip-pan roots every single morning that I don’t wash my hair. So, the idea that dry shampoo is no longer the unglamorous scion of haircare and that it’s clawed its way up into the hallowed category of ‘styling product’ means that I can feel shame no more. And I can start to have a bit of fun with them. Of course, they’re not called dry shampoos anymore, at least not if you’re using them for their volumising and texturing prowess. They’re called hair powders. My favourite, Pret-a-Powder, comes from the expert stable of Bumble & Bumble and takes little more than a squeeze of the bottle to spurt out just the right amount of dust-fine white particles into the roots. Massage a bit with fingertips and instantly, my small hair becomes a damn sight larger. Forget about mini-cans of hairspray in your clutch bag and forget even, about a brush, this is the only hair wizardry you need for round-the-clock touch-ups.'

Alice, beauty intern tried Shu Uemura Art of Hair Volume Maker, £31

'My hair COMPLETELY lacks any kind of volume. I’ve tried everything under the sun, but hair powder seems to be the only thing that gives it a bit of lift. I usually end up tipping half the pot into my roots by accident though, so the fact this one comes with a brush dispenser made it easy to distribute evenly.  The only downside is the texture, I found it a bit gritty, but that’s a small price to pay for volumised locks, right?'

Elin, junior fashion editor tried Alterna Bamboo Style Texturizing Body Boost, £23 at lookfantastic

'I’ve always been intrigued by hair powders, secretly hoping that the result would be a bouffant, powdery beehive like Kirsten Dunst’s in Marie Antoinette. Actually that’s not what kind of powder they are. I trialled Alterna’s ‘Bamboo Style’ which can best be compared to a very fine type of fake snow – soft, slightly velvety to sight which disappears into thin air. It appears delicate but once you start working the product with your hands you get a sense of how much power is in so little. It creates friction, not sticky, or gunky but dry friction – like if you tried to skid across a lino floor in Havaianas. The product was great, but my main issue with hair powder is that I like my hair freshly washed, and I like that flyaway quality, and don’t see any reason to get rid of it. However, a day later (having re-washed my hair) and my hair is looking voluminous. Perhaps there is something to it, it’s just the application which needs a little work.' 

Grace, fashion intern tried Kerastase Powder Bluff, £19.55 at feelunique

'On the whole I stay well away from dry shampoo – only when my alarm clock lets me down do I rely on the stuff and even then I find it fairly worrisome. I have seen plenty of white powdered heads to thoroughly put me off. But I was pleasantly surprised by this Kerastase spray. Because I'm not a seasoned professional I was holding the spray right up to the roots (this was too close apparently) but still there were no white powdery streaks in sight! It also gave a huge amount of volume and revamped my hairdo. My hair felt a little dry afterward but I think this was because I was doing it wrong and was perhaps caused by unnecessary overuse. I would definitely use it again and for a night out too.'