WENŽ Lavender Cleansing Conditioner 16oz
by Chaz Dean Studio
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Our Price: $32.00 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Beauty See more product details |
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Customer Reviews of WENŽ Lavender Cleansing Conditioner 16oz
Customer Review: Unprocessed black hair? save your money!!!
Summary: 1 Stars
About me/ my hair: I am Black-American and have 100% natural hair that, when straightened, hangs about an inch above my waist. My hair is very fine/fragile and naturally very dry, so it frizzes easily and heat is very damaging to it. I'm very careful about how I wash my hair, and for years, I've used the same process: I wash my hair weekly with a humectant conditioner, and then wash twice monthly with Ivory soap (because it's a gentle detergent).
I tried Wen because I saw the info-mercial and a friend (who is Black-American with waist length hair, that is partly relaxed and partly natural) told me that Wen lavendar works for her. My friend has been growing out the relaxer in her hair, and has not had a touch-up in months. So, I excitedly ordered the product, waited all weekend for it to arrive, and then, washed my hair Monday night (yes, I almost missed the Jets-Patriots game fooling around with this stuff, that's how excited I was to try it out)!
The first thing I noticed was that the Cleansing Conditioner had the consistency of Pantene Pro-V, which has never been an effective conditioner for my unprocessed hair. This stuff did not work any better: I used exactly the amount directed on the bottle, 30 pumps, and massaged and waited as directed. My hair felt hard and my scalp and neck tingled from the menthol in the Cleanser. I followed the instructions TO. THE. LETTER. I rinsed and repeated, wondering if my hair would feel any softer after a second round. It did not. I tried one last round: I parted my hair into four sections and increased the pumps from 30 for my entire head, to 30 for each section, and then left the cleanser in for 10 minutes!
This should have been overkill. But my hair felt EXACTLY the same!!
So then I applied the hydrating mask. I was even more disappointed with this: this "Hydrating Mask" feels more like a finishing balm and it did absolutely nothing for my ends. I had to use almost the entire jar for the length and thickness of hair I have, which made my stomach turn because the little 4oz jar cost almost *FIFTY DOLLARS* -- I thought it would last for at least a few uses!! I brushed my hair and pulled it into a bun to dry. The next morning, my hair was just as dry and frizzy as always. And in addition, I had *knots* in my curls, which I usually NEVER have!
If you have a relaxer/Brazilian/texturizer, this product might work for you. Also, if you are trying to grow out a relaxer or texturizer, this product may work well for you as well. But in general: for black hair, Wen is probably no more effective than a good conditioner. In my opinion, the Wen system is a rip-off if you have natural, unprocessed hair. It is very unprofessional and misleading for them to market this product to natural hair and to claim that this product works for "natural ethnic" hair. It does not have the consistency to bind to and saturate the unprocessed hair shaft!!!
All that Wen did was bind to my wallet and clean me out of 85 dollars!
Sisters -- save your hard earned money, and just get a good humectant conditioner like Matrix Biolage or Nexxus Humectress, or a hair conditioner from Miss Jessies or Carol's Daughter!
Customer Review: was a total skeptic, but not anymore
Summary: 4 Stars
I could not have been more skeptical about this product. I have fine, thin, chin-length hair. It's so fine and thin that I have to style it carefully to cover a couple really sparse spots. I was never one to use conditioner b/c I never found one that didn't weigh my hair down, make it a greasy mess by the end of the day, or make it so soft that I couldn't do anything with it. But then my stylist told me that I needed to start doing something b/c my hair was really dry - which was leading to breakage (and even thinner hair). So she recommended a bunch of different conditioners and treatments - none of which impressed me. Then flipping through the channels one day I happened to see Chaz on QVC. I'd seen the Wen infomercial before, but turned the channel after five minutes - I could see no reason to even consider the product. Everyone on the infomercial had either long, thick or ethnic hair - the opposite of me. When I saw Chaz's presentation on QVC, though, I became curious - especially about the lavender (which was billed as the most volumizing of the group). At that point I was desperate to try anything that might improve the quality of my hair. I'd spent enough on other products that hadn't worked, I didn't feel like I had anything to lose.
I got the product, watched the DVD and read the directions carefully. I was still skeptical as I pumped out what seemed to be entirely too much product for my amount of hair (I use 16 pumps). I did like the way it felt in my hair - foamy (not lather) and tingly - and it really did feel cleaner than I'd expected after I rinsed. After I dried and styled it, though, I was a believer. My hair was soft and smooth, but not too soft - and not static-filled or fly-away like most other conditioners leave my hair. What got me, though, was the amount of volume I got from just the conditioning cleanser (no additional volumizing product was used) and my round brush. I couldn't believe it! It was so manageable and easy to style. I haven't had a bad hair day since!! Not to mention, my hair is far less oily and greasy than it was when I used standard shampoos - my hair really feels cleaner overall. I've been using the product for about three weeks now and I've already noticed a huge difference in the amount of breakage I experience - it's like night and day! My hair already feels healthier - I can't wait to see what it looks like months from now!
The only reason I don't give the product five stars is because it really is a time consuming process. Rinse for at least a minute, then massage it into your scalp for 2-3 minutes, then comb it through and let it sit in your hair for at least five minutes, then rinse and comb again until the water runs clear (at least a minute or two). There's no such thing as a quick shower when it comes to using this product. Luckily it hasn't been much of an issue in that I just leave myself a few extra minutes of shower time in the morning. I look at is as a daily spa treatment for my hair. I must admit, though, if I wasn't so convinced by the results I'm not sure I'd spend the time it takes to use it properly. As it is, though, I can't imagine using anything else!
Customer Review: Better than I expected
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this when it was on sale so I didn't pay the $36 price. Not sure if I would pay that price to reorder.
However, I LOVE this product. I've only used it a handful of times but my hair feels amazing. I have fine straight hair that has a tendency to feel weighed down and heavy, with very little body. I have more normal to dry hair but my scalp gets oily from shampoo stripping out the natural oils. My hair is also really really straight and wants to part right down the middle no matter what I do. It also has a tendancy to just lie flat against my skull with no movement whatsoever.
I decided to take this for a test drive and see if it worked and it did. I have an angled bob that falls just under my chin so my hair is short and I didn't need to use as many pumps as suggested. (I only use 5 pumps each for the back and sides of my hair rather than 10). It was easy to work all the cleansing conditioner in my hair and I live it in while finishing my shower or shaving my legs. It's easy to rinse out -- actually it was easier to rinse out than normal shampoo.
The first time I tried it I cleansed my hair at night and went to bed with damp hair. I woke up with no bed head. No weird waves in my hair from my head or pieces sticking out in odd places. My hair was soft, with lots of body. By the end of the day my hair still looked amazing, it didn't feel greasy or oily and still had shine and bounce. It still didn't feel greasy or yucky the next day (although I did cleanse my hair again).
It looks even better than when I get it done at the salon. I barely after to do anything to get it to fall the way I want and I can finally get it to part off center and it stays that way. It has movement, it doesn't lie flat against my skull and it just looks and feels amazing.
I will definitely be using this product again. Although I wish the price wasn't so high.
I knocked off a star for the price, otherwise it would be 5 star review.
Customer Review: Watch Instructional Video
Summary: 5 Stars
I have heard so much about WEN that I had to buy it. I followed the directions perfectly '30-40 pumps, massage in for a minute, let stand 3-5 minutes, rinse thoroughly' and when I got out my hair had waxy build up. I was ticked I mean wasn't the whole point of this not to have waxy build up? To have volume? I tried twice more just to see if I had messed up, but no each time my hair came out with grease and wax. Finally I googled 'WEN instructions' and it came up with a video on YouTube.com Here's the proper way that should be on the bottle.
1. rinse hair thoroughly, like for a few minutes.
2. 5-10 pumps (more if you need) and put on the top part of your hair, massage in
3. 5-10 pumps under your hair massage in
4. 5-10 pumps on the left side
5. 5-10 pumps on the right side
6. any extra pumps on the bottom or top, just fill in
7. Slightly tilt your head in the water until it gets a little wet
8. massage in your scalp for a minute, this should be easier because of the water you added
9. comb through
10. clip it up and let stay for a solid 3-5 minutes
11. rise thoroughly making sure you don't feel anything in your hair
optional
12. before you get out use a pump or so to run though the ends of your hair like leave in conditioner
Do you see how detailed that is? That's what should be on the back of the bottle because I can tell you now I only wash my hair with WEN and it is not greasy, no waxy build up and my hair looks really healthy. I have fine blonde hair that I dye so it is slightly damaged, but I have a ton of it so it can be a pain to get the shampoo out from under the layers, I really really like the Cucumber Aloe and just bought a bigger bottle, my hair is mid back and I find I really only need 5-7 pumps per section so don't use the 40 plus pumps, saves the product and me money.
Customer Review: Over-promises, under-delivers
Summary: 2 Stars
WEN is a really rich conditioner, not a wonder product. It smells like a spa (more rosemary than lavender)...the smell is surprisingly mild, and goes away instantly. The pump was broken, but I replaced it. The required number of pumps is ridiculous. You might as well plan to use an entire bottle each time you wash your hair. I tried using less, and then more, but it didn't make a difference.
I had no issues washing my hair without suds. My hair didn't feel stripped, but it didn't feel clean, either. It felt like when you wet your hair when it's really dirty, but don't wash it. Stiff and icky. Rinsing was a bit odd, because my hair never felt clean. When dry, I had zero shine. A bit less frizz, but seemed identical to washing my dirty hair with my standard creme conditioner rather than shampoo. Felt filmy, even though I rinsed properly. My hair had no smell, no bounce, nothing. I tried it a few more times and by the end of the week, my scalp felt dirty and oily, and my hair looked pretty awful. I then washed again with regular shampoo and conditioner and my hair is back to normal. All I can say is my hair actually feels better with regular shampoo, sulfates and all. An expensive lesson. It's a good thing I tried the smaller (cheaper) size first. I think this is one of those products that works for some people but not others. Perhaps it has to do with hard vs. soft water or different types of hair. Oh, and the name is incredibly stupid...
For reference, my hair is medium length, medium texture. More thick than thin, slightly wavy, and tends to frizz on the top layer due to repeated hair coloring. It's exceedingly average, so I feel I'm a good test for most hair products.