Today my good friend Hormily (that's her stage name) would like to share a review with you. She tried the Wen Cleansing Conditioner. Hormily, take it away....
Have you ever not been able to sleep? Do you wake up in the middle of the night wide awake? Me too. During those wide-awake-at-2am times, I click on the TV to watch infomercials. I love a good infomercial. Several nights in a row I saw the Wen infomercial and was seduced by Alyssa Milano's soft, shiny, gorgeous hair. And, like all infomercials, the product itself looked AMAZING and MIRACULOUS.
It cost around $32 for 16oz. I have never spent this much on a hair product, but I had a little Christmas money left over and decided that since it wasn't really coming out of my own money I would try it. I ordered it from Amazon.
When the bottle came, I was so excited to try it that I took a shower immediately. The instructions say to use 20 pumps of the product for hair my length. I had read many reviews online and many women were baffled at how the product cost so much but that they went through it so quickly. I learned that they used 10 pumps and it was just fine. So I used 10 pumps.
The first thing I noticed was the scent. It was Pomegranate, which I usually love. However, this did not smell like Pomegranate at all. It smelled slightly sweet but mostly like... plastic. It was the weirdest smell. Plastic, strong burned plastic. I had read online that some women had a hard time getting used to the "natural" and "earthy" scent of Wen, so I was ready for that, but this was nothing natural.
I put ten pumps on and added a little water and worked up to a creamy lather. I was then supposed to comb through it and let it sit for 5-10 minutes before rinsing. I tried combing through it and my thick, fine and super straight hair did not budge. One bit. It was so snarly and tangled. I thought I'd let it sit on my hair for a bit and let it work. I tried combing it again in a few minutes. Still snarly as all get-out. So I started from the bottom, combing a few inches at a time. What a pain in the ass. No problem though, I figured it was just because I didn't use the full amount.
I rinsed it out after 10 minutes and hopped out of the shower. My hair felt... snarly. I threw a little Moroccan Oil on the ends and blow-dried it as usual. My hair turned out shiny and soft, but the texture was different. I can't explain how. Despite the shininess and softness, it felt somehow dry.
The next day, I didn't shower. Yeah, that's right. I don't shower every day. Sue me.
The next day, I used the full 20 pumps. It was easier to comb through, but still didn't glide through like I felt it should. Same deal after the blow-dry. Looked pretty, felt dry and almost brittle.
I tried it in a few other scenarios. Without blow drying, without the oil, completely air-drying without even combing it or touching it. Still the same, every time.
I happened to go to Fantastic Sam's to get a trim during this time. The stylist was nearly aghast at the dryness of my hair. She combed through a back part of it and held it up so I could see it. It was dull, ratted, and looked horrible. She recommended I get a deep conditioning treatment right then and there. (Fantastic Sams' deep conditioning treatments: $9.99 - heck yes!) After the treatment my hair looked one million times better. Shiny and soft, but moisturized. I couldn't stop touching it. Which is what I was hoping would happen when I started using Wen in the first place.
I haven't used it since. It's sitting in my shower, half full. And honestly, if it hadn't paid so much for it, I would have stopped using it after the first try based on the scent alone.
Since I've been highlighting my hair, I've been using sulfate and paraben free products since supposedly they are so much gentler on your hair. After the Wen debacle, I've started just using my regular Pantene/Herbal Essences/whatever smells good routine again, and MAYBE working in a S/P free product once a week. And my hair looks fantastic most of the time. So, I say screw those special products.
Wen - not worth the money or effort. You know, maybe it's my specific hair type that doesn't respond to it. I did read that women with wavy, non-fine hair really love it. So it might be just me.
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