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What pray tell, may have me singing Gwen Stefani’s Hollaback “This s*** is banana’s B A N A N A S” over and over again on a dull Friday afternoon?! Well, it’s the latest hair drop from beauty giant L’Oreal, yep, the one that’s gone viral and has everyone talking. If you’ve not seen or heard of it yet, let me introduce you to your next love: L’Oreal Paris Elvive Dream Lengths Wonder Water. The water that’s not water…
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Everyone’s Talking About L’Oreal Paris Elvive Dream Lengths Wonder Water
If you’re in the beauty community or just active on social media, chances are you’ve seen or heard of this latest hair care instalment. It has been flashed in Tiktok transitions and raved in insta reels; this newbie has had a lot of hype, but is it really worth it and what the heck is it? Well, I’m going to answer those two very important questions for you now.
What Is Wonder Water?
Is it a hair treatment? Is it a conditioner? What does it do? Is it water? Do I need my regular conditioner? So many questions!
Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty because this is an interesting product and very fascinating technology (especially if you’re a beauty geek like me). The name L’Oreal Paris Elvive Dream Lengths Wonder Water is a little misleading as it isn’t water at all, it just feels like water. It is an 8 second (yes you read that correctly) hair treatment made with lamella technology. The lamella work to form a lightweight bond on the hair, helping to smooth the hair.
As you apply the Wonder Water, massage and then rinse, the lamella technology begins to work forming bonds that coat the hair in a weightless form. The product rinses away leaving hair that is treated with moisturising actives which are able to penetrate into the hair itself, leaving it protected and smoothed by the lamella layers.
Not only is the hair instantly smoothed and polished but the hydrating and restorative ingredients work to care and rehydrate your hair with each treatment. They do this without the need for thick and heavy creams.
“Wonder water is a new generation of liquid rinse-out hair treatment that works to visibly transform your hair immediately, making it appear smooth, shiny, and healthy-looking. This lamellar technology wonder water treatment has a lightweight yet effective formula that spreads throughout hair quickly.” -L’oreal
The treatment is so lightweight that it is suitable for all hair types as hair isn’t weighed down.
This technology was formerly only available in-salon treatments with the likes of Kerastase, so to have it available on the high street (in not just one but two products, Redken have one too) is very exciting!
How Do I Use Wonder Water?
L’Oreal‘s instructions are to shampoo your hair as normal then apply a dose of L’Oreal Paris Elvive Dream Lengths Wonder Water, massaging for 8 seconds before rinsing well. They say that it is your personal choice to follow with a conditioner or not.
Because the product is quite literally like water to touch, it can be a little tricky to pour into your hand and get to your hair without it dripping down your arm. So I decanted it into a large spray bottle. This made it easy to spritz the Wonder Water onto my hair. Downside: I don’t have the measure on the bottle as I did in the original container. Upside: it’s much easier to apply. Just be careful to keep your eyes closed when doing so as L’oreal does warn you to keep the treatment out of your eyes!
The first time I used it, I didn’t follow with my regular conditioner mainly because I was really excited and didn’t read the bottle and assumed that Wonder Water replaced it. So I’m able to say how I found it with and with conditioner after use.
My hair is long and in desperate need of a cut, so it has ends that catch and are snaggly. It is also very tangly and the mid-lengths to ends are dry. It needs its conditioner!
When I used L’Oreal Paris Elvive Dream Lengths Wonder Water by itself and didn’t follow with conditioner, I did find my hairbrush dragged somewhat through my hair as I was blowdrying it. It just wasn’t as easy to brush as I would’ve liked. It just had a bit of tension to it that conditioner usually helps with. However, the finished look was incredible, especially given the fact I hadn’t used conditioner; I was blown away! No flyaways or static and a dramatic reduction in frizz and the feeling of smooth hair, that looked and felt as if it had been straightened (note, it most definitely had not, A blast of the dryer is as good as it gets 😁).
It was then that I knew a full test and review was in order! If this magic water could make my hair look and feel that much better without conditioner, what would it do with it and how would it differ between styling?
So, without further ado, here is the before and after results of both my naturally curly hair and my hair blown-dry (no further styling) using the Wonder Water!
My Natural Curly Hair
First off, let’s look at my curls. My hair has always had a natural wave to it (except when I was very little and had straight blonde hair! Funny isn’t it?!) but there seems to be times the strength of the curl varies (perhaps that is down to my fight against it with styling). Right now, I’m embracing the curls many a day. I read that using heat after you’ve used the L’Oreal Paris Elvive Dream Lengths Wonder Water improves the results, even more, this intrigued me. So I thought I’d let my hair dry naturally, ala air dry and if I can dig out the diffuser-that’s never been used I’ll edit this post and add in photos at a later date for comparison!
Across all of the hair tests I used the same products except: for both of the curls I used Noughty Hello Curls Primer Spray (my current fav) and for both of the blow-dry ‘straight’ I used Colourway Hair Oil.
Noughty Hello Curls Define & Reshape Curl Primer*
Without Wonder Water
With Wonder Water
When it comes to the difference when wearing my hair curly it was more in how it felt at the time. It felt very soft and silky to touch after using the L’Oreal Paris Elvive Dream Lengths Wonder Water. There was a reduction in the frizz, which my hair excels at, in particular on the first day as it is drying (the part that takes forever).
It’s when I look back over these photos and compare that I can see differences in the curls themselves. They are slightly tighter and I think appear slightly less straggly? Don’t you think? I hadn’t really noticed so much of a difference at the time but I’m quite pleasantly surprised looking at the images now. Also, there’s a lovely shine.
I’m hoping by the time I get to the end of this review I will have found my diffuser so can add in heat dried curls for comparison… why do I have to be so messy, why or why…Anyway, moving on!
My Natural Hair Blown Dry
My hair does blow-dry quite well. This does not, however, mean I do a good job of it. But if a hairstylist was to get their hands on it, it can look straight and half its thickness. I, on the other hand, have a tendency to blast the hair, tie it back for ten to ‘de frizz’ and hope for the best. I’m permanently knackered folks, what can I say. This “styling’ technique does leave me with a rather large, unruly mane, that leaves room for improvement. So I’ll take any help I can get.
A shampoo with Herbal Essences bio: renew Shampoo (White Grapefruit’s my fav) followed by L’Oreal Paris Elvive Dream Lengths Wonder Water and the Herbal Essences bio: renew Shampoo, Argan Oil of Morocco, then a dollop of Colourway Macadamia Hair Oil is the routine.
Again, when I say my hair hasn’t had a haircut in a while, I mean it’s not seen a hair professional since September 2019, so…any improvement is impressive, right?
Herbal Essences bio:renew Shampoo White Grapefruit
Herbal Essences bio: renew Shampoo, Argan Oil of Morocco
Without Wonder Water
With Wonder Water
Ok, so it’s when blowdrying my hair that I really noticed a difference. This was the WOW moment. The “hell’s bell’s I need to stock up, instagram was right!”
One of the nuggets of knowledge I gained from my few months of Level 3 Hair at college (before sadly having to quit because of my poor health) was an understanding of when hair is being styled from wet to dry you are changing its molecular structure. So the way in which you hold the hair in certain positions and tension matters to the finished effect. This is why a professional blow dry always has such a smooth finish. How the hair has that straight and polished look.
Now when I blast my hair dry, I’m well aware that my hair isn’t being smoothed in the best possible way and that’s apparent in the finished product. But look, I do not have the energy to section my hair and give it a proper blow dry. So I deal. Until now…
The thing that surprises me the most is that to touch, it has a similar feel to that of a professional blow dry-which is interesting because it is anything but. So I can only hesitate a guess that this is the magic of the lamella technology cuddling my battered hair strands and smoothing my ragged spilt-ends down. Now, I will of course, when making such a bold comparison, say it isn’t as nice as a salon blowout, my hair still has the added ‘weight’ that seems to compress when professionally wrapped around a round brush and coiffed, but it’s damn near incredible.
What I feel is smooth, silky, swishy hair. My frizz isn’t visible and there’s no static. My hair doesn’t feel as dry.
What I see is a dramatic improvement. My hair looks as if I’ve made an effort (I think we’ve established that I have not). It looks both as if I have carefully blow-dried it and straightened it but it’s not overdone. Oh and we can all see that shine right?!
The Days Following The Wash
So how did my hair hold up in the days following the wash? Well, over the next few days my hair stays the same. There’s no build-up on my scalp or hair. I don’t feel that my hair feels weighed down at all. I was able to use the Wonder Water wash after wash because of this. My hair really does feel great. I also think it has helped control my frizz somewhat, so much so that I actually want to see how my hair fairs on a humid day (those of the days my frizz comes to town the most!) just to really put it to the test!
Final Thoughts
Well, I’m impressed. With my natural curls, it felt nice and appears to have worked well in photographs. With my hair blowdried is where I truly notice a difference. I think it’s too early in the game to say whether it’s made a difference to the overall health of my hair as yet but I love that the caring ingredients are able to penetrate into the hair while the lamella lovingly wrap themselves around your strands. It’s like care and style in one. It is salon meets home stying and it couldn’t have come at a better time. I know that it will now be a constant in my hair care wardrobe that’s for sure, I’m that impressed by the results. I’ve already bought some for others to try!
What about you? Do you think it’s made a difference? Have you tried any of the current lamella technology products that are available? Let me know in the comments!
L’Oreal Paris Elvive Dream Lengths Wonder Water is £9.99 and available here*
Products Listed:
Herbal Essences bio:renew Shampoo White Grapefruit*
Herbal Essences bio: renew Shampoo, Argan Oil of Morocco*
Noughty Hello Curls Define & Reshape Curl Primer*
L’Oreal Paris Elvive Dream Lengths Wonder Water*
Find out more about Colourway Haircare here
