The product: L’Oréal Wonder Water

It’s not often that you find hair products that are truly wonderful. It’s so rare, in fact, that I could list all of my hair holy grails on one hand — and still have fingers left over. But the new L’Oréal Wonder Water ($12.99 CAD) is just that: a holy grail. It works instantly, costs pennies per use, and quite literally transforms my hair like an expensive chemical treatment from a salon.

Earlier this year, I received a press release for a new innovation from Kérastase. It sounded amazing. With just one rinse at the sink, it could be added to any salon service to give you the silky-smooth hair of your dreams. As a bonus, the press release said that each treatment was a tempting $10; a mere drop in the bucket of salon treatments. So, when Wonder Water came out, I had to find out it it was an at-home solution with similar results.

Wonder Water vs K Water and Olaplex No. 3

One of the things that I love about Groupe L’Oréal is that they make a point of sharing their innovations. Something will come out of one of their luxury brands, like Kérastase Paris or Yves Saint Laurent Beauté, at a luxury price point and in luxury packaging. Then, often, a nearly identical product will be released under the L’Oréal Paris banner at a fraction of the price. If you want the luxury experience of the original, it’s out there, but if you can’t afford it, you can buy the L’Oréal Paris version for less.

I know the company isn’t doing this out of the goodness of their hearts. Profits are profits, and while luxury brands are an excellent way to create consumer desire, mass-market drugstore products are where you make the real money. Much like making prints of fine art, the originals offer status — but the copies pay for your new vacation house.

Still, this method offers accessibility to the consumer, and I’m a big fan of accessibility. Accessibility is always important to me: I don’t think it should be up to anyone to decide who deserves a great product and who doesn’t. I haven’t tried K Water yet (something you can thank this pandemic for), but I’ve tried other luxury hair treatments, and this affordable option works just as well or better. The take-home Olaplex No. 3 was my go-to before now, and I have to tell you: Wonder Water can do in 8 seconds what it takes three 20-minute Olaplex sessions to do to my hair.

The L’Oréal Wonder Water formula and results

This 8-second L’Oréal Paris Wonder Water formula really is all that. It’s a fast-acting, silicone-free liquid that soaks instantly into your hair to make it smooth and soft. Wonder Water takes all of the frizz out of my hair, and most importantly, it hides my split ends. my split ends become nearly invisible, somehow, when I use it.

Beyond that, this spicy-scented formula does an amazing job of conditioning my scalp. I’m typically a 1-2 day hair washing person; once I get to the evening of the second day, not even dry shampoo can perk up my greasy roots. But with L’Oréal Wonder Water instead of conditioner, I can easily make it to day three while still looking shower-fresh. It leaves my hair soft without extra weight, and doesn’t stick greasily to my hair’s fine roots.

The results last for ages, too. The instructions on the back of this 8-second bottle say to use 2-3 times a week; with my hair washing schedule, that’s every time. But for my dry, fine hair, the results last for about four washes, or a full week. They do wane (I’m currently using this every other wash, aka every 4-5 days), but they keep my hair in such great shape that I can actually skip conditioning in between if needed.

The L’Oréal Paris 8 Second Wonder Water Experience

The only part of my L’Oréal Wonder Water experience that slows me down is the application. It takes some getting used to applying a liquid, but it’s worth it. (And it’s actually easier to do, because it makes my hair so soft and slippery that I can finger-comb it through my scalp and ends.) L’Oréal recommends using 20ml per “dose,” and:

• One dose for fine hair
• 2-3 doses for thick hairs
• One extra dose for long hair

However, my hair is hella fine. Sure, it’s gotten so long in quarantine that I look like the girl from The Ring, but… I couldn’t possibly need 40 ml of product, could I??

I’ve tried using that much, and honestly, it doesn’t make a difference for me. My hair is just as happy with 10 ml as it is with 40 ml, especially as I tend to let it sit for about a minute. (Not on purpose; I’m just tired and lazy.) With that in mind, I can confidently say that this bottle contains more applications for me than the 10 doses that it says it does — I would guess, for my hair, that it’s closer to 20 doses, which should easily last me 2-3 months.

The L’Oréal Wonder Water verdict?

I love this stuff. I love its spicy scent, and how silky-soft it makes my brittle hair. It’s so easy and effective, and it makes my styled hair last for an extra day before my scalp gets oily. Oddly, I also love the tingly-warm feeling as it works; they warn about it on the bottle, and so far, it hasn’t irritated my sensitive skin at all.

While I was editing these photos, I noticed some… let’s say “quarantine changes”. Having the energy for squats and exfoliation may be what’s making my butt so smooth and extra thicc, but it’s Wonder Water that’s making my hair so luscious, which truly is a wondrous thing.

Availability: $12.99 CAD at drugstores and mass market grocery stores. Permanent.

L’Oreal Wonder Water ingredients

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Disclaimer: The Wonder Water mentioned in this review was gifted for editorial consideration. My ample booty is home-grown, and a gift from me to you.