Sophie Says: I’ve heard a lot of things about Pantene Pro-V’s shampoo and conditioners. A lot of hairstylists swear on 
However, I’ve been using the Pantene Restoratives shampoo and conditioner for a few months now, and I find my hair less frizzy, more manageable, smoother, and softer. Of course, I also use John Frieda Anti-Frizz Serum and Pantene Pro-V Restoratives Frizz Control Ultra Smoothing Balm (I highly recommend the latter, just apply to wet hair).
Phew, that was long. So, my question is: Is Pantene good or bad for my hair?
The Right Brain Righteously Responds:
Sophie, please don’t fall into the trap of believing everything your stylist tells you. (That’s one of the The Beauty Brains Basic Beliefs.) While most stylists are very talented at cutting and styling hair, they’re not very talented at interpreting cosmetic formulations.
The truth is, Pantene’s shampoo and conditioner formulas are believed to be among the best in the industry by those of us in the cosmetic science side of the business. It makes sense if you think about it. P&G, makers of Pantene, have a HUGE research budget. Certainly larger than any salon company. That means they can afford to dedicate resources to developing and testing the best formulas possible. We’ve seen Pantene formulas beat the pants of salon products in blind consumer testing. (The products are hidden or blinded, not the consumers)
Why is Pantene vilified?
So why do stylists say that Pantene coats the hair with plastic, or make it fall out? Because that’s what they’re told by the sales representatives for the salon companies. And the truth is, it’s just not true! Compare the ingredient lists for Pantene conditioner and any salon brand you can find.
Even though the names vary you’ll see three basic types of ingredients: fatty alcohols (like cetyl and stearyl alcohol); conditioning ingredients (like stearamidopropylamine and quaternium-18) and silicones (like dimethicone and cyclomethicone.) There’s nary a plastic to be found in Pantene. And no, it doesn’t make your hair fall out either.
The Beauty Brains Bottom Line:
You can choose whatever you like – a retail brand like Pantene or a salon brand like Matrix. But shop around and find a product you like and make your own decisions based on your own experience. Don’t pass on Pantene because of stylist anti-hype.
Have you got something to say about Pantene? Leave a comment below.
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Iv’e actually been usuing pantene restoratives for the past week or two and it makes my hair extremely soft and alot healthier looking! I don’t know if its just for now , because i have been told that pantene makes you hair soft and nice for only alilttle while and after about a month your hair starts to get dry! .. i don’t know – i’ll never know untill i test it myself but for now it works great with my hair! people should try it.
Heidi,
While we don’t work for P&G we do know that they make excellent products. They have the most R&D resources in the industry so they spend lots of time trying to develop the best products. Pantene shampoo and conditioner are some of the best available. Truth be told, the Restoratives is not much different than their standard Pantene formulas (look at the ingredient lists). The Restoratives is purple and has a different fragrance but the base formula is the same.
And the idea that Pantene builds up over time…it’s only partly true. It doesn’t build up any more than other conditioning shampoos. No matter what you use, people naturally get tired of their shampoos and believe that their hair gets “used to” the shampoo so they change. There’s very little evidence to support this idea but it still persists.
But you’ve got it right. Test products yourself. Everyone reacts differently to products.
I dunno…my sister graduated from beauty school and such, and she used to use pantene all the time until she was told never to use it again, not because it had plastic in it, but her teacher said it had something in it similar to Teflon, that stuff they use to make non-stick coatings on your frying pans…I’ve been using the Pantene Pro-V Ice shine (shampoo and conditioner) for about a month now, it was wonderful at first, but i have noticed that starting about 2 weeks ago i have been shedding alot more than usual. I don’t mean to scare anyone or make false accusations, but this is my personal testimony. It doesn’t make my hair any more shinier than it already is, my hair is much more coarse when it dries, when its wet after i take a shower its soft. My hair has been falling out more than usual, and it is becoming very very hard to style it. Nothing (like curls) stays in for long. I was told Garnier Fructis and Suave were the way to go for non-salon hair products.
if you know anything about reading ingredients. you know that the first 5-10 are the main ingredients and have the most impact on your hair. well, panthenol and panthenyl are among those ingredients. both of these igredients are pure wax. no wonder your hair feels soft and amazing, because you arent actually touching your hair. you are touching the 1/2′ to an inch of waxy coating you’ve developed on your hair Follicles. i work in a salon, and one of our hairstylists was processing a client’s hair color when the foils started steaming and would burn if you tried to touch it. ill give you one guess at what shampoo she used daily……
for your own good, read the ingredients before using a shampoo, and steer clear of pantene pro-v.
Ann, beauty schools and professional stylists make money by selling products. Anything they tell you about competitive products sold at stores is suspect. That’s exactly the case with Pantene. It is the best-selling store brand so marketers and sellers of salon brands make up things about it just so you won’t buy it. Pantene does not have anything similar to Teflon in it. That’s just not true.
If you’ve started shedding a lot more than usual, it could be the result of lots of things, the least likely of which would be the shampoo or conditioner you’re using. Perhaps a visit to the doctor is more appropriate than self-diagnosing.
Fructis uses almost all the same chemicals as Pantene (check the labels) but it and Suave are perfectly fine products.
Ashely, thanks so much for your comments.
Here’s a case where a little knowledge can be trouble. Actually for shampoos and conditioners only the first 3 or 4 ingredients have much impact on your hair. There is a thing called the 1% line where if the concentration of an ingredient in a formula is 1% or less, you can list it in any order. There is no way that Panthenol is used in Pantene at any significant level. It costs way too much and has almost NO EFFECT on your hair.
The ingredients that make it work are Dimethicone, Cylcomethicone, and Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine. Panthenol is just a claims ingredient put in the formula at a tiny, tiny amount.
Panthenol is also not a wax. It is a vitamin. And there’s also no way that you’re feeling an inch of waxy coating. You’re hair isn’t that thick!
For your own good read the ingredients on shampoos and be weary of any advice you get from people trying to sell you their salon-brand shampoo.
I agree with thebeautybrains Pantene works great in any kind of hair. The soft sliky feeling when you finish rinseing. Read the ingedents before useage trust me! You never want to get the wrong shampoo that well do harsh damage to your hair!
I’ve been using Pantene for years (Ice Shine most recently) and I’ve never had any of the problems that stylists usually say are imminent unless I cease immediately. In fact, as a bit of a hair rebel I’ve bleached my hair to white in order put fire engine red and/or blue, green, pink, and any other color that happens to strike my fancy at the moment. I’ve gone back to a natural color all the while using pantene. Since I don’t cut my hair very often I don’t get much hoopla from stylists so I was surprised when the woman cutting my hair asked what I used to keep my hair so thick and shiny. I couldn’t help but laugh when I said several courses of bleach, color remover, temporary color, permanent color and……pantene. She then went into a spiel that pantene was the worst thing I could do to my hair and she was surprised that I had any left. This was 10 seconds after she was gushing over how soft, shiny, healthy, and thick it is.
As a sales person myself, I understand that stylists are trying to sell a product but don’t let them make you think that you are going to go bald or turn into Medusa just from using a particular brand. The ingredients are almost identical across the board and if you are really worried about chemical sensitivity or the like, Paula Begoun has been in the cosmetic industry for 30+ years and her website has great info as does her book Don’t Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me.
Ultimately, it is your choice and if a particular shampoo/conditioner makes your hair look/feel/smell nice according to you, stick with it and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
I’ve been using pantene prov for a few years now and the softness of my hair is great, but I’ve noticed that I’ve been shedding a lot of my hair more than I usually do. When I run my fingers through a section of my hair once without any tangles, at least 1 or 2 strands of hair are left on my hand without feeling the little tug on my scalp. It scares me just to brush my hair to get it untangled because I know there’ll be a lot of strands pulled out. I want all of this to stop but I don’t know which shampoo and conditioner I should use to keep my hair from falling out. I really don’t want to end up bald before graduating high school seeing that I’m reaching the end of my sophomore year.
I bought a bottle of Pantene about 4 weeks ago and have noticed a considerable amount of my hair falling out as a result. I have stopped using it and threw the bottle out. It cannot be mistaken that it was because of something else because the amount falling out is still a lot – my hands are covered in hair when washing. This is my personal experience.
Your hair falls out naturally… over 100 hairs per day, I think… could it not be that people are suddenly noticing this more because they recently switched shampoos and are now paying more attention?
If you don’t brush your hair, more of the hairs that fall out will be left in your hair until you run your fingers through it. It isn’t as if they’re falling out when you do that.. they most likely already did and just were sitting there waiting to be brushed out or rubbed out during shampooing.
Probably the best advice I could give would be avoid using too many products like hair spray.. those dry your hair and coat it– pantine removes those products quite well.
Also, try conditioning daily, but shampooing only every 3 days, and using a 5 minute moisturizing mask when shampooing instead of your normal conditioner… this is what I do and I’ve found my hair is softer and less dry as a result.
I found that Suave dried out my hair (what did I expect for $0.88 USD per bottle), and Pantine seems to work pretty well. Fructice also worked well for me. Dove was so bad it gave me dandruff!!! There’s another shampoo I’ve used when visiting a certain friends house… Suke…something– or something.. That always felt and smelled pretty wonderful
I would agree with everyone above that listening to the people at the Salon who are trying to sell you a competing product, who are not chemical engineers, is probably not a wise decision if you want unbiased and accurate information…
First let me say that I am not currently using Pantine pro-V but once I run out of the oodles of salon brand shampoos & conditioners I currently have I am switching to it.
I want to say that the reason a lot of you say your hair is shedding a lot more often is not because of the Pantine pro-V but because you are doing too much to your hair, despite what a lot of us think our hair is not that strong, in fact it is very delicate especially if you have curly hair like me and the more you fuss over it the more adverse reaction it will have. I used to do a lot to my hair and thought I was doing my hair good by plopping all sorts of name brand goo on it but in fact all I was doing was causing my delicate hair more damage and was loosing a lot of hair because of it, then I cut back and stuck to a few non salon brands of styling products and my hair is a lot healthier. I also noticed that the less you put on your hair the better it is for you, just think you have several different brands meaning several different chemicals you are putting on your hair that inversely suffocates it causing it to fall out. Thats the main reason for an unusual amount of shedding. So my suggestion find a brand that you like and works for you and stick with it and remember to use a deep cleansing shampoo and good moisturizing conditioner at least twice a month to help prevent build up and keep hair at it’s healthiest.
Good suggestion Megan. The less you wash and the less you style the better the condition of your hair.
if your feeling your hair is drying up or not feeling as nice as it used to be, it may be from build-up. try a clarifying shampoo. pantene makes a nice clarifier
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but you can always make a homemade recipe yourself.
Hi, I’ve got my MS in Chem E and worked for Cosmair (Loreal, etc) for five years.
This “plastic” coating is probably the silicone based ingredients. These strengthen and thicken the hair, but IF built up and used in conjuction with lots of heat styling and products with alcohol will make your hair look like crap and maybe hurt already damaged hair.
So… be sure to remove residue (from ALL brands of hair products), condition regularly, and use a hot oil treatment occasionally. Trim once a month and your hair will be fine!
Good luck!!!
hi . i m hira.i used pantene pro-v many times. before using it, my hair falls so much. i started using pantene. it makes my hair very soft and silky. i dont no due 2 dis or wat but after dis the no of my hair fall has decreased.
Different ingredients work for different people. For me hair products with silicone in them wreak my hair. Fructose, pantene and a whole bunch of really expensive ones too. I have dry, brittle hair which snaps and breaks off if I use silicone products, but this doesn’t mean paying a fortune I use a boots shampoo that costs £1.29. My hair also complians if I wash it more than once every five or six days, use any styling products, use blow dryers or straightners yet I CAN’T get hairdressers not to do this. I ended up forcing my way out of a salon last month because they didn’t want to let me leave without drying my hair – stylists can be little dictators sometimes, don’t listen to them, you know your hair best.
I looked up the word panthenol and here’s the definition of it:
Description
Panthenol is the alcohol form of pantothenic acid, more familiar as Vitamin B5. In a living cell, panthenol is converted to pantothenic acid, which then becomes an important part of the compound “Coenzyme A”, which is important in cellular metabolism.
In hair, which contains no living cells, it remains as panthenol.
Because it could become a vitamin if it were ever to get to a living cell, it is marketed as a “provitamin”, even though its effects as a vitamin are never used.
I have used Pantene for years and have never had a bit of trouble, I’ve actually been told by my stylists that I have very healthy hair.
For the people that have commented that their hair started fallin out after using Pantene, it is only natural that you lose so much of your hair each time it is shampooed.
I have been using pantene off and on for years. Ice shine seams to make my hair soft and shiney. And i have had few problems with it. but one of my freinds got me thinking. She was experimenting with new coloring and made her hair way to dark. Unsure about what to do she asked her daughter for any ideas. Her daughter said to use pantene. Her duaghter said pantene has bleach in it and will dull the color. My friend did what she sujusted, and the next time i saw her, her hair color was much much lighter. she said it was all thanks to pantene.
so does it really bleach your hair?
and if it does, would it effect un colored (or undyed) hair?
My hair also sheads A TON and when i use alot of heat styling my hair feels awufull and looks like crap…is that from pantene?
Pantene does not have bleach in it but it probably was responsible for making her hair color lighter.
The process of shampooing is enough to strip a significant amount of color from your dyed hair. The hair wasn’t being bleached, the color was being washed out! This would’ve happened with any shampoo, not just Pantene. In fact, this would happen simply with water.
So, no, Pantene will not change the color of your naturally colored hair. It will only affect dyed hair.
You shed a lot of hair because of natural hair growth cycles. In fact, you naturally shed 50 to 100 hairs every single day! Fortunately, more hair is always growing back and you’ve got over 100,000 hairs so you can’t tell by looking at your head that your losing that much. However, the clumps of hair you get in your sink, on your brush, or clogging up your drain are not because of any product. It’s biology.
Finally, your hair feels awful because you are heat styling it. Heat damages hair. It makes it feel dry, creates split ends, and generally gives you “hay head”. A leave-in conditioner can help, but your best bet is to stop using blow dryers, curling irons and worse flat irons. These things are all bad for your hair.
I used to use Pantene for years. I loved it. I would get compliments on my hair on a daily basis. Then one day I decided to bleach my long locks myself and to make a long storyshort, it took many times of processing to get my hair from a yellow higlighter to the desired, platnium blonde. My hair felt like straw. So I went to a salon. They said never use Pantene again and that the shampoo helped damage my hair because I stripped off the wax coating which was drying my hair underneath. I WAS DEVESTATED. SO Ihave been using Matrix, Reskin, and now Phyto for the past 6 years and my hair is not the same as it was with pantene. I AM SWITCHING BACK TO PANTENE. Thanks for all the comments above.
I am in no way shape or form into hair products. I usually use what ever is left in the showerfor the last 13 months I have been usuing pantene Pro V and at first I noticed no difference, just another nice smelling shampoo…. until recently I notice my hair is falling out like crazy. I think the research done for this article is FAKE if not made up by P&G for this website. IT WILL MAKE YOU LOSE YOUR HAIR!! I would never be googling my shamoo to see if it had anything to do with hairloss otherwise. The shock comes to me when I acutally find out it DOES MAKE YOUR HAIR FALL OUT. BOTTOM LINE IF YOU OWN THIS CRAP OR KNOW SOME ONE WHO DOES CALL CHEMICAL CONTROL AND GET RID OF IT!! unless you want to become bald and have or like the feeling of multiple random hairs consistantly falling on to your face during the day and at night.
Sean, capital letters and personal attacks aside, what is your scientific proof that Pantene makes your hair fall out? Anecdotal stories like the one you provide are interesting but not proof. There could be a wide range of explanations for what happened to your hair that don’t involve Pantene at all.
Pantene shampoos and conditioners (plus Herbal Essences & Head and Shoulders which use basically the same formulas) are bought by millions of people each day. If what you said were true, most of the world would be bald right now. How do you explain the fact that millions of people use Pantene but are not bald?
Finally, no matter what product you use you will lose about 50-100 hairs each day. It’s not the product making it happen, it’s biology.
Thanks the beauty brains for all your comments. I used to use Pantene before and my hair was wonderful but then I stopped because of all the rumours I heard about Pantene. I switched to Pantene again recently and looking forward to the results it gave me before. I see that they have changed their bottles. I used to use Pantene 2 in 1 for dry damaged hair and it used to come in the pink bottle. That made my hair real soft and nice and it was like nearly 10 years ago. Let’s see what results it brings now………..
I have used Pantene for over 15 years. I would swear by it to anyone. It went with me through all the crazy bleachings and dye jobs, messed up perms, straightning irons, crimpers… you name it. Then about 5 years ago, I stopped dying, bleaching and using any sort of heat or hair products. No hair spray, no gel, no gunk… you get the idea. The only thing that I have used on my hair in the past 5 years is Pantene. For 4 years now my hair has been falling out at an alarming rate. When I wash it my hands are covered in all my hair that has fallen out. The tub drain is plugged by the end of my 15 minute or 20 minute shower. When I comb my hair afterwards I have giant clumps of hair on the floor all around me. My hair used to be so thick I couldnt get a big enough elastic for it, now it all fits into a small barrette. I even have bald spots. I have had every test the docotors can think of but to no avail. They have no explanation for it… Just tonight a friend of mine told me how bad pantene is for your hair. I decided to check into it for myself and I cant believe that the horror stories I have seen are exactly like mine. Please dont tell me I use to much goo, or that I use to much heat on my hair or wash it to much… none of that is true. I use nothing, not even a hair dryer or hair spray. This started happening about the same time pantene came out with all of their “new” product lines. And I was always first in line to try them. I find the very newest ones leave the top of my hair greasy and make it impossible to do anything with, but then that could be because I just dont have very much left. Is it from pantene? I really cant say for sure, but I can say that I will be going to the store to find something else tommorow. 50 – 100 hairs… try 500-1000 maybe more in my case.
SweetPea,
Thanks so much for your comments. I’m so sorry to hear about your hair loss. It is interesting that you are now experiencing more hair loss but that doesn’t mean that Pantene is the problem. Pantene actually has not changed their formulas. The Pantene Restoratives are pretty much the same as the normal Pantene (just look at the bottles and compare the list of ingredients).
The more likely cause of your hair loss is the fact that you are getting older or a real medical condition. If you are starting to lose “clumps” of hair you should seriously see a doctor to make sure there is nothing wrong.
thats funny…. i would think a hair stylist would know if hair is damaged everytime they see a pantene user. i can tell a pantene user as im washing the hair. its a horrible feeling in the hair. leaves hair sticky and if its colored it gets a bad build up. it is bad for ur hair very bad. u can smell teh pantene in the hair evn after a color!!! i may not know the chemical make up cause im not a scientist but i can tell when something is bad thank you!!!
I’ve used Pantene before. It was my FAVORITE shampoo. I’ve read all of the comments (crap, I’m such a loser) and I agree with some. After using Pantene for 6+ months, I noticed the amount of hair I would lose increased. Finally, after talking about it with friends and family, I decided to switch to Garnier. Garnier was awesome..but then it was no good so onto Herbal Essences! That was no good months later either. So, I decided maybe I should just alternate my shampoos after they have run out. Well, it worked for me. I use Pantene, Garnier, and Herbal Essences. I heard/read somewhere that it’s better to alternate your shampoos.
What are your thoughts beautybrains? Agree? Disagree? It works for me though.
I have used many brands of shampoos and conditioners before, including Pantene. Not one I used often, but I have before. I am also a hair stylist. Pantene may work well for some people and not so well for others. I don’t think you understand the build up you can get of that product or how bad it is until you see it for yourself. Like hair color gone wrong because of all that build up.
Believe it or not, not all hair stylists are out to sell product. There are some, like myself, who will only recommend products to a client who is asking about them. I may explain the benefits of a product that I’m using to someone if they really need it, but I’m not out to sell, sell, sell.
Bottom line: do what you feel is best for your hair. If you have a hair stylist you’ve been seeing for a while and they warn you about some products, they’re only looking out for your best interest.
My friend and coworker is a stylist and she is not paid by ANY cosmetic company to speak out against Pantene. She says using pantene is like using floor polish on your hair, it waxes you up and I don’t doubt her. She has no alterior motive.
also, just becuase a product is made by P&G doesn’t mean they do the research to ensure you are getting a product that is best for your hair. It means they have the money to find the cheapest way to make your hair SEEM healthy.
Allie, the Pantene formula is not much different than products like Dove, Fructis and L’Oreal. Why do you single out Pantene as the one that causes terrible build-up?
Kitsune,
The notion that Pantene is like using floor polish on your hair is exactly the same erroneous terminology that Salon brands tell stylists when bashing the product. While your friend has no ulterior motive, you should question where she got the idea in the first place.
There is NO wax in Pantene. If you disagree please indicate which ingredient is your friend talking about (they are listed on the back label)?
I know a lot of the chemists who work at P&G and I know they do do their research when it comes to their shampoo formulas. They have thousands of scientists all working on creating better shampoo formulas. What do you think these people are spending their time doing?
If you don’t like Pantene feel free to use other products. There are plenty of cheaper shampoo formulas that will work just as well. But stop spreading the incorrect notion that Pantene is like floor wax. That’s just not true.
Left Brain
I used to use Pantene and I thought it was great. Then, I switched to Sunsilk for probably 5-6 months and felt like it really improved the quality of my hair dramatically. Since then then, I have died my hair a dark auburn color and felt like the dye actually improved my hair because of the deep conditioning. I decided to use Pantene Pro-v for auburn color hair….and my hair is noticeablly falling out more and I actually have clumps that just look like this waxy substance or grease that I have never had in my life! I know people could say that this could be due to the fact that I have dyed my hair, but I have dyed my hair before and have never had this problem before using pantene… What are your thoughts? anyone?
Sunsilk and Pantene share many of the same ingredients. (Depending on the SKU) they both contain a detergent, a conditioning polymer and a silicone. There’s really no reason Pantene would have a different effect on your hair than Sunsilk.
The waxy substance is more likely styling residue.
As to why you’re having the problem now, I have no idea. It’s possible that you’re just noticing it more. Every day you will naturally lose 50-100 hairs no matter what shampoo you’re using.
There are two types of detergents in shampoos. Detergents are what actually cleans the hair. Pantene uses ammonium laureth sulfate, while many other brands (including salon brands), use sodium laureth sulfate.
Ammonium laureth sulfate is a cheaper detergent, and is much harder on the hair follicle. Sodium laureth sulfate is a more gentle detergent. While both clean the hair, the better of the two detergents to use is the sodium laureth sulfate.
I used Pantene for years. In fact, since I was seven years old, until I was about 19. I had always had pieces of hair come out of my head while I was shampooing, so I never had thought that it was a big deal. I had read in magazines that when hair comes out, it’s natural! However, I began speaking to hair professionals, began reading online about hair falling out while using Pantene, and I then switched shampoos.
I began using a salon shampoo which used sodium laureth sulfate as its detergent, rather than ammonium laureth sulfate. To my surprise, my hair no longer falls out in the shower. In fact, my hair has never been healthier.
In the past year, I have tried a multitude of professional hair products. When I used Pantene shampoos, conditioners, and styling products, I had never had chemically treated hair, nor had I blow dried or straightened it often. Now, I have hightlighted hair, I straighten it, and it’s never been healthier.
There are some drugstore products which have sodium laureth sulfate, such as Sunsilk (which I see has been debated above). Because the detergent is the most important part of a shampoo, because its what cleans the hair, you have to consider this major factor.
I don’t buy into it that professional hair stylists are trying to take your money, so they preach to you about their products. As someone who has used both store brand and professional brands, I will never go back to drug store products.
Proctor and Gamble is a huge company, but it doesn’t specialize in hair products, as salon products do. If it was known of exactly how much of each ingredient in hair products was in a certain product, it would be much easier to identify which product was better.
But until then, my personal testimony is that I will not go back to Pantene.
Sarah,
This is a case where a little knowledge is not a good thing. Some of the things you say are correct, but others…not so much.
For example, there are many more than just 2 types of detergents in shampoos. In fact, the CTFA lists over 1400 surfactants that could be used in shampoos.
If you’re talking about classes of surfactants, then there are generally just 4. Anionics, cationics, non-ionics, and amphoterics. Ammonium Laureth Sulfate (ALES) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) are in the same class of detergent.
Ammonium laureth sulfate (ALES) is not a cheaper detergent than SLES. In fact, SLES is actually cheaper depending on the quantities you buy. I know because I actually work in the industry and know the pricing of surfactant/detergent raw material companies.
If irritation is your issue than SLES is not the best choice. You should use a shampoo based on Alkyl Poly Glucoside. This is evidenced by this comparison of the irritation potential of the two ingredients.
We have previously debunked the idea that Pantene makes your hair fall out. The explanation for your experience is that you have a bias in your data and only make observations that help support your opinion that Pantene causes hair to fall out. Given Pantene and another shampoo on a blinded basis (you don’t know which is which), you wouldn’t be able to tell that one causes hair to fall out more than the other.
P&G spends more money on research and development for hair products than any other company. They own Pantene, Herbalessences, Head & Shoulders, Aussie, Clairol, Graham Webb, Infusium, Physique, Sebastian, Vidal Sassoon and Wella. To say they don’t specialize in hair products is ridiculous.
You can buy whatever you want, nearly all hair products work. But to suggest that ALES formulas are inferior to SLES formulas is not right.
Okay, so you are saying that you “work in the industry.” You’re telling us that hair stylists have to promote their products. Are you not just doing the same then? Promoting the products of which industry you work for? By that, I am assuming that you work for an industry related to Proctor and Gamble, or in an industry closely related to this hair company.
Your answer still didn’t tackle the issue of why my hair is more healthy now than it has been when I had previously used Pantene. It may have given insight to the fact that more than two detergents exist. However, the two that I have mentioned are those which are the most commonly used and found in the ingredients of a shampoo. Your answer did not debate which detergent is more gentle on the hair. From what I have researched, the detergent used in Pantene is harder on the hair. Am I correct in stating this?
I have not done biased research, as you have attacked. I have merely just became curious as to why my hair was falling out while using Pantene. While I used drug store products, I had also tried Sunsilk, Tresemme, and Fructis. Of these, none made my hair fall out. So if I were to use Pantene and another shampoo on a blinded basis, I would surely be able to tell which one made my hair fall out and which did not. I actually enjoyed the Sunsilk shampoo which I had purchased! After I had discovered Sunsilk, I had read in a hair magazine at my local salon that Sunsilk has been the first non-salon brand to use many similar technologies and ingredients as salon products. My hair dresser also praised Sunsilk and also John Freda, both of which are not salon products. There is clear indication that salons are not out to sell only their professional products. The only question is, what are you out to sell?
Thanks again for the insight.
Sarah,
Why is it every time someone disagrees with us, they eventually end up claiming that we are just trying to sell a product?
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. The Beauty Brains do not sell ANY beauty products. Feel free to buy any kind of shampoo you want. We don’t care if you buy Pantene or a salon brand or even a generic shampoo. It doesn’t matter to us. We don’t promote products. Anyone is allowed to advertise on this site with the understanding that we report the facts about products and if that doesn’t fall in line with an advertiser’s marketing plan, then they shouldn’t advertise with us.
We also don’t work for P&G or are we paid by them in any way.
The only thing we care about is passing along real scientific responses to questions that people have about their beauty products. You want marketing spin and anecdotes, you’ve come to the wrong place. If you want answers based on real research and scientific understanding with no biases towards any products, then the Beauty Brains is for you.
Why is your hair more healthy? It’s difficult to say without answers to various questions. For instance, what do you mean by healthy hair? What is your evidence that your hair is healthier now? What have you done to your hair (coloring, highlights, flat iron, curling iron, etc)? How has your grooming process changed? How has your diet changed? Have you been pregnant? There are numerous more plausible reasons why your hair would be healthier now than before that don’t involve the type of shampoo you use.
The two that you mentioned are not the most common ones found in shampoos. By units sold, the most common would be Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate. These are different detergents than the “laureth” versions. SLES and ALES round out the top 4 of detergents used for making shampoos if you don’t count baby shampoos.
As to which one is more gentle, the answer is that there is no detectable difference between ALES and SLES. When these chemicals are put in water (as the are in shampoos) they separate into lauryl ether sulfate part and either the ammonium or sodium part. The only one of these that functions is the “lauryl ether sulfate” part of the molecule. There is no difference with respect to the harshness of the ingredients on your hair.
Pointing out that your research was biased was not meant to be an attack. It is an explanation of how you could have arrived at your conclusion given all the published data there is out there. I refer to it as biased because you start with your conclusion “Pantene is making my hair fall out” and then you do research to prove that you are correct. To ensure that you are not biased why don’t you start with the opposite conclusion “Pantene isn’t making my hair fall out” and try to prove yourself wrong.
Did you count the number of hairs that you lost when you were using Pantene versus other shampoos? I ask because you naturally lose 50 – 100 hairs every day. People shed just like cats and dogs. Unless you are counting the number of hairs lost, there is no way to tell whether your losing more hair when you use Pantene versus normal hair loss.
Sunsilk is certainly not the first shampoo to use non-salon brand technologies. There are NO technologies used in salon shampoos that aren’t used in store brand shampoos. This is just a marketing claim that isn’t supported by science. They use SLES & cocamidopropyl betaine in their shampoo. The company that makes Sunsilk (Unilever) also makes Dove which uses SLES & cocamidopropyl betaine as their detergents. There is nothing special about this technology.
It’s true that not all salons and hair stylists are out to sell any products. But some are and they learn what they know about hair products from Salon brand marketing companies. They don’t study the science. They don’t learn from people who create the formulas. Their hair product chemistry knowledge comes from marketers and is thus suspect.
Again, we are not out to sell anything. We’re here to clear up unsupported rumors like “Pantene causes my hair to fall out.” No proof of this has ever been offered beyond stories like yours. Where is the science? Where is the skepticism? If you could demonstrate the claim under controlled conditions then that adds more validity to these claims. And what do you say about the people who claim Pantene makes their hair grow like crazy?
There is no known reason based on the chemicals in Pantene why either of these things would happen and there is no unbiased proof provided that they do. So, the most likely conclusion is that your hair falling out (or growing like crazy) is related to something other than your shampoo.
Incidentally, if you want to know that amounts and types of chemicals found in Pantene just look up the patent number on the back of one of their bottles. For example, look up patent number 5,932,203 at the uspto.gov site and you can see a version of the Pantene formula.
Thanks for your comments. I’ve enjoyed the discussion. I’m so sorry if you took offense at any of my comments. None was meant.
Thank you for all of your clarifications. I meant no offense at all either with any of my comments.
I also was unaware that you did not work for any hair company, or that others have attacked this subject. I haven’t read the full of this discussion thread, so that may by my fault.
I still won’t go back to Pantene. The only conditions which have changed with me since I’ve used it was that I now colour my hair, which I did not do while I used their product. My hair wouldn’t fall out during the day when I used the product, but in the shower, AS I was washing my hair. It no longer does that. It may not do that for all people, but it does for me — and as you have said, not all hair products are right for everyone.
I still have some Pantene conditioner left. I might attempt using that again. We’ll have to see…
Thanks for your insight,
Sarah
I think the problem is that people are losing there hair from stress, styling stress, hair dye, diet, alopecia, and other factors. Then they are being told, by friends, or reading on the internet that Pantene makes your hair fall out, and they believe it. Pantene is a popular brand and therefore this rumour really gets around.
Seriously…Is shampoo, when properly rinsed out, in the scalp long enough to do any damage to hair? I think not. Hair dye is far more problematic to the scalp than shampoo.
D
I started using Patene’s conditioner for less breakage about a year ago. The first several months went great…My hair was shiner and did seem to break off less and have less split ends. Fast forward a couple more months. My hair started shedding all over at an alarming rate. Nothing in my diet or medical routine has changed. I stopped using Pantene recently and the shedding and thinning has stopped considerably. Sounds weird, but my hair is now starting to feel better attached to my scalp…like it won’t fall out if I turn my head. Whatever Proctor & Gamble and the salons say, I’m not using Pantene products again.
If you’re going to avoid Pantene, then you should avoid Herbalessences too as they use the same formulas (except for the fragrance & color). Check out the ingredient labels if you’re curious.
To Dayzed:
I too used Pantene religiously for years. My hairdresser, a little less than 2 years ago, gave me free samples of a salon brand shampoo and conditioner. I loved the products, and I switched immediately.
When I used Pantene, my shower would be covered with hair. My husband was always in a fuss about it, because it would never stay clean. My shower drain clogged from all my hair loss one time.
My diet routine, exercise, stress levels, etc have all been identical from when I have switched products. My career and household situation is the same. If anything, I am healthier and less stressed now. My hair no longer comes out while I wash it.
I had never even heard the Pantene rumour abour hair loss until just now! But it’s no doubt that it has some truth to it.
Dayzed, I have never heard this rumour, so you can’t say that I just believed it from hearing it.
Anyway, to make a long story short, my hair actually FEELS healthy now, instead of just LOOKING healthy. I never could understand the difference, but I definitely do now.
My sister been using Pantene for years
al.on with other shampoos she had never
had any problem with her hair falling out.
Sigh, people just don’t get it. Look at the ingredients. Yes, actually look. Take a look at what’s in your old, unused bottle of Pantene. Now go to drugstore.com and look for other shampoos and check their ingredients. You will quickly find out that there is absolutely no ingredient in Pantene that is unique to Pantene. I’m talking about active ingredients, not non-active ingredients–such as coloring, herbs, fruits, etc., that may make up a shampoo’s “special concoction” to give it a unique selling point, but does absolutely nothing. If you actually do the research, you will find out that every single active ingredient in Pantene can also be found in other shampoos.
So how is it that only Pantene is causing one’s hair to fall out? What, exactly, is so special about Pantene’s shampoos? The fact is, there’s nothing special about Pantene’s shampoos. In fact, there’s nothing special about any brand’s shampoos. If there’s an ingredient (or a group of ingredients) in Pantene that’s causing one’s hair to fall out, then other shampoos with the same ingredient (or group of ingredients) should also be causing one’s hair to fall out. How come we’re not hearing about that?
The truth is, there are just as many anecdotes out there where someone has noticed hair loss while using Herbal Essences, Garnier Fructis, Suave, Head & Shoulders, Aussie–you name it–and then noticed that the hair loss has stopped after switching to another brand. If you don’t believe me, here’s an experiment: post somewhere that Suave causes hair loss and wait for the responses. I bet you that you’ll get a few responses stating, “Yes, it has happened to me, too!” Gather enough of these anecdotes and circulate it around the Internet and you’ve started a new, self-perpetuating urban legend. It’s that easy, folks.
So, after reading through basically this entire thread, I decided to do a little experiment. I thoroughly brushed and combed my hair before getting in the shower. Then I shampooed and conditioned with Pantene PRO-V. I only had about 5 or 6 strands come out. Most likely this is from the lathering my hair while cleansing. Most of the hair you are loosing in the shower is already lost, it just never had the chance to fully leave the rest of your hair.
If Pantene PRO-V is soooo great at removing hair from your scalp why don’t they put it in a different bottle and sell is right next to Nair at the drug store, or better yet, those of you who refuse to use it, why don’t you take whatever is left of the terrifying hair loss shampoo and use it as shaving cream. Problem solved.
You’re welcome.
And for the record, I have multiple friends who are hair stylists/dressers/artists/savants/whatever. As much as I love them as people, I wouldn’t trust they’re scientific knowledge; seeing as how they’re educated by marketing reps. Until someone can claim they have a friend who works in the business on the scientific side…I’m sticking to whatever works.
Thanks Beauty Brains!!!
PANTENE makes my hair fall out!! I used Pantene for over a year while I was at Uni and loved it. My hair was soft and shiny. I then started to fall out in great big handfuls everytime I brushed or washed it. I assumed it was stress and decided that once I was on summer break it would go away. It didnt. Fortunately, I had to change shampoos (the shop had run out of Pantene) and my hair started to get thicker. I thought nothing of it and decided I was less stressed. I then went back to my ‘beloved’ Pantene and started with hair drop all over again. Being a scientist I decided to experiment and found without a doubt if I used Pantene my hair would fall out much more than if I used any other shampoo. More recently, a hair dresser told me it couldnt be the shampoo so I tried again with exactly the same result! Despite 10 years of on and off use now, it has ONLY ever fallen out excessively (fill up the bathroom bin in a week excessive) with Pantene. I must stress my current shampoo does NOT do this. PLEASE dont write this off. Some people who are seeking advice are not just loosing a 100 hairs and therefore ok. They are possibly, specifically affected by PANTENE and may be persisting with a shampoo that is indeed causing their hair to fall out or break on your advice!
Cheers Callie
I wonder how many of these anonymous posts are for real. I wonder how many trolls have posted here just to raise hell.
You’re a “scientist”, Callie? Then you ought to know that your little experiment isn’t scientific and is prone to subjective bias–that is, it’s just as anecdotal as any other account posted here.
Anyone who has majored in one of the hard sciences know that a real experiment of this type must be “double blind,” where the subject does not know which shampoo she is actually using, nor does the “scientist” know.
If you really want to be scientific about it, ask a friend to buy, for instance, five different shampoos. You don’t know which shampoos your friend has bought–one of them might or might not be Pantene. Your friend pours the shampoos into five different bottles that look exactly the same, attaches a label to each bottle stating what’s inside, then covers each label. Your friend mixes up the bottles (now your friend doesn’t even know what’s in a particular bottle) and numbers the bottles 1 to 5. You use each bottle for one week and tabulate your results.
So did any bottle cause significant hair loss? If so, was it Pantene? If you’ve picked, say, bottle #2, then uncover the label on this bottle to find out what’s inside.
Okay, I know nobody is going to be insane enough to do this experiment. But if you want to find out the truth, this is the approach you must take. But there is one major caveat: how can you objectively record every single follicle that you’ve lost with any kind of accuracy? You shed hair throughout the day, not just during or after you’ve shampooed your hair. Even if you could keep an accurate count, how do you know it was the shampoo’s fault? Perhaps other circumstances were involved that were unique to you–which is why this experiment must be performed on many subjects and not on just one subject.
Like I said before, if you think this is only about Pantene, start your own rumor about any shampoo and see how many people will eventually agree, saying, “Hey, I’ve noticed hair loss with shampoo X, too!” All you need is a handful of people to substantiate your rumor–a handful out of the tens of thousands of people who use that shampoo–and pretty soon your rumor will spread like wild fire and turn into a new urban legend that even your hair stylist will believe. BTW, I’m not implying that the people substantiating your rumor are all liars. In fact, I’m sure they’re telling the truth. Out of the 300+ million people who live in this country, you’re going to find some people who say they’ve experienced hair loss with ANY brand of shampoo.
So if you want to believe this particular urban legend about Pantene, go ahead. This is a free country and people are free to be misinformed and spread inaccuracies. Anecdotal evidence–especially one’s own anecdotal evidence–is not scientific or objective and is not worth a hill of beans. Trust anecdotal evidence if you really want to, but I much prefer to be intellectually honest with myself.
there is -ve attitute in my mind but in our home mostly used
Ok,i argee w/ beauty brains. i ingredients are the same in all major shampoos. I recently did a report on Dove,and found out it contains Sodium Laueth Sulfate, which is also used in household cleaners. I was outraged at Dove and told all my friends not 2 use it until I researched more and relized that most shampoos also contain all this harmful ingredient that Dove has, so b4 spreading nasty rumors, do research and relize that Pantene is no different and u prob. wouldnt have even noticed a change if u hadnt heard the rumors.
I’ve also read some articles on these posties (posting) sites that say about Pantene causing hair loss.. and I’m like what the heck? my mom finally finds a condition that keeps my hair soft, not frizzy (I have naturally curly hair, but it’s big curls) and it keeps my hair from flattening and being dry.. my hair had all kind of problems, split ends, the ends of my hair that weren’t split would have little knots at the end and the end of the strands of hair that weren’t in the little knot would break off.. and also had a problem with brushing it, I actually still do have a problem with brushing it because my hair still frizzes out and loses its curl, but that has nothing to do with the conditioner or Pantene.
I have also heard from a friend of mine about Pantene used the same ingredients as that of Car Wax.. And that it was linked to people having gotten cancer from it and I said to her that they said that drinking more then 2 or 1 can of Soda a day causes cancer and that they said that Drinking Coffee caused Cancer! then I said “Everything will eventually Cause Cancer. Breathing will cause cancer!” LOL – I just couldn’t help myself on the breathing, I listen to Alice Cooper’s radio show and that’s exactly what he said about everything will cause cancer.
Anyway, I believed everyone’s bull on the product UNTIL I came across this -The Beauty Brains!!! And realized that it’s probably the Stylists Who are posting the bull about Pantene. They should also swear on their hairdryers that their hair dryers don’t cause hair dryness, but hairdryers do cause dryness!
Also one thing I’m thinking of when I read that someone had used Pantene for 2 weeks and said they noticed a build up.. PERHAPS they are NOT scrubbing their scalp when they are rinsing out the conditioner?! I use my fingernails to scrub out the conditioner on my scalp, I don’t scrub too hard or too much.. I just do it like 5 or 6 times.. Also I scrub with my nails just a little while the conditioner is on my scalp, because I have eczema and my scalp has had a little eczema so I scratch with the conditioner in my hair so it takes care of the eczema that’s on my scalp.. The only time I’d lose alot of hair was when I’d wash it while lying in the bath tub, I’d wash it twice in the bath tub with head & shoulders shampoo because I had dandruff too, (I now only use it once in the shower) so now that I don’t wash it in the tub it hasn’t gotten as tangled and I’ve not lost alot of hair.. so perhaps that’s why some of them are claiming it causes hair loss.. perhaps they are washing their hair in the bath tub and then rinsing in the shower? – I wet my hair while in the bath tub, lather the head & shoulders Shampoo ONCE but I do NOT rinse in the tub, I rinse it out in the shower and then use White Rain (that works good) and rinse and then the conditioner goes on. The head and Shoulders is more of just keeping the dandruff at bay.. but now it’s eczema.. and usually it’s on the sides of my head above my ears, but I’ve not had any problems with the eczema for awhile now. I’ve only used Pantene three times since the day my mom got it, But if I don’t scrub my scalp just a little before rinsing out the conditioner, I’ll have what feels like a million needles being poked into where my hair starts, which would be the hair line.. and then on the side above my ears.
But the moral of my ramble is that perhaps if they weren’t using all these other products like hair spray and weren’t rinsing the shampoo out of their hair while in the tub bathing, perhaps they wouldn’t lose so much hair.
Also, I don’t have to brush my hair to get all the tangles out after it’s dried.. I’ll wait a few more washings before I brush it every day.. I do like my hair to grow fast and I did notice it would grow faster with brushing it twice a day, but yet, it doesn’t get tangled with using Pantene, before I used Pantene, and would brush my hair on the third or second day after having taking a shower, there’d be a ton of tangles… but since I’ve been using Pantene, there’s not alot of tangles when I go to brush my hair on the third day.. I only brush it before I take a shower, which is every 3 or 2 days, because my hair goes flat and gets oily more with brushing it. But with Pantene it doesn’t get any more tangled during those 3 days. And it’s more curlier and MORE shinny!!! With Sauve I wasn’t getting that.
(P.S. the website I provided is my mom’s business and it’s under going a Website Provider Change, she’s switching providers and it won’t be back up and running until about the first of May)
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