L’Oréal’s Wonder Water was only launched in the UK in March 2021, after having its’ US launch in January 2020. This got rave reviews from all the US hairstylists, celebs, bloggers and consumers all over 2020. We had to wait well over a year before the UK launch and then we saw the same fervour in the UK market and on social media.
I waited a few weeks for the hype to settle a bit before I bought it to try out. I took advantage of Boots’ Fiver Friday a few weeks ago and bought a couple for my personal use. If it works well on my very porous and dry hair, then I’ll be practically throwing it at my mum, gifting it for Eid, casually leaving some in her bathroom, throwing out her home-made concoctions… O_O
My mum has very dry, very porous hair, similar to mine, and she is forever mixing up weird concoctions to try to hydrate her hair. She listens to whatever mixtures random people suggest but she won’t listen to me , an actual makeup artist/ hairstylist with real training in ingredients and the science, so… go figure… when I explain that the ingredients she’s mixing up don’t work together… but that’s another story.
Back to L’Oréal’s Wonder Water… Each bottle is 200ml and has at least 10 applications measured in doses on the side of the bottle for easy measurement. It’s recommended to use a 20ml dose per application*, but I have shoulder length hair and find that 15mls coats my hair fully, so I’ll get around 15 applications per bottle.
*Use 1 dose for fine to medium textured hair, 2-3 doses for thick to curly textured hair, add 1 more dose if you have extra-long hair.
- Price: £9.99 RRP – currently £4.99 at Boots and £4.95 at Superdrug
- Volume: 200ml
- Purchased/ Gratis: Purchased (on offer at £4.99)
Ingredients
Propylene Glycol, Alcohol Denat., Myristyl Alcohol, Aqua / Water, Parfum / Fragrance, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Tocopherol, Hydroxypropyltrimonium Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Hydroxycitronellal, Phenoxyethanol, Arginine Pca, Behentrimonium Chloride, Limonene, Benzyl Salicylate, Linalool, Benzyl Alcohol, Isopropyl Alcohol, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Geraniol, Cetrimonium Chloride, Citronellol, Coumarin, Hexyl Cinnamal. (F.I.L. C263130/1)
Brand sales blurb
WORKS WONDERS IN 8 SECONDS: Forget everything you know about hair treatments and discover Dream Lengths 8 Second Wonder Water by L’Oreal Paris Elvive. This damaged hair treatment, in a rinse-out liquid conditioner formula, transforms lengths in just 8 seconds.
How does it work?
Wonder Water has this ultra-lightweight formula using something they call Lamellar Water technology. It contains intensive moisturisers and amino acids to help get right into dry, damaged hair. It works by forming thin layers called Lamella which smooth the surface of the hair.
I am not sure whether this actually hydrates the hair or just coats it so the hair appears smoother and more hydrated. It’s hard to know, without having science buffs look into the chemical makeup of the product.
How to apply
Apply to wet hair, only to the lengths of the hair, not the roots. Massage into the hair for minimum 8 seconds, then rinse out. To be honest, I am very sceptical of the 8 second thing, so I massage in and let it sit for a bit in the shower while I exfoliate my bony elbows and my heels. So probably about 2 or 3 minutes.
Trial run
I’ve been using this in the shower once a week. I have boldly coloured hair and my hair is very porous, so I try to minimise the number of times I wash my hair. I only wash my hair twice a week, wearing a very trendy (not really) and very functional shower cap in the shower daily.
After only 2 uses, I noticed less colour slippage than normal, and a much silkier look and feel to my hair. My hair feels similar to after using my Olapex 3, which I use monthly to help repair any bleach damage, after my monthly root and colour touch-ups.
The Verdict
On my hair, I have loved the silkiness and smoothness that Wonder Water gives me after each wash. The smooth feeling does last between washes, and as I mentioned, I only wash my hair twice a week. I haven’t noticed any improvement in hair breakage, but haven’t had any increase in breakage either. Why do I mention increase in breakage? Well, I often have more breakage with products that leave a silicone or other coating on the hair giving the appearance of shiny, healthy hair, rather than actually improving the health of the hair.
I have only tried it on fine, porous hair, and it has worked really well for me. I don’t know how it would behave on thicker hair, or less porous hair, but would love to hear your thoughts and experiences of using the L’Oréal Wonder Water. Hit me up on the socials, and let’s chat about it.
Social media
Twitter: @tasnimmua
Instagram: @tas_tcbeauty