Welcome to Flavor Of The Week, a spinoff newsletter from Gee Thanks, Just Bought It! One item we think you’ll love, why we already love it, and where you can get it — straight to your inbox every Tuesday.
What: L’Oreal Paris Elvive 8-Second Wonder Water
How Much?: $8.99
Anything I Should Know?: I know, I know, you’ve seen this stuff everywhere. I did too. And then I bought it and became a convert. I included some videos below of different YouTubers reviewing the product.
I don’t get my hair done that often. I’ve decided to let my natural brown hair grow back in and slowly push the blonde to the bottom, so I haven’t gone in for a color in months. I almost never cut my hair when I am growing it out so it’s been even longer since the scissors hit the locks.
But you know when you’re in desperate need of…something? All your old standards aren’t clicking with your hair and you’re left with super heavy, dry, frizzy, blah hair — no matter how much product you try to use, how many deep conditions you force upon it, how many hot tools and stylers you try to manage it with.
I hit that wall last week.
My hair felt and looked gross.
It felt dirty despite being clean.
It looked dirty despite being clean!
I was trying to figure out my course of action when I swiped through Jenn Falik’s Instagram story. Jenn publishes The Ultimate Edit newsletter, which is similar to Gee Thanks! (She’s gonna be our guest next week on the pod, and if you don’t follow her or read TUE yet, get on it). She had posted about Wonder Water, saying that it was her summer hair savior. I had been hearing about Wonder Water and seeing it everywhere, but I didn’t really know what it did or why I would need it. 8 Second Wonder Water? Too much for my tiny brain to compute, you know? Turns out in a fit of desperation and dirty hair is the perfect impetus to get in the car, go to Target, and pick up a bottle for $8.99.
Here’s what Wonder Water is, and what it promises to do:
Damaged hair feels healthy? Don’t mind if I do. Here’s the thing: Almost every hair product on the market claims to make damaged hair feel healthy. Not many claim to do it in 8 seconds. The product details give me absolutely none of the information I crave, which I guess would be science. If you are a scientist, please reach out?
With Wonder Water, you skip the conditioner. After shampooing and rinsing, you lather and massage Wonder Water (it really is watery, if not true H2O — this is not a cream or oil) into your hair. The dosage is marked on the bottle, and depending on the length and thickness of your hair, the bottle will tell you how much to use. I tend to overdo it so I overdid it. You leave it in for a minute or so and then rinse. Within 8 seconds the product will start to warm on your hair. I don’t get that part either, and it certainly wasn’t super noticeable.
When it came time to rinse out the Wonder Water (about 90 seconds after I lathered it in), my hair truly felt like it had just been deep conditioned for hours by an expensive deep conditioner. A comb ran through it like butter but it was missing that heavy feeling that comes with smoothing and conditioning products. Most notably, I didn’t have to use my detangling spray, Olaplex 6 cream or Olaplex 7 oil after I got out of the shower. My hair felt smooth, silky, and lightweight.
I was super tempted to just keep using it everyday, but it’s more of a 3x/week sort of product. I have already set up a subscribe and save on Amazon, which I don’t even do for laundry detergent or garbage bags (for some reason IDK).
Wonder Water really is a WONDER! And at $8.99 it’s priced perfectly to test it for yourself and see what it does for your hair!
The Goods: Affordable and accessible (Amazon and Target have it in stock, among other places). Really works. Lasts 4-6 washes.
The Caveat Emptor: Keep. Your. Mouth. Closed. In. The. Shower. I learned I open my mouth sometimes while I’m lathering and a bit of the Wonder Water got in my mouth when I was rinsing. Highly do not rec!!!
If you missed last week’s Flavor, read all about the best (and cutest) flatback earrings!
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