As the proud owner of a $120 facial serum and a $399 blowdryer, it’s safe to say that I’m big into beauty treatments that make me feel bougie (yes, I’m one of those millennials who can’t technically afford their self-care routines, but I’m cool with it). So when I recently learned that washing your hair with champagne can have actual beauty benefits, my first question was, who wants to go to the liquor store?
"Champagne has very powerful antioxidants, which protects against free-radical damage and promotes so much softness and so much shine" says Rachel Katzman, founder of Cuvée Beauty, a champagne-infused hair product line that was inspired by a night out in Vegas (or, more specifically, the glorious hair she woke up with the morning after).
Apparently, Katzman wasn't the first glamorous woman to discover how amazing her hair looked after a champagne shower. As it turns out, washing your hair with champagne has historically been a way of life for the rich and famous. To quote the legendary Diana Vreeland in a 2010 Harper’s Bazaar, “Why don’t you rinse your blond child's hair in dead champagne to keep it gold, as they do in France?” Christie Brinkley is also a fan of the treatment, and needless to say I’m willing to follow in her footsteps when it comes to literally anything beauty-related.
A quick Google search of “how to wash your hair with champagne" later, I stumbled upon the advice of famed hairstylist Kyle White. "Comb freshly opened champagne through damp hair, work the champagne through the hair gently with your fingers and rinse out thoroughly,” he advised in an article for Town & Country. "The golden color of the champagne will bring out golden tones in your highlights and the consistency and effervescence of champagne gives the hair great volume, shine, and a gorgeous glow.”
Well, OK then! Sounded basically the same as being showered by a bottle service girl or guy at a New York City nightclub, which was one of my favorite pastimes from 2013-2017.
Here is a sneak peek at what my hair looked like pre-treatment (aka streaky and dry):
Armed with a $14.99 bottle of Korbel (I would have liked to have opted for Veuve Clicquot, but I am not a millionaire), it was time to get to work. I washed and conditioned my hair per usual, using Paul Lebrecque’s shampoo and conditioner and combing through the tangles while I was still in the shower.
Then, it was time to do as the French (and beautiful supermodel icons do): I employed my own personal bottle girl (my mom) to follow White’s direction, and she laid me back over the kitchen sink while commenting under her breath that she was “thrilled” that I had decided to work from home this summer.
My immediate reaction was, holy s#!t, this is freezing, which made me realize I probably should have let the bottle cool off before, you know, dumping it onto my scalp. She combed the bubbly liquid through my strands until the entire bottle was finished. Yes, in case you were wondering, I did shed a slight tear watching it go straight down the drain. I had expected it to feel sticky and gross, but even when the champagne was wet, my strands felt smooth — kind of like they’d been rinsed with micellar water.
I opted to give myself a quick blowout — without using any other products, which was a little scary — and was shocked at how naturally shiny my hair looked when I was finished. My hair still wasn't sticky, nor did it smell like a New Year's Eve after-party, which I appreciated. The most significant difference, though, was that my highlights were poppin', so much so that when I came downstairs, my little brother (who has never once in his life noticed anything about my appearance) asked when I dyed my hair blonde. My golden strands looked like actual gold, which is something I’ve been trying to achieve since I first got them balayaged a few months ago.
While, sadly, I can’t justify dumping a bottle of booze on my head every time I need a little boost, Katzman's line of champagne-infused products boast some of the same beauty boosting properties as the actual liquid gold stuff.
The brand's Essential Booster is made with champagne and grape seed extracts to add softness and shine to your hair (just like my Korbel did), and their Champagne Spray functions the same way salt spray does to amp up curls, but doesn't leave any crunchy residue behind.
Though now, I will say I have a really good excuse for not washing my hair after coming home from a champagne shower-filled night out. Does anyone want to invite me to one?
