Considering that this is another product from the Lookfantastic beauty box that I’m reviewing, I think that I can say that August’s box was definitely a hit. This was yet another mini size product (30 ml), but I got to use it about 6 times so I can say that I formed an opinion on it.

Percy & Reed is an UK brand that was created by two hairdressers, Paul Percival and Adam Reed. They opened a salon in 2007 in London and soon after, they co-opted a business partner to create a line of hair care and hair styling products that is now sold in more than 20 countries.

Packaging:

The full size comes in a tube with a pump, but my mini size came in just a simple tube. I love the design, it has a vintage feeling to it with the cartoonish drawing on it.

Texture:

The balm is white and it feels sticky, like a hair wax. It has a scent that I don’t find particularly pleasant but it’s also not bad, so it doesn’t bother me at all. It has a signature scent called A Walk with Nature, that evokes the scent of the British Countryside in bloom. Top notes are watery and citrus notes, ivy and lily of the valley as heart notes and musk, amber and cedarwood as base notes. It’s a floral scent, but it’s not one of my favorites.

Ingredients:

Aqua (Water), Polyacrylate-13, Polyimide-1, Polysorbate 20, Phenoxyethanol, Polyisobutene, PPG-2 Myristyl Ether Propionate, Myristyl Alcohol, Panthenol, Parfum (Fragrance), PEG-8 Stearate, Potassium Sorbate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Sorbitan Isostearate, Citric Acid.

The formula is sulphate free, paraben free, silicone free and gluten free. It’s also vegan friendly and I’m not sure, but as far as I can tell, Percy & Reed is a cruelty free brand.

Price and accessibility:

While the product is not too pricey (18 UK pounds for a full size 75 tube, which is fine by me), I can’t buy their products in Romania. I would have to go through online sellers from abroad and usually the shipping costs almost as much as the product, so it’s not worth it for me to try and purchase it. This makes me sad, because at least this balm is really cool and I would love to add it to my hair care routine.

My overall opinion:

The balm is applied on wet hair, after washing, to work as some sort of primer for the hair before applying any other styling products. It can also be used on dry hair, but only in tiny quantities, to get rid of the frizz. The Wonderbalm is known mostly for keeping frizzy hair under control, which is something very common for me since I have thin hair. On their website, they claim it gives hair “moisture, enhanced shine, smoothness, root boost, definition, softness, light hold, humidity protection, and manageability.”

I didn’t actually use styling products on my hair (I rarely do, just on special occasions), but I used this product as a leave-in conditioner on its own and even applied after my usual rinse-off conditioner. I just love the effect it has on my hair! It makes it look shiny, my strands are more defined (I have a layered hair cut), it give volume to the hair and it feels silky to the touch without making it become oily sooner than usual.

As far as I can tell, this is really a “wonderbalm” and it makes my hair look like after a blow dry and the salon. I would strongly recommend this product since it’s suitable for all hair types. I don’t know what it is about the formula that makes it have that effect on the hair, but I love it and I would definitely purchase the full size product if I could find it in any stores or online shops in Romania.