I’ve seen OUAI products all over social media because they have an affiliates program and plenty of influencers are talking about their products. So, when I received a travel size leave in conditioner in my Lookfantastic beauty box, I was curious to see what the fuss was all about.

OUAI is a brand founded by hair stylist Jen Atkin and Lamees Hamdan. She is also a founder of a digital magazine dedicated to hair and a columnist for Glamour magazine. So, as a woman entrepreneur, I think it’s really suitable to review something made by her during the month of March. Of course, it’s not like I planned it, it’s just a lucky coincidence. OUAI means “yes”, because it’s the way Parisians are saying “oui”. Like a a bored “ouai” (pronounced like “way”). Which is kind of cool, because I was wondering what the name was supposed to mean.

Packaging:

Both the full size products that contains 140 ml, as well as my travel size product that contains 25 ml comes in a clear plastic bottle with a pump. The packaging and the design is clean, simple, mostly white.

Texture:

Since it comes in a bottle with a pump, the conditioner looks like a white thick liquid, but it turns into a conditioner when you pump it out into the palm of your hand. It kind of looks like whipped cream. It is scented and it has that hair salon product quality, meaning that it smells like an expensive product and it lingers on the hair. I like it.

Ingredients:

Water/ Aqua / Eau, Cyclopentasiloxane, Cetearyl Alcohol, Fragrance / Parfum, Quaternium-91, Phenoxyethanol, Adansonia Digitata Seed Oil, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate, Hydrolyzed Rhodophyceae Extract, Tamarindus Indica Extract, Panthenol, Cetearamidoethyldiethonium Succinoyl Hydrolyzed Pea Protein, Arginine, Aspartic Acid, Pca, Glycine, Alanine, Serine, Valine, Isoleucine, Proline, Threonine, Sodium Hyaluronate, Histidine, Brassica Campestris/Aleurites Fordi Oil Copolymer, Cetrimonium Chloride (Anti-Static Agent/Agent Antistatique), Glycerin, Dipropylene Glycol, Polysilicone-29, Behentrimonium Chloride ((Anti-Static Agent/Agent Antistatique), Myristyl Myristate, Silicone Quaternium-16, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Butylene Glycol, Undeceth-11, Butyloctanol, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Undeceth-5, 3-O-Ethyl Ascorbic Acid, Sodium Pca, Sodium Lactate, Phenylalanine, Disodium Edta, Citric Acid, Citronellol, Geraniol, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Cinnamyl Alcohol, Citral, Linalool, Hydroxycitronellal, Limonene, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Acetic Acid, Isopropyl Alcohol, Tocopherol, Bht, Glycolic Acid, Sodium Hydroxide^.

That is one looong ingredients list! The key ingredients are tamarin seed extract, panthenol, vitamin E and hydrolyzed proteins. The formula is vegan, paraben free, gluten free, phthalate free and SLS and SLES free.

OUAI products also have their distinctive scents created for them. For example,this leave in conditioner has the North Bondi scent, a blend of florals and citrus (bergamot, Italian lemon, rose de mai, violet) and white musk. The scent was inspired by the Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.

The ingredients list is so long because many of those are perfuming ingredients, so it all depends on how much perfume you want in your hair care products. Personally, I don’t mind it, but I know many people do.

Price and accessibility:

Here in Romania, OUAI products are available at Sephora, Douglas and in online shops. This leave in conditioner is available in the brand’s online shop for 30 US dollars, which is not that much considering that you don’t need much conditioner for one use. There are definitely more expensive hair care products out there.

My overall opinion:

I usually shy away from conditioners just because I feel like they make my already oily hair look even oilier, even if I apply them only on the ends of the hair. However, this is a very lightweight formula, suitable for all hair types, so it takes care of the usual frizz that fine hair has without weighing it down. Also, it helps that I use it only when I know that I will blow dry my hair.

I am pleasantly surprised by this hair conditioner and I’m curious to try more OUAI products, especially since I saw that they have a range for fine hair. I’m a sucker for nice smelling hair products, so I would be interested to see how a shampoo works.