Beauty

[Lacey1]

If someone asked me what I knew about, WEN- I would say that I think it's a lotion-like cream to wash/conditioner your hair. It does not produce any lather.

I don't know if it's for everyday use, or just occasional use. Does it make your hair limp and weighed down? Does it clog the drain? Do you leave it in or rinse it out? Style as usual?

IOW: Could someone give me a primer on WEN? TIA

[77yangya]

If you really know very little about Wen then perhaps a visit to chazdeanstudio.com may help. To explain it all would be too wordy for me on the forum but I feel a good start is Chaz's site. It shows demos of different hair textures and stuff like that. You could obtain a DVD too. I just thought of something. Every time I order a Wen product there is a brochure in the box too and it has all the directions of all the products and an explanation of the ingredients. I feel it's a shame that they get wasted because I don't need a brochure and I throw them away. You can go on QVC's site and by some of the items there is a small video you can watch as Chaz talks about that item. Anyway, I'm sure other posters can help you but I, personally have used Wen 4.5 years exclusively and I will never use anything else on my head. However, jump in and enjoy!

[JeanLouiseFinch]

You're on the right track, but there's more to it. WEN is a cleansing condtioner that replaces shampoo, conditioner, deep condition, leave-in conditioner, and detangler. It's a creamy lotion consistency and does not lather. It should be used as often as a person wants to cleanse their hair, be it daily or a few times a week. Since it does not lather, more product is required to cleanse the hair than with traditional shampoo. When the proper amount of WEN is used and the proper cleansing and rinsing is performed, it should not weigh the hair down. It does not clog the drain, but some people may argue that point.

Chaz Dean, the creator of WEN, recommends a 2-step system when cleansing and conditioning. On the bottle, there are instructions on how much product to use based on hair length. Divide that amount in two, using half for the first step and half for the second. Get in the shower and get your hair good and wet. Apply the first amount of cleansing conditioner. Some people like to divide their hair into 4 quadrants and apply to each section and others just plop it on the top of their head, work it around, and get busy. Add a little water to help the cleansing conditioner emulsify somewhat. Massage the scalp and hair as you would with normal shampooing. Rinse. Add the second half of the cleansing conditioner and repeat the process, this time concentrating on the length of the hair a little more. Pin your hair up with a clip and finish your shower. Rinse the cleansing conditioner out thoroughly. For some, this might be a little longer than they're used to rinsing, but for others it's no different than they're used to doing. Depending on how long your hair is and the kind of hair you have, a small amount of cleansing conditioner is added back on to the ponytail part of your wet hair as a leave-in. This completes the cleansing and conditioning. Carefully blot the excess water from your hair using a microfiber towel, old pillowcase, old tshirt, or paper towel. Remember to blot as vigorous rubbing can cause frizz. From here you can style and finish your hair as usual, but there are WEN styling products that can also be used, if desired.

[vermint]

JeanLouiseFinch pretty much says it all! I will add that I have had NO problems with clogged drains or limp, weighed down hair in the year that I have been using WEN.

Oh, and I'm a "plopper", as in I pump out the necessary amount, rub my hands together and just start massaging it through my hair. But I have chin-length hair, so I don't find that "sectioning" or "pinning up" my hair is necessary.

WEN doesn't "lather" but it does "froth" when I've added enough water...there are definite tiny bubbles when that happens.

[77yangya]

The longer you leave it on the more you benefit too. When you cleanse, not only massage into scalp but to get it to penetrate the hair better, twist and use a pushing motion into pony tail section so it just doesn't sit on the surface. I find this to help me since my hair has grown long. Chaz's brushes make a big difference to me but many people like their kind of brushes so it's up to the person, I guess. When I first started, I had to get used to using the cleansing conditioner the right way then I branched out into other Wen products as they became available. If you are lucky enough to catch one of the Wen infomercials, I would watch it. I watch it and I've seen them many times, I just enjoy watching. When I jumped in there were no seasonals but now there are and I love them all. I hope you enjoy Wen as much as I do. It makes shower time fun and luxurious.

[cnd8]

Personally, I think people make it more complicated than necessary. Use it in place of your former shampoo/conditioner routine. So whenever you washed before, do the same with Wen to start.

Rinse hair very well, a little more than you would for shampoo.

Apply a very generous amount of Wen and rub/massage in thoroughly until you can tell it is deep down to the scalp. Let it sit will you do the rest of your shower routine.

Then, rinse VERY well, raking fingers through your hair a few times so you are sure you got it all out and you dont feel it in there anymore.

Get out and dry hair. I use a regular towel.

No muss, no fuss. It's not rocket science. Some people make it sound so laborious. It doesn't have to be.

No, it does not weight my hair down (as long as you use enough Wen and you rinse enough), it has never in 3 years clogged my drain.

[quadmimi]

I agree with all of the above, the video's on chaz's site are helpful, but so are the lady's here..Someone will post something and maybe it's just the tip you were looking for! Wen does not clog my drain, I have almost 0 hair in my shower or brush, and I cleanse and blow dry everyday..I look forward to mixing my cleansing cream each morning, and use a different seasonal combo mix all the time for 2nd cleanse..I do however use the the comb now when I cleanse and wish I had done it from the start, even tho my hair is only chin length, it has made a huge difference...as long as you rinse well, and rinse some more you will love it!..I will never ever use anything else on my hair, and it's so awesome that my only search is for the next new CC from Chaz!! enjoy

[ChynnaBlue]

I don't know if it's for everyday use, or just occasional use: I use it every time I wash my hair. Some people use it only as their conditioner after they wash with shampoo. Some people wash their hair every day and some people a few times a week. It really depends on your hair type, environment, and your activity level. If I sweat more, I wash more. If I'm outdoors on high pollen days, I wash more. Normally I wash every other day.

Does it make your hair limp and weighed down? Not mine, but hair reacts different. You would have to try it to know for yourself. I have fine to medium hair that's wavy/curly. It's always straighter at the crown, but that's one of the defining features of my hair type and it doesn't matter what shampoo or conditioner I use.

Does it clog the drain? I've been using it for years and it hasn't clogged my drain, but I am careful to make sure it gets really diluted when I rinse and doesn't go down the drain in big globs.

Do you leave it in or rinse it out? Do you leave your shampoo or conditioner in? WEN replaces those things, so consider it in the same way you do those. You probably wash those out, right? So you wash WEN out, too. I've always rinsed and then added some conditioner back in as a leave-in, so I do the same with WEN. Wash it out, add some in as a leave-in. (Some people do not wash all their conditioner out and only wash 80% out instead of using a leave-in. You can do that with WEN, too.)

Style as usual? Yes.

About 6 months before I started using WEN, I started washing my hair with conditioner only and not using shampoo. A lot of curly girls do this because curly hair needs moisture, which most shampoos strip out. Moving to WEN was easy after that.

You use more WEN than you do shampoo. Where you use maybe a quarter-sized puddle of shampoo, you use might use a golf ball sized pile of WEN. Make sure you add a splash of water to get it really creamy and make it easier to massage through your hair and comb through. Chas Dean recommends a double cleanse, which means you wash once to get dirt out and wash a second time to condition. You can do that, but it's not absolutely necessary. The longer you leave WEN on, the better it will break down the dirt and oils and wash them away, so that's one reason for the two-step wash. I do it because I like to use multiple formulas for different benefits OR for different scents. Often I skip the double cleanse and just wash once, making sure I leave the WEN in my hair while I wash my body and face and shave. That's plenty of time for the WEN to break up dirt and oil and wash them away.

[aprimo]

I have oily hair and I did have a problem getting my hair clean when I first started using WEN, because I was not using enough of the cleansing conditioner and I was missing the spot on the crown of my head. After I started using enough WEN, I got good results. I have recently started doing a second cleanse every time I wash and I am getting even better results--much more volume in my usually fine, oily hair.

[Nightowlz]

If you have a lot of hair come out when you use a conditioner the hair will clog your drain not the Wen. I always had a lot of hair come out when I used conditioner but not after shampooing. I'm also new to Wen & when I 1st started I was still having a lot of hair come out since Wen is a cleansing conditioner so for me it's like using a conditioner. I have noticed less hair fall out so eventually hopefully that will stop. It does not make my hair feel limp or weighed down but softer & fuller. I have an oily scalp so if I used the same one every other day it probably would get limp & weighed down. I have to switch it up not using the same Wen every other day just as I had to use different shampoo all the time. I have to use it every other day because of my oily scalp. From what I have read with a couple months use my oily scalp should balance out & I should not have to wash every other day. Still waiting for that to happen. I just started using it day after Thanksgiving so it's only been 6 wks. I don't style my hair. Never been good at doing that or using styling tools. I just cleanse, comb & air dry. I also have a few of the oils, styling cream & replenishing treatment mist I have been experimenting with. Have fun with Wen & hope you like the results as I have so far. I use one of these Peerless drain covers in the shower to catch my hair as DH got tired of cleaning it out of the drain. This is how I noticed less hair fallout since using Wen when I shower.