L'Oréal’s Wonder Water Made My Hair Silkier Than Any Other Product

• Value: 19/20
• Functionality: 18/20
• Ease of Use: 20/20
• Aesthetics: 15/20
• Accessibility: 18/20
• TOTAL: 90/100

I am going to put it right out there and tell you that after many years in the beauty industry, I have a, shall we say, healthy amount of skepticism about most products that come across my desk. Every day I see a new “must-have” launch that promises to solve every problem, and I call BS on most of them. But hey, I’m not here to complain or call anyone out. I am here to champion the products I truly love and want to share with you all. Which brings me to L’Oréal’s Elvive 8 Second Wonder Water.

First of all, what a name, right? Wonder Water: I’m intrigued. Eight seconds? That's much more doable than the 20 minutes that most hair masks suggest.

After hearing a veteran beauty editor gush about it over breakfast earlier this year, I got myself a bottle to test it out at home. Again, we are a skeptical crowd, so I took her recommendation seriously. Plus, she has thick, textured hair (not unlike mine), and on that particular morning it looked especially smooth and shiny.

The product boasts what L’Oréal calls its proprietary “lamellar water technology,” which deposits a thin layer of moisturizing agents and amino acids (aka lamelles) to the damaged areas of your hair. For any science buffs out there, the way it works is the positive charges of the lamelles are attracted to the negative charges of damaged hair, so the active ingredients bind only to the areas that need extra care. The result? Silky soft and shinier hair that doesn’t look or feel weighed down in the slightest.

In fact, it has the opposite effect of most conditioning treatments in that it actually makes your hair more buoyant. Whether you air-dry or blow-dry, your hair appears healthier. It’s pure sorcery. 

Each bottle contains seven 20-milliliter doses, which are marked on the side and are meant to be doled out twice a week as follows: one dose for fine to medium hair, two or three doses for thick or curly hair and an additional dose if you have long hair. I have very thick shoulder-length hair, so I opted for two doses to get the job done. 

Wonder Water is unlike anything I’ve tried before. It’s a lightweight conditioning treatment that you rinse out after eight seconds, and though it can be followed up with actual conditioner, I haven’t personally felt the need. My frizz-prone hair is noticeably sleeker and easier to manage whenever I use this and what it lacks in #shelfie aesthetic or scent (it smells a tad chemically), it makes up for in performance and accessibility.

TL;DR: If your hair is dry and needs a quick boost, get thee some Wonder Water. At nine bucks a bottle, it’s well worth the cost. 

The PureWow100 is a scale our editors use to vet new products and services, so you know what’s worth the spend—and what’s total hype. Learn more about our process here.