Over the past few years, there’s been a major uptick in celebrity beauty brands. Rihanna has Fenty Beauty, Michelle Pfeiffer has Henry Rose fragrances, Selena Gomez has Rare Beauty, and so on. Truthfully, I can’t keep up with who is creating what, but when I heard that Jonathan Van Ness was making a hair care line, I was intrigued.
Jonathan Van Ness, or JVN, is most well-known for his role as the hair and grooming expert on Queer Eye. The brand set out to serve all hair types, with the motto “come as you are.” All JVN Hair products are silicone free, sulfate free, color-safe, and vegan.
Today I’m sharing my first impressions on JVN Hair, specifically the volumizing shampoo and conditioner from the brand’s Embody collection. So, is JVN Hair worth the hype? I think so, and here’s why.
JVN Hair Review
JVN Hair Care Pricing
Speaking strictly to price per ounce, JVN Hair offers pretty good value at $18 for 10 oz. each. Most other non-drug store shampoos on the market are either more expensive, or you get a smaller amount of product. Brands with comparable pricing per ounce are Amika and Verb.
Shampoo and Conditioner Review
I really like the scent of these products. They’re neither too masculine nor feminine, making them great unisex products that anyone can use.
Typically, sulfate free shampoos don’t lather well, but I did not find this to be the case with the JVN Hair Embody shampoo. Bonus points for this. I found that I had to use a little more shampoo than my normal amount with my other shampoo to get a good lather, but this wasn’t a deal-breaker for me.
The conditioner pleasantly surprised me. Granted, I have bleached ends, so they’re naturally drier than the rest of my hair. And although I didn’t feel in the shower that my ends were hydrated, I LOVED that I didn’t have to use a detangling spray before brushing.
After giving my hair a rough dry and letting the rest dry naturally, I did see a small boost in volume at my roots. However, it definitely wasn’t as dramatic as the before and after images on the JVN Hair site.
What I did notice the most about my dried hair though was its lack of frizz. This was what I liked most about these products.
What is Hemisqaualane?
All JVN Hair products are made with an ingredient called hemisqualane. Hemisqualene is a natural silicone alternative to moisturizer and hydrate your hair’s strands while reducing frizz.
I was skeptical about this claim, but as it turns out, I really did experience significantly less frizz than usual after using the JVN Hair shampoo and conditioner only once.
Overall, I really liked the JVN Hair shampoo and conditioner I tried from the Embody collection. The price point of this brand is great if you’re looking for something in between a drug store brand and a high-end brand.
Here’s what I liked about the shampoo and conditioner:
- The fragrance
- The shampoo had a nice lather to it, despite being sulfate-free
- My hair generally felt clean
- The conditioner helped detangle my hair and I didn’t need to use detangling spray
- I saw a definite decrease in frizz even after just one use
Here’s what was so-so for me:
- Even though my hair generally felt clean, I felt like I had to wash it the next day (I normally don’t wash every day)
- These are volumizing products, and while I saw a little lift at the root, it wasn’t anything noticeable or like the photos on the JVN Hair website.
You can buy JVN hair directly on the brand’s website, in Sephora stores, and Sephora.com.
