Twenty-five years ago, a forward-thinking, up-and-coming hair care guru fervently sought to revolutionize the way hair is washed and treated to achieve one’s healthiest locks yet.

That guru, Chaz Dean, blazed a trail in the hair care category with the introduction of cleansing conditioner. His goal was to give the scalp a thorough clean while eliminating shampoo’s tendency to strip color and natural oils, which can yield a microbiome imbalance resulting in oilier roots and a dry shaft. He’d do this while maintaining the benefits of a leave-in conditioner so that follicles are manageable, shiny, strong, hydrated, and smooth with a hint of fragrant scent. This cleansing conditioner would be housed in a single, 32-fluid-ounce pump bottle.

“When I first started doing hair, I created products for the company I worked for,” Dean told Happi. “I asked them, ‘Why don’t you have your own deep conditioner?”

After setting him up with a lab, Dean was tasked to concoct a more natural product line. Tapping into his love of botanicals, which he acquired from his grandmother through whom he learned aroma therapy, apothecary and essential oils, he created a primrose shampoo and sage and rosemary conditioners.

“Sage was more moisturizing and hydrating; rosemary was more astringent and incredible for scalp stimulation, hair growth,” he recalled. “Once I developed those for them, I started using just sage and rosemary and mixing them together for cleansing and conditioning. Since that day, I have not had lather touch my hair my face, my body [or] my skin.”

The light bulb moment went off when he could go longer in between washes and his clients’ color wasn’t going down the drain. Centering his formula on a botanical blend fortified with 11 amino acids to boost strength and growth, he would call this “backwards” but “new” way of cleansing hair – along with the “zen” feeling it imbued with every wash – Wen.

Wen is formulated for all hair types and textures from coarse to curly and coily, to fine pin-straight hair native to Asia. Dean’s first collection of cleansing conditioners debuted in 2000 on QVC and garnered fanfare from celebrity proponents including Brooke Shields, Nicolette Sheridan and Lisa Rinna. The line included several of the brand’s “OG” formulas that are Leaping Bunny-certified and celebrated for their cruelty-free testing and natural ingredient profile: Sweet Almond Mint, Tea Tree, Lavender, Fig, Cucumber Aloe and Pomegranate.

“I hit a lot of reluctancy because everyone in the world used shampoo at the time. I said, ‘As long as you have an open mind, I promise it works.’”

The results spoke volumes.

“When they went home and they did it, they would come back and they’re like, ‘My hair is so much healthier, my color didn’t fade, my hair is stronger because you’re not breaking it down just like detergent does with your clothes.’”

Word of mouth on the positive results created a ripple effect of people who appreciated Wen’s ability to stimulate the scalp, hydrate, condition and strengthen their hair. A quarter-century later, Dean runs two salons on the east and west coasts in Greenwich Village and Los Angeles, respectively, and has grown his brand with expansions into skin and body care. Several of the brand’s “OG” formulas like Sweet Almond Mint and Fig are now replenishing treatment mists, perfect for in-between cleansing and volumizing, along with newer summer-centric scents that can be enjoyed all year round from Summer Piña Colada to Summer Passion Fruit. Winter Chocolate Truffle is in-line with the continuing gourmand trend, which is getting richer in 2026.

Recently, Dean was honored with Outstanding Achievement in Color & Styling Award and earned dozens of QVC Customer Choice Beauty Awards throughout his career. Wen’s Brush Dryer Styling Tool won The Innovation Award at the Daytime Beauty Awards last year.

The brush is lightweight with a dense combination of cruelty-free nylon bristles for superior smoothing for a salon quality blowout at home. The Large Air Flow Diffuser has a triple mesh screen to reduce excessive airflow for a frizz-free style and does not exceed 240 degrees to prevent damage.

How To Use Wen

Dean recommends cleansing hair twice-weekly. In the shower, Wen is recommended to be used multiple times. On soaking-wet hair, the first six-to-eight pumps (for fine hair and 10-12 pumps for coarse hair) removes dirt, grim and excess oils. This consistency yields a frothy, creamy texture that gets massaged into the scalp and combed through for two minutes before rinsing out. For the second cleanse, Dean recommends repeating the same process with four pumps in the crown and four through the ends, massaging it in before combing it through and clipping it up so work on the rest of the body. Wen’s cleansing conditioner can even be used on legs for a silky shave. After the final wash, he recommends using one to two pumps as a leave-in conditioner before combing hair through once again before blow-drying and styling.

Product Expansion

Since launching Wen, the brand has expanded to include hair care lines for men, pets, and even body care and home fragrance. The Wen Men Hair + Body Cleansing Conditioner was created Dean’s distaste for the alkaline feeling soap left on his skin. It’s infused with cardamom, amber, bamboo and ginger to deeply cleanse from head to toe, serving a multifunctional product for hair cleansing, body wash and shave cream all in one.

Wen 319 Ultra Nourishing Intensive Body Treatment delivers a concentrated dose of vitamins and regenerative extracts to produce glowing skin. Its Bella Spirit Restorative Lip Treatment delivers lasting hydration with a hint of color with a blend of paraffin, shea butter, and beeswax. Botanical include essential oils, sodium hyaluronate, and Vitamins C & E.

Wen Sixthirteen Dry Oil Intensive Treatment Spray doubles as a face and body spray to add a high-gloss shine to hair and a hydrated, matte finish to skin to revive dull hair or skin in seconds. It is infused with lemon, rosemary and vanilla bean while moisturizing skin with arnica, Vitamin K, amino acids, and peptides.

Furry friends are also relishing in the “Wen effect,” given the soothing formulas of lavender mint eucalyptus and lemon rosemary vanilla.

With scent profiles he curates from his own garden, Dean has released several fruity, sensual and seasonal eau du parfums including Spring Cherry Blossom, Summer Melon Mint and Winter Red Currant. For the home, indulgent three-wick, clean- and slow-burning candles made from a soy-coconut blend include Fall Vanilla White Pumpkin, Fall Fresh Apple and Plum Pear Deluxe.

Products are available on QVC, Amazon and chazdean.com.