A search for economic WEN formulations!
EDS Skin Care Forums Forum Index » Skincare Tools & Do-It-Yourself Skincare

free skin care · Wed Mar 28, 2007 1:49 pm

So many of us have fallen in love with the various types of WEN conditioning cleansers, but honestly for the quantity needed to get a good cleanse, I would be going through 1x travel size every 3 weeks. And as an international customer, I would be paying around 30% of the product price for shipping alone for the larger sizes.

I have just cross-checked the ingredients for all four conditioners, and they have slightly different orders but the basic few that may be key to creating our very own WEN products.

For reference, here is a complete listing of ingredients for all four conditioners -

Sweet Almond and Mint--Ingredients: Water, Aloe Vera Gel, Glycerin, Chamomile Extract, Cherry Bark Extract, Calendula Extract, Rosemary Extract, Betientrimonium Chloride, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Cetyl Alcohol, Emulsifying Wax, Panthenol, Trimethylsilylamodimethicone, Hydrolyzed Whole Wheat Protein, PEG-60 Almond Glycerides, Menthol, Sweet Almond Mint Oil, Peppermint Oil, Citric Acid, Methylchlorisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Fragrance.

Fig--Ingredients:Water, Glycerin, Cetyl Alcohol, Rosemary Leaf Extract, Wild Cherry Fruit Extract, Fig Extract, Chamomile Extract, Marigold Flower Extract, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Cetearyl Alochol, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Amodimethicone, Hydrolyze Wheat Protein, Polysorbate 60, Panthenol (Pro-Vitamin B-5), Menthol, Sweet Almond Oil, PEG-60 Almond Glycerides, Methlisothiazolinone, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Citric Acid, Essential Oils.

Aloe--Water, Organic Aloe Vera Leaf Juice, Cetyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Rosemary Leaf Extract, Cucumber Fruit Extract, Chamomile Extract, Marigold Flower Extract, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Menthol, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Amodimethicone, Polysorbate 60, Witch Hazel, Dicetyldimonium Chloride, Avocado Oil, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Glycerin, PEG-60 Almond Glycerides, Panthenol (Pro-Vitamin B-5), Citric Acid, Methlisothiazolinone, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Essential Oils.

Tea Tree--Water, Aloe Vera Gel, Glycerin, Cetyl Alcohol, Rosemary Extract, Wild Cherry Fruit Extract, Chamomile Extract, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Panthenol Pro-Vitamin B5, Trimethylsilylamodimethicone, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Polysorbate 60, Menthol, Essential Oils, PEG-60 Almond Glycerides, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Methylchlorisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Citric Acid.

Bulk of product: (brackets) optional
Depending on how "moisturising" you want the end product to be, you can vary the amount of glycerin, and the thickness of the product can be altered by adding/reducing water

- water (can opt for hydrosols such as peppermint, rose, lemon, rosemary - these have the cleansing astringent properties)
- witch hazel (alcohol free)
- aloe vera gel
- glycerine
- cetyl alcohol (surfactant, emollient)
- cetaryl alcohol (emollient)
- Behentrimonium Methosulfate (emulsifier)
- (Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine)
- a silicon derivative (dimethicone cyclomethicone)
- (polysorbate 60) (emulsifies oil/water)

Other additives
- hydrolysed wheat/soy/milk/silk proteins
- menthol/peppermint essential oil
- various conditioning plant oils, avocado, coconut, rosehip etc
- panthenol (and other various B vitamins)
- essential oils like rosemary, neem, ylang ylang
- sea kelp bioferment

Botanicals
I really think these are not necessary, since it is a rinse off product and there are too many extracts, by the time we have 3-4 it would no longer be an economical product.

--

As for creating the product, the texture will be a bit of trial and error, so go slow with quantity and work with small batches in case they turn out to be too waxy/watery.

free skin care · Wed Mar 28, 2007 9:01 pm

Just confused, are these facial cleansers or hair conditioners?

free skin care · Wed Mar 28, 2007 9:03 pm

hair.

free skin care · Fri Mar 30, 2007 5:38 pm

I posted this in the product review forum but thought it would be best suited here.

Quote:

miranets wrote:
Winnie - I also thought about creating some economic DIY version, since it seems the main ingredients are that of what is in a normal conditioner, though the various herbal extracts may be a little hard to get a hold of.

Cetaryl alcohol seems to be the top ingredient, along with some other plant esters. I think adding menthol or peppermint EO would be a top priority for me - it feels sooo refreshing.

I will make a seperate post on the DIY forum to list some ingredients and such.

I have so many EO's that I got at an awesome price from a friend in business. I purchased Trader Joes Spa Nourishing Conditioner (2.70) I added EO's of Rosemary and Peppermint. I also added Sea Kelp Bio. So far so good!!! The Rosemary and Peppermint EO's felt awesome on my scalp. I believe I added 10 drops of Rosemary and 5 drops of Peppermint... 1/4 Cup of Sea Kelp. I mixed it all up and put it in a larger bottle to handle the extra SKB.

Can't believe it ... but I actually think it is going to work. My fine hair felt clean, not weighed down and had a lovely sheen. No way I have the ambition to creat a conditioning shampoo totally from scratch. I read the review regarding the Trader Joe's products and quite like them (Trader Joe's is awesome).

My one suggestion is that you should wash your hair once a week with your regular shampoo (I need to). After a week of conditioning cleanser (WEN) I find my hair gets weighed down.

free skin care · Sat Mar 31, 2007 12:32 am

I also find the WEN shampoos to feel slightly greasy, and my hair takes longer to dry - esp with the glycerin rich Fig variant. Perhaps it may also be to do with the silicon build up, I'm definitely opting out with the silicons.

free skin care · Sat Mar 31, 2007 5:31 am

Hi,

Just thought I'd post this--it seemed to clarify for me, ingredients-wise, what WEN products actually are:

Quote:

Nina asks about WEN, a line of cleansing conditioners created by a Hollywood hair stylist Chaz Dean. Dean believes that sulfates in most shampoos can be very damaging and stripping to hair so he created these cleansing conditioners to clean hair without stripping it. Nina wants to know if hair can really be better off in the long run by cleansing with a conditioner. And if it does work, will a regular drugstore conditioner produce the same effect. The Left Brain replies:

WENGreat question, Nina. First of all, the idea of cleaning your hair with conditioner is not new and was not invented by Chaz. And no, he’s not using any kind of revolutionary technology. Let’s take a look at the ingredients:

Water, glycerin, cetyl alcohol, rosemary leaf extract, wild cherry fruit extract, fig extract, chamomile extract, marigold flower extract, behentrimonium methosulfate, cetearyl alcohol, stearamidopropyl dimethylamine, amodimethicone, hydrolized wheat protein, polysorbate 60, panthenol, menthol, sweet almond oil, PEG-60 almond glycerides, methylisothiazolinone, methylchloroisothiazolinone, citric acid, essential oils.

Looking at just the functional ingredients (leaving out extracts, preservatives, pH adjusters, ) leaves the following:

glycerin, cetyl alcohol, behentrimonium methosulfate, cetearyl alcohol, stearamidopropyl dimethylamine (SADMA), and amodimethicone

These are very common conditioner ingredients. Here’s what they do: Glycerin can provide moisturization in a leave on product, but it doesn’t do anything for hair when it’s rinsed out. Cetyl and cetearyl alcohol are thickening and emulsifying agents are are used to make a conditioner rich and creamy. Because they’re oil soluble they could, in theory, help lift some of the sebum of your hair and scalp. Behentrimonium methosulfate, SADMA, and amodimethicone are very effective conditioning ingredients because they deposit on the hair.

Could you clean your hair with this product? Sure, if your hair isn’t very dirty this could work pretty well. But so could any basic conditioner. In fact, I’d look for a conditioner that doesn’t have any silicone in it, just to make sure it leaves as little on your hair as possible.

But what if you have greasy hair, or if you use hairspray, mousse gel, or putty? Then cleansing conditioners are not a very good idea. They don’t have enough cleansing power to remove “gunk” from the hair. Chances are that cleansing with conditioner will leave your hair feeling dirty and weighed down.

The Brains Bottom Line: If you’re really worried about drying your hair out from over-shampooing, there’s nothing wrong with skipping your shampoo and just rinsing with conditioner once in a while. But you don’t need to spend $28 on a special product. A nice inexpensive drug store brand will do the same thing.

Fromwww.thebeatybrains.com

--avalange

free skin care · Sat Mar 31, 2007 12:55 pm

I also thought about this before purchasing WEN, so I was just using a "natural" conditioner with no silicons and lots of plant fatty acids, but the texture was watery and did not leave the hair feeling smooth - more tangled in fact. Others may find Avalon Organics and Nature's Gate conditioners to be a cheaper alternative.

free skin care · Sun Apr 01, 2007 11:01 am

avalange wrote:

Hi,

Just thought I'd post this--it seemed to clarify for me, ingredients-wise, what WEN products actually are:

Quote:

Nina asks about WEN, a line of cleansing conditioners created by a Hollywood hair stylist Chaz Dean. Dean believes that sulfates in most shampoos can be very damaging and stripping to hair so he created these cleansing conditioners to clean hair without stripping it. Nina wants to know if hair can really be better off in the long run by cleansing with a conditioner. And if it does work, will a regular drugstore conditioner produce the same effect. The Left Brain replies:

WENGreat question, Nina. First of all, the idea of cleaning your hair with conditioner is not new and was not invented by Chaz. And no, he’s not using any kind of revolutionary technology. Let’s take a look at the ingredients:

Water, glycerin, cetyl alcohol, rosemary leaf extract, wild cherry fruit extract, fig extract, chamomile extract, marigold flower extract, behentrimonium methosulfate, cetearyl alcohol, stearamidopropyl dimethylamine, amodimethicone, hydrolized wheat protein, polysorbate 60, panthenol, menthol, sweet almond oil, PEG-60 almond glycerides, methylisothiazolinone, methylchloroisothiazolinone, citric acid, essential oils.

Looking at just the functional ingredients (leaving out extracts, preservatives, pH adjusters, ) leaves the following:

glycerin, cetyl alcohol, behentrimonium methosulfate, cetearyl alcohol, stearamidopropyl dimethylamine (SADMA), and amodimethicone

These are very common conditioner ingredients. Here’s what they do: Glycerin can provide moisturization in a leave on product, but it doesn’t do anything for hair when it’s rinsed out. Cetyl and cetearyl alcohol are thickening and emulsifying agents are are used to make a conditioner rich and creamy. Because they’re oil soluble they could, in theory, help lift some of the sebum of your hair and scalp. Behentrimonium methosulfate, SADMA, and amodimethicone are very effective conditioning ingredients because they deposit on the hair.

Could you clean your hair with this product? Sure, if your hair isn’t very dirty this could work pretty well. But so could any basic conditioner. In fact, I’d look for a conditioner that doesn’t have any silicone in it, just to make sure it leaves as little on your hair as possible.

But what if you have greasy hair, or if you use hairspray, mousse gel, or putty? Then cleansing conditioners are not a very good idea. They don’t have enough cleansing power to remove “gunk” from the hair. Chances are that cleansing with conditioner will leave your hair feeling dirty and weighed down.

The Brains Bottom Line: If you’re really worried about drying your hair out from over-shampooing, there’s nothing wrong with skipping your shampoo and just rinsing with conditioner once in a while. But you don’t need to spend $28 on a special product. A nice inexpensive drug store brand will do the same thing.

Fromwww.thebeatybrains.com

--avalange

Avalange, wow, thank you so much for posting this. I really appreciate it. I always wonder about ingredients. I went all the way to Hollywood to buy WEN, but then it turned out I'm allergic to something in it and can't continue to use it, but I'm ok with my TJs Nourish Spa conditioner, so I am going to try Winnie's suggestion and add peppermint and SKB to the conditioner. Their (Nourish Spa) shampoo is very gentle though, so I might just use that, too, still. It is very hard to skip the shampoo step. My scalp itches bad.

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