I had no idea that a product line called Wen even existed until one day I stumbled upon it after browsing www.qvc.com. Intrigued by a hair line that used conditioners instead of shampoo to cleanse the hair, I typed “Wen hair products” into a search engine and found more about the line, which was founded by celebrity hair stylist Chaz Dean, at www.chazdeanstudio.com.
On his site, I read that Dean noticed that shampoo seemed to be drying out and damaging most of his clients’ hair, so he decided to come up with an alternative. Eventually he developed a cleansing conditioner that eliminates the need for shampooing the hair because it cleanses with astrigents, while added moisture, sheen, and strength to the hair. It was safe to use every day and was so powerful that most of Chaz’s clients saw a difference in the hair the first time they used it.
Even though I loved Jonathan Product’s Moisturizing Shampoo, my hair, though not damaged, had been feeling lackluster and dry at times causing me to have to deep-conditon a lot. This put me in the vicious cycle of shampooing then piling on the deep conditioner which made too much build-up, than shampoing a few-days later and deep conditioning to moisturize, over and over again. I just wanted healthy and great looking hair so I decided to buy Wen’s Fig Cleansing Conditioner which was recommended for ethnic/coarse hair.
When the package arrived a few days later I read through the instructions and saw that the first step is to fully wet your hair, then apply 12-16 pumps of the cleansing conditioner to the scalp, massage it in vigorously to produce a foaming effect and then smooth the excess onto the ends of the hair. Next you’re supposed to comb it through and wait for 3-5 minutes.
Later on I took a shower and followed all of these steps (but I only needed about 8 or 9 pumps not 12-16). The fig condtioner felt really great on my scalp because it contains menthol, so I could feel a tingling and cooling sensation. I didn’t think the Wen Cleansing Conditioner was going to work on my hair though, because it still felt dry after I applied it. I was mistaken though, because after I rinsed the conditioner out my hair felt absolutely transformed. It just like it should, softer, sleeker, and more moisturized even while I was still in the shower.
I added a few more pumps of the Wen Fig Cleansing Conditioner to my hair after blotting away excess water because this product also doubles as a light leave-in conditioner. It made my hair feel even softer than before without weighing it down. It also made blow-drying and styling my hair a dream and I only had to use two other products on my hair to make it look great.
I’ve been using the cleansing conditioner for about a month and a half-now. It usually gets my hair clean after only one cleansing (after applying Ojon’s Restorative Hair Treatment once and having a ton of product build-up another time I needed two cleanse my hair twice) but it never feels dried out or stripped in the process.
My only problem is that I still get dandruff when I use the Fig Cleansing Conditioner and I don’t want to use dandruff or any other kind of shampoo on my hair anymore, so after I’m done using my current bottle of Fig Cleansing Condtioner I’m thinking about switching to WEN’s Tea Tree Cleansing Conditioner which promotes a healthy scalp and is suitable for ethnic hair.
And although my hair isn’t as dry as it used to be before I began using WEN I still want and need more moisture. So I experimented with using a few drops of Ojon’s Shine & Protect Conditioner, as well as John Frieda’s Luminous Color Glaze for more moisture when my hair was feeling dry after I neglected it for a few days. Using all of these products back to back gave me so much moisture that it actually made my thick and coarse hair go limp. I didn’t have a ton of body when I first styled it, but it looked really healthy and shiny for a few days so I didn’t mind, but by the third day I just looked like a limp noodle.
Chaz Dean’s site recommends that people with ethnic hair should also use a few drops of his essential oil when they style their wet hair to seal in moisture. I ordered two bottles of his tea tree oil from QVC to help treat my dandruff and moisturize my hair at the same time. I’m currently waiting for it to arrive but I hope that it gives me the moisture I’m looking for without weighing my hair down.
Overall Wen’s Fig Cleansing Conditioner is great. I think my hair definitely looks and feels better since I’ve stopped shampooing, it’s shinier, less frizzy and I have consistently better hair days. For the first time my hair feels clean but it doesn’t feel like it went through torture to get that way. I love it and I never want to shampoo my hair again. I recommend it for everyone especially those with damaged or processed hair. 5 out of 5 stars.
