Wen Week #1 | Wen Week #2 | Wen Week #3 | Wen Weeks #4 and #5 | Wen 6-month update | Wen 1-year update
At present, I continue to use Wen regularly.
My hair is naturally wavy, though I blow-dry it straight. It also has a tendency to be dry for the first few days after shampooing, plus frizz up at the tiniest hint of humidity in the air. We all want beautiful hair, but my third-day hair (meaning, three days after washing) is usually the best. Some of the oils have come back, the shine is restored, and it behaves. Just about the time I need to wash it again, of course.
All of this seemed to make me the perfect candidate for Wen. Wen is a “cleansing conditioner” system — there’s no shampoo. You wash your hair with Wen, which is supposed to clean your hair without stripping your hair’s shine and natural oils. According to its claims, you can wash your hair as many times in a row as you’d like, and it won’t dry out or get frizzy.
In Wen’s infomercial, hairdressers wash the hair of two identical twins, one with shampoo and one with Wen. I can’t remember how many times they repeated the washings, but it was more than a dozen – it might have been as many as fifty. However many times it was, the twin on the left with the regular shampoo had big, wild hair by the time the experiment was over, and the twin on the right had shiny, movie-star hair that we all want.
The twin with the regular shampoo? Her hair looked like mine does most days before I style it. Ouch.
- WEN® Anti-Frizz Styling Créme
- WEN® SIXTHIRTEEN® Ultra Nourishing Cleansing Treatment
- WEN® 3-product Travel Kit
I’ve read many reviews of Wen over the past year or so (I guess I’ve been in the “is it worth it or not” mindset for a while.) Wen seems to be a product people either love or hate. People with dry hair seem to think its a godsend. Others say it is greasy and takes the life out of their hair. The 30-day bottle of cleansing conditioner sells for $29.95 on its own, and when I saw their summer offer online with the bonuses, I figured… why not. I’ll try it and see — and of course, share my findings with you guys! So, I took the plunge and bought it. Last Monday, my 30-day Wen kit arrived. And here’s how my first week with Wen went…
My Wen kit arrived on Monday, June 24th. Here’s what came with it:
So, if I’m going to do a true comparison, I figured I should take a “before” photo. Here I am after washing my hair for the last time with regular shampoo (my previous hair regimen consisted of Organix Macadamia shampoo and John Frieda Deep Treatment conditioner.) Oh, these aren’t good photos at all, but they’re honest ones. Once my hair is dry, it takes a lot of styling, stylers, and products to tame it into “good hair.”
The directions said for best results, wash with half the recommended amount (so I did use the 12 pumps), then rinse and repeat. From what I’ve read about Wen too, many users have advised making sure your hair is very wet before putting Wen in. Wen does not lather at all and it’s very, very thick and creamy. It feels great to run it through your hair, but my hair also felt very “thick” with all of that conditioner in it. I used a wide-toothed comb to really work it through, rinsed and repeated. In total, I used 24 pumps of Wen. After the final rinse, I used one more pump as a leave-in conditioner, and I rubbed that through and let my hair dry.
My hair definitely felt different. It felt very, very soft. My usual routine is to let my hair air-dry on its own until it’s almost completely dry, then round-brush it with a blow dryer to straighten out the waves. My hair stayed soft and really shiny through this process, and it just looked different – nicer – than it usually does immediately after washing. I began to wonder if there was really something to the “shampoo takes all of the oils out of your hair” claim that Wen bases its conditioning-only concept on. Here are some photos.
Fast-forward from Monday until Thursday, when I washed my hair again with Wen. (I used to wait at least three days between shampooings – any more frequently, and it would dry out. I of course showered during this time, but my hair still looked great and felt clean, so I didn’t wash it. On Thursday, my hair looked and felt even better:
He said “I don’t know, but it looks… vivacious.”
Vivacious. (Who doesn’t want to hear that?) My husband also loves the smell. It’s got a scent somewhere between suntan lotion and tropical fruit.
So, then I decided to put Wen to the test this weekend. We had a gorgeous, warm and sunny Saturday here in Chicagoland – the kind I like to fill with gardening and yardwork. Usually, the recipe of working all day in the sun, outside, in humid air, plus sweat, is a sure-fire recipe for frizztastic hair. I mentally committed to taking a photo of my hair after my day of yard work and sharing it for this post, regardless of whether it turned out to be a good hair day or a bad hair day. I threw my hair into a ponytail under a ballcap (my usual yard-work ‘do!) and headed outside.
I mowed the lawn, weeded the garden, and mulched a flowerbed. Then, I pruned some low-hanging branches of our willow tree, which is slowly growing more horizontal as the years go on. I love this tree, but it leans over more and more each year, to the point that some of the branches that once grew upright were now digging into the dirt under the tree. So, I spent about four hours with my chainsaw, pruning, cutting up the wood and brush, and stacking the larger cut logs on the woodpile. My son was kind enough to document some of my yardwork and hat-hair for you:
(I also realized after taking this photo that I wore the same t-shirt for Thursday’s photo. On Thursday night after my shower, I put that shirt on just to take that photo as I didn’t want to take a picture in my pajamas! Oops. I will try to vary my shirt selection in future updates..!)
I haven’t tried any of the other products in the box so far. Honestly, I’m kind of afraid I will like them as much as I like this Wen cleansing conditioner, and I already know what this will cost me if I decide to continue using it. I also know from reading other people’s reviews that some of them lose their love for Wen after a few weeks, so I am going to continue using my 30 day kit and update you as I go. But right now? Right now I’m trying to mentally justify why I should spend the equivalent of a dollar a day on my hair. I keep thinking of all the groceries I could buy…
FCC Disclaimer: I am not being compensated for this review. I purchased Wen via the summer $29.95 online special shown above, and I am writing my opinions of this product as it’s something I’ve been curious about trying for a long time.
If you decide to try Wen, the $29.95 summer special with bonuses is still going. Note that Wen haircare is a subscription program. It WILL send you more a month from now and bill you $29.95/month plus shipping and handling. You have to cancel if you want to stop it. But, Wen has a 60-day money back guarantee. From their site:
Try the WEN® Healthy Hair Care System for yourself. If you don’t think it’s the perfect answer to hair care, just return the unused portion within 60 days of delivery and we’ll refund the purchase price (less shipping and handling). We can make the guarantee because we know the WEN® Healthy Hair Care System works!
Wen Week #1 | Wen Week #2 | Wen Week #3 | Wen Weeks #4 and #5 | Wen 6-month update | Wen 1-year update
At present, I continue to use Wen regularly.
FDeRosier says
Has anyone tried the new L’Oreal cleansing conditioner? It’s alot cheaper, and available at Ulta (not sure if it’s at the stores or just on Ulta.com. Currently on Ulta.com it’s $5.99). It’s called EverCreme. I’m just wondering if anyone has tried it, what they’ve thought of it compared to Wen. TIA!
Maria says
I have natural curly /wavy hair that frizzes easy with humidity. I have used Loreal’s Ever Sleek, sulfate free shampoo, and it leaves my hair beautifully soft and esay to manage, and blow dry… I haven’t use the conditioner, because conditioners cause me irritation , but this one, close to $7.00 is worth the money, I buy it at the mayor grocery stores and Target. (I clean the scalp with a regular head and shoulders shampoo), and THEN! I use Loreal’s , just leave it for a couple of minutes and feel your hair change… Don’t over rinse!!
Maria
kristaljewel says
Thanks for the review. Your hair does look nice! Now I am curious as to how the results may differ for someone with quite oily hair. I am one of those people who actually needs to wash her hair daily. I have tried to go three days without and you can actually see a line of oily-ness (is that a word?) about 2 inches down from my crown if I try to go that long. I generally would not complain about the outcome of my hair as long as I wash it every day so not sure if I would be willing to try this product quite yet or not, but you got me thinking about it!
momofboys says
I get my WEN from Amazon – a little less, and no contract/auto-ship! :)
prea says
I think your hair looks great Jill! :)
Boscobud says
I saw a product at Sally Beauty Supple called Hair One, and reviews tell me it is just like Wen but cheaper.
pndm96 says
I was looking to try this as well. Does anyone know what size the mist and gloss is in the deluxe kit?
holly3c says
After Jill’s post alerting the summer sale, I too took the plunge and received the same kit. I liked the way my hair felt… much less coarse and smoother overall. However, after 3 or 4 uses (I wash my hair every 3 days too) I noticed twice the amount of hair in the shower (and my hands) as I normally do. I called customer service and was told that that’s just wen’s way of shedding the damaged hairs, but I just wasn’t comfortable with the amount of hair I was losing. After reading a lot of reviews, it seems like this is just what happens to some people while others have great luck. I’m sending mine back, and am jealous of those of you for whom this product works so well!
mburke221 says
Jill — I can’t wait to hear about your full experience with Wen. I’ve also considered buying it but I hesitate for the same reason as everyone else here: the price. Please let us know if the 30-day supply truly lasts for the whole month for someone with long hair like yourself who needs the 24-32 pumps of Wen per wash. I have oily hair and I must wash my hair every other day, even at age 56. My hair is shoulder-length and so I would also need to use the 24-32 pumps of product each time. If the 30-day supply does take you through an entire month, please let us know if you feel enough product is left in the container to last for a month for someone who has to wash their hair more often than you.
cheryl says
i have hair to my waist and i only use 12 pumps to wash my hair with wen and my hair is very curley
StellaRills says
I am very cautious about my hair because I have hair damage problems. But, Wen solved my problems. I fear using any other products now! I too am interested to use and see the rest of your effects of this hair care kit.
Jarod997 says
This product contains Methylchloroisothiazolinone and Methylisothiazolinone – both of which are preservatives, and help to keep bacteria growth down. They’re commonly used in hygiene products, and even in children’s body wash and shampoo. (The kids products I’ve seen had large warnings printed on them, see below.)
These two ingredients are on Health Canada’s List of Prohibited and Restricted Cosmetic Ingredients (“Hotlist”) (https://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/cosmet-person/indust/hot-list-critique/index-eng.php).
The short story is, if you use products containing either of these two ingredients you must thoroughly rinse all of the product off of your body and/or hair because they’re know to cause skin irritation. This lines up with many other posts I’ve seen about people using this product and having hair fall out – they’re likely using some as “leave in conditioner”, which you just can’t do.
I haven’t seen or used the product, but I thought it sounded fishy.
NormaJean says
I expected alot of my hair to fall out when using the lavender conditioner but hardly any hair came out…so far its made my hair soft…gave loads of luster to my grey hair and os super managable…Im hooked! :) NormaJean
Darryl Gordon says
Great post..
Tina says
You have beautiful hair :)
After reading your experience I have decided to buy the sample pack featured at Sephora :)
Thank you so much for sharing your experience.
Coupon Maven says
Thank you! I didn’t know Sephora had a sample pack — that sounds like a great way to try Wen without a huge investment :)
Rachel Croom says
I was curious what you think about this lawsuit. I have been using this product once a week for a maintenance and I love the way it works. I am considering cancelling any future orders and discontinuing use. But I am denial I think.
Rachel
Coupon Maven says
I really can’t speak about other people’s experiences with the product as there are so many variables – what condition was their hair in before they started using the product, were they using it correctly, were they using the right amount, washing more or less often than recommended? I’m not an expert — but I do know that it works for me and I too love the way it works. I have no plans to stop using it based on the lawsuit – I am about 2 1/2 years into using Wen with good success, so I have no reason to stop.
I am kind of an ingredients-reading nerd, and there’s nothing in Wen that should cause alarm — there are a lot of botanicals in it, and the alcohols/preservatives are used in plenty of brands of shampoo and skincare products, not just wen.
The other thing I thought of — there is “Fake Wen” out there too. Wen does not sell on Amazon (officially) but Marketplace sellers do sell Wen there. There are several reviews about people receiving something other than Wen in Wen bottles:
Fake Wen reviews on Amazon
Review of possible Fake Wen on Amazon mentioning scalp burning
QVC: How to spot Fake Wen
If people are buying something other than Wen in Wen bottles on Amazon, who knows what they could be using.
betsy says
I just tried Wen for the first time and I love the way my hair felt soft thick and clean. Now I’m reading comments about hair thinning after using Wen. Now I’m back to my regular shampoo. I’m in a tough spot.
janet says
I have thin and fine hair. Have spent hundreds of dollars trying to find a shampoo and conditioner that adds volume and anti frizz in our very humid climate. Used mouse, creams, oils and everything else under the sun and nothing worked except Wen. So in effect, am actually saving money with Wen. However, I do think that Wen encourages people to use a lot more than necessay. I use two to three pumps, which works well. Have been using it for over 2 years and will not stop using it unless my hair starts coming out. Jill, your hair looks great!!!! I am using the lavender Wen, which adds volume.
hailey nelson says
does it really make your hair fall out??
Coupon Maven says
If it did, I would not have been using it for close to four years now..! I am still currently using Wen with no issues, other than softer, thicker hair.
I have posted many updates with photos of my hair on Wen. This original post is from 2013.
L. Hatch says
Hi Maven!
I am curious if you are still using Wen today (May 3, 2023). I used Wen several years ago and I was overjoyed with how healthy it made my hair! Beautiful, shiny, manageable with volume and it had finally started growing too! At that time, I was aware of the lawsuits, I heard people were losing their hair, but I wasn’t, so I continued to use it…that is until suddenly, it seemed something had changed. My hair became completely opposite, dry, brittle, breaking off and so matted I had problems combing thru it! That’s when I cancelled my subscription:(
I have often wondered if maybe they had changed their formula due to all the lawsuits. I just can’t imagine why it would suddenly make such a mess of my hair! I was so disappointed. And to this day, it is still unhealthy. I would so love to have my hair back healthy again! Wondering if I should give Wen another chance…