Fashion

This Is What OUAI, Jen Atkin's Hair Line Is Like

by Miki Hayes

It's always exciting when someone who's been a long-time professional in the beauty industry releases her own line of products. You just know it has to be good. So I was pretty excited to try OUAI, Jen Atkin's hair line. In case you're unfamiliar, Jen Atkin is, like, the celebrity hairstylist. She's styled A-listers ranging from the Kardashians, to J.Lo, to Sofia Vergara, and for designers from Louis Vuitton, to Marchesa, to Christian Dior. So you know she knows what she's doing.

When it comes to her hair line, OUAI (pronounced like "way" and meaning "yeah" in French), Atkin is all about delivering that modern, luxurious feel, but in an easy, everyday kind of way. Hair-wise, I fancy myself pretty low-maintenance, so I am all about a line that doesn't require more effort than I'm used to, but still gives A-list level results. And because I feel like my hair tends to fall a little flat throughout the day, I put the Volume line to the test. Could OUAI give me the luxurious, effortless volume I was looking for? Here's what happened when I used OUAI's Volume Shampoo and Conditioner, as well as the Soft Mousse, instead of my regular hair care.

Before OUAI

OK, so here's how my hair usually looks after a shampoo, condition, and air-dry. I have a decent amount of hair, but it's fine and tends to fall kind of limp. Ideally, I'd prefer some more volume at the root and also throughout the strands.

After OUAI Shampoo + Conditioner

After using just the shampoo and conditioner and allowing my hair to air-dry, volume-wise, I didn't notice too much extra lift at the root. Maybe there's only so much I can have when my hair is long or when I choose to air-dry. Something I did notice though? My hair was softer and smoother. Sure, I still had some flyaways, but the lengths of my hair definitely felt nicer than normal — and you can see in this photo that they're a little shinier.

After OUAI Volume System

I used to use mousse when I was younger to try to add some volume to my hair. Eventually I gave up, because I never really felt like it did much, and it always left my hair feeling kind of sticky. This is not that kind of mousse. After using the OUAI Volume shampoo and conditioner and towel-drying my hair, I rubbed an egg-sized amount of the Soft Mousse between my hands and then worked it through my strands. And even though my hair was still damp, I already saw some added volume.

OUAI Volume Shampoo, $28, Sephora; OUAI Volume Conditioner, $26, Sephora; OUAI Soft Mousse, $26, Sephora

Per Atkin's styling tip to "shake and blast moussed-up hair with a blow dryer or diffuser for body and movement," I blow-dried my hair instead of letting it air-dry like I usually do. And while I was surprised to still see added volume as I dried my hair, I was even more surprised that my hair dried faster than it usually does when I opt for the hairdryer and that it felt totally soft instead of crunchy. Seriously, this mousse had me feeling some type of way.

After giving my hair a chance to settle, I noticed that my roots weren't showing quite as much lift as they did right after I had finished drying my hair. However, when I tied my hair up later that day, my ponytail was definitely thicker than it usually is. And hey, I'll take my volume where I can get it.

Final Thoughts

One of the more unique aspects of this hair line is the fragrances used to scent the products. Rather than one scent for the whole line, or a simpler scent like a fruit or flower, each product is strongly perfumed with more complex notes. So if you're sensitive to scents, you may want to give this line a sniff before committing. But if you're all about catching a whiff of perfumed hair every time you turn around, this is the hair line you've been waiting for.

You can shop OUAI online at theouai.com or sephora.com.

Images: Miki Hayes (6)