OUAI is one of those brands that started with a stylist's problem and a very modern idea. Jen Atkin, a celebrity hairstylist, conceived it in 2014 and launched it in 2016, with the goal of making the first socially connected haircare brand, built around Instagram from the start. The name is pronounced 'way' and means 'yes' in French, which tells you the tone: easy, a little Parisian, always up for it. In December 2021 Procter & Gamble acquired it, its first takeover in prestige hair care, and Atkin stayed on as founder and Chief Creative Officer. The wash day products are where the brand began. The Detox Clarifying Shampoo with apple cider vinegar comes as a bottle and as a refill, and the Medium Shampoo and Medium Conditioner both come in the big 946ml size for people who go through a lot of it. The Leave In Conditioner is the quiet workhorse, and the scented versions, St. Barts and Melrose Place, are named after places rather than ingredients. The Curl Crème, the Lightweight Heat-Protecting Hair Oil for Frizz Control and the holiday kits round out the routine. For how a clarifying wash fits in, my notes on clarifying shampoo and what to do next cover it, and why curls get thirsty explains the leave-in step.

The brand's range stretches well beyond hair, and the body products are the easiest place to see it. The Body Cleanser comes full size and as a Melrose Place mini, and the St Barts Body Creme and the Body Cleanser and Body Lotion kit carry the same scent through the shower. The Ibiza Hair and Body Fragrance Mist is a single spray meant for both, which is the whole logic of a brand that treats hair and skin as one routine. Back in the hair aisle, the Bond Repair Balm and the Anti Frizz Crème are the treatment pieces. What I would skip is layering several strongly scented products from different cities in one morning; pick the St. Barts cleanser and creme together, or let the Ibiza mist be the only scent you wear that day. If you are building a mist wardrobe, hair perfume as fine fragrance rebuilt for hair is worth a read before you choose.

The third group is the widest. Wave Spray is the product people know the brand for, a spray made for beach waves without sea salt crunch, and it sits here with the Thickening Spray in the same 177ml size. The Fine Hair Shampoo is the one to pick if your hair goes flat easily. Then the fragrance side: Rue St Honore, Laurel Canyon and the Travel North Bondi Eau de Parfum, plus Hair & Body Mists in the St. Barts scent with dragon fruit and orange blossom. The Dean Street hand wash, the Hand Wash, the Cape Town Aluminum Free Deodorant and the St. Barts scalp and body scrub show how far a hair brand can stretch. Detox Shampoo also comes as a refill pouch, and the Mini St. Barts, Ibiza, Santorini and Melrose Hair & Body Mist Set is the easy way to find a favorite. For help choosing, shampoo, conditioner and hair oils is a useful companion.

My OUAI shelf would be Detox Shampoo once a week, the Medium Conditioner, a Leave In Conditioner in St. Barts and Wave Spray for the days I want texture. The mini mist set would sit beside it for a scent I could change on a whim. What I like most is the point of view, which has stayed consistent from Atkin's 2014 idea to the P&G era: hair care that feels social, fun and a little French. Pairing shampoo with conditioner is half the battle, and the best shampoo and conditioner pairs, sorted by hair type is where I would send a friend next.

To round out the look, see amika Hair Care and The Fragrance Edit.