Over the weekend, I said on the Lab Bunny Facebook page that Wen wasn’t worth it. To be fair, when I said this, I may or may not have been in an altered state.

That doesn’t have anything to do with whether or not Wen is worth it, I just want you guys to know I party. Don’t worry, I’m cool. I know the score.

I know the score about Wen too. To be (actually) fair, I tried Wen about a year ago. But, after I posted that to Facebook a couple days ago, I had a request for more information, and I’m happy to share my experience.

I purchased the Wen system in April of last year. As you can imagine, this was a very exciting time for me. The Wen infomercial used to be one of my favorite late night shows. I’d watch it over and over, making Wen one of those “I want it so bad but I can’t make myself spend the money” products, so when I happened upon whatever sale, coupon code, or twists in logic that allowed me to finally buy it, I was beyond thrilled. Obviously, this was going to be the answer to all my hair problems.

Hair problems include: 20 years of near nonstop coloring, the kind of texture that has been referred to as “horse-like” by stylists on more than once occasion, a refusal to air dry sexy and smooth, tons of shedding, heavy, semi-coarse, with a tendency to just lay there and be all dull, grease, and, ok….’druff. Ew. That’s the most embarrassing thing I’ve admitted to on this site so far.

At the time, my hair was really long; past my bra, nearly down to the small of my back. That length + thickness = a massive amount of hair. I mean, I can wash my hair at night, and it will still be damp in the morning. My buns and ponytails are so heavy, they give me headaches. It’s a lot to manage. I don’t want to sound like one of those people that complains about things that other people covet, but the grass is always greener, blah blah blah.

Right off the bat, there was an issue. The bottle was only 16 oz., but for long hair, they recommended using something like 12-15 pumps worth of product. At that rate, I would have been through that $30, “month long supply” in just a couple weeks. So, after the first few times, I realized I couldn’t keep using it at that pace, and I had to work with a smaller amount. This led me to wonder if I was even getting the full effect of the system, or if it was just one of those things companies do to make you use up your purchase quickly so you have to buy more. It was aggravating. I don’t like being swindled. This guy wasn’t going to pull the wool over my eyes!

Gorrrrrrl, please.

So, this product is more expensive than my usual salon brand products, they’re going to automatically charge me $90 (!!!) next month if I forget to cancel my subscription in time, AND they want me to use a ton of it? Ok. Does it work? Depends on your definition of “work.” My hair was clean, so it accomplished the bare minimum. Did it deliver on anything that infomercial promised? No. Not really. Not for me anyways. There was no discernible difference in the texture or look of my hair. It didn’t look any smoother, my scalp wasn’t healthier, nothing really happened. From what I could tell, it’s the same concept as the “no-poo” method. It’s just washing your hair without shampoo. For $30 a month.

I used it for a little while, and it was just making me angry. So, I gave it to my Wen-curious friend, Erin, so she could give it a shot. Her hair is very different than mine, so I asked her to share her experience too:

“I have been plagued by fluffy hair. Because of my hair fluff condition, I keep my hair very short. I do like my short hair, but I have recurring dreams where my hair is long and luscious and I just sit and brush it lovingly. So when I saw the infomercial for Wen, I not only watched it in its entirety, but I have probably watched that same infomercial 5 or 6 times since it began airing. I thought this would be the product that would finally tame the fluff and allow me to live my dream of having long, luscious, brushable hair. Luckily for me, I have a wonderful and beautiful friend who was kind enough to give me the last two inches left in her bottle of Wen after she decided that it sucks. My final review? Well, I wouldn’t say that it sucks, but my hair never stopped being fluffy, and I would definitely say you could get the same results out of a big bottle of Suave conditioner. After washing with Wen and noting that it felt like washing my hair with conditioner, I did a little research and found that washing with conditioner is indeed a thing. I started a new conditioner-washing regimen and my hair became shinier, softer, and generally more healthy-looking. So basically what Wen did for me was prompt me to seek out a (much) less expensive alternative.”

There you go. Two different types of hair, the same experience.

Also, Erin is absolutely right that you can just wash your hair with regular conditioner. It’s one of the no-poo options. Conditioners generally have enough surfactants in them to clean your hair without the other things in shampoo that do damage. I haven’t tried it though, I’m chicken. Maybe this week I’ll hit the beauty supply, get a new conditioner and give it a shot. I HATE the conditioner I have now, but that’s a whole other review that isn’t even worth writing.

You can buy Wen from Amazon now, so if you still want to try it, do that. That way you don’t have to sign up and remember to cancel your account before they charge you and ship out the next 3 months worth of product.

And hey, if you want to buy something from a hypnotic and persuasive informercial, buy Zumba. I give Zumba two thumbs up.