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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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicone
Very plasticy and rubber-like in the right formulation, isn’t it? So why list it and then state that there’s no plastic in the ingredients – the stylist wasn’t going to describe it in complicated terms, were they? Just layman’s terms.
So, to make hair feel silky and smooth, coating it in silicone wouldn’t work? Of course it makes sense. The R & D budget could be going into making a shampoo that makes your hair fall out on purpose – a large budget doesn’t mean it’s spent wisely!
Laughable to draw attention to the lack of logic in someone else’s comment when yours has the same kind of large holes in it.
Personally, the thing that makes the largest difference to my hair is washing it in soft water rather than hard water. Huge difference. Adjust your hair product with this in mind apart from anything else, maybe?
My main reason to not use Pantene or Matrix or L’Oreal or Redkin… is because they’re all products that use animal testing as a form of research.
I think it’s important not only to use a product that delivers what it claims but to also be open to what your professional stylist suggests. I find many people are wary of their stylist because they’re afraid they are trying to sell them and steer them in the wrong direction.
If you are able to create a strong rapport with your stylist, listen to their suggestions. They want you to have great hair, it keeps them in business. When you trust your stylist, you will know that they aren’t just trying to sell you something but protect the investment of their time and your money.
I apologize for the typo, spell check has gotten the best of me. *** REDKEN ***
pantene is bad for your hair because the ph balance is high. Yes P&G is a great and large company, thats why they make such great professional produsts.
When I worked in a salon I could always tell when someone used Pantene when I washed their hair. I would ask the client and sure enough – Pantene. The hair felt horrible. No one had to tell me Pantene was bad for your hair, I figured that out for myself.
The reason why your hair is falling out is because your hair is going into a protein OVERLOAD!! Too much protein to the hair causes excessive hair shedding.
I’m 40 and I’ve used Pantene for many years. In my opinion, it’s the best shampoo and conditioner out there.
I have Pantene hairspray build-up on my hair!! It looks awful! What do I do?
Ive read all the replys on here and there are much more bad than good about this product .
well i jus wanna sy dt iv been using pantene shampoo nd conditioner 4 a vry long tym nd its really gud..it hs made my hair vry soft, shiny nd strait..so i jus lov dis shampoo..n the hair potion is also excellent, evry1 shud try it!!!
So, a few months ago I was at the sylist and she was commenting on how healthy and smooth my hair was. She asked me what I used and when I said Pantene, she launched into a lecture about how horrible it is, especially if you have color treated hair (I get highlights).
Duly chastised, I switched to a fancy (and more expensive) formulation. I immediately noticed that I had to spend a LOT more time detangling my hair and it seemed drier. I go back to the salon after a couple months and my horrified stylist announces that I have split ends almost up the roots. She cut off about 3 years of growth. Barf.
I have heard that feeding your hair too much protein can result in excessive shedding of the hair. However, I have been using Pantene again recently after I used salon brand products for about a year now and my hair feels the healthiest it has ever been now that im using Pantene again. maybe its true that its because it uses silicones which i hear are bad for the hair because they build up and coat the hair shaft thus making it feel shiny and soft but in reality strips the hair from obtaining moisture. whatever the case may be i like pantene and my boyfriend also has thick black hair and he has used pantene his entire life with no hair loss. however, perhaps when one stops using pantene and switches to another product the pantene build up is so bad on the hair that the hair is actually broke all the way which would explain why you would have to get so much cut off. all i would say is whatever works for you works!! and if there is no factual evidence that pantene makes your hair fall out then why believe it? If everyone posted that some other brand did the same im sure plenty of people would reply they also experienced this…there is no proof!! and pantene contains a lot of the same ingredients that all the other shampoos do!!
My boyfriend’s sister is a hair stylist so I asked her what shampoo brand would keep my hair from splitting and breaking so easily. So, she asked what I was using and I said Pantene. She made the claim that it uses car wax in it’s ingredients. I’ve always used Pantene and I thought it made my hair really soft and shiny (most of the time), but I can never get my hair to stop splitting and breaking. So I took her advice and bought a different brand (Joico K-Pak Reconstruct). It was okay. It had an odd smell to it, it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t so great either. It made my hair soft, but it doesn’t do what it says it does (repair damage). And honestly, I think it’s made my hair worse. I’ve never had so many problems with my hair when I used Pantene and other cheaper brands. So I stopped using it and bought John Frieda Root Awakening Anti-Breakage shampoo and conditioner. I LOVE the smell so much, but it also hasn’t done anything for my hair. I still see numerous strands with breakage.
So, I’m still on the lookout for an effective shampoo and conditioning system that will keep my hair from breaking. I use heat protectant whenever I straight/curl/blowdry my hair (I use FX and John Frieda Frizz-Eaze Heat Defeat) but they aren’t working at all. It’s awful, becuase everyday I look at my ends and it just seems like the number of splits keeps growing and growing. I use scissors to cut them, but they just reappear, and I just got a trim about a month ago. Anyone have any ideas for a heat protectant and shampoo/conditioning that will actually improve and protect my hair? I’d say my hair is pretty normal, more on the thick and wavy/semi-curly side though, and can get pretty frizzy.
Hey Diana,
i also have problems with split ends and my hair is average thickness and wavy/curly as well. split ends are going to be there no matter what you do even if you get them trimmed..you just have to do it every 6-8 weeks get half inch to inch trimmed off. however i find that putting leave in anti breakage conditioner to my ends as well as a silicone based anti frizz treatment on my ends up to midway of my hair has helped a lot with the ends. some peoples hair though is naturally more prone to split ends however. the best thing i have found is to get regular trims along with a leave in anti breakage and defrizzing serum. i dont know also if you have heard of oil treatments..these are common in India. this puts moisture back in your hair and makes it strong. i would recommend trying this by applying this to the ends of your hair before you sleep and washing it out the next morning..do this 3x a week. this also can be applied all over the hair for total overall health. it makes my hair grow alot faster as well and this is the beauty secret for india how they get all that beautiful long hair! anyways good luck!
by the way…common choices of oil are coconut oil, olive oil, castor oil, mustard oil, etc. i love coconut oil…this is what they use in India. you can generally find it at an asian grocery store..the brand i prefer is Parachute coconut oil…it works pretty well.
Yeah, I do get trims typically once a month. I also use FX Silk Drops, which is also silicone based, but it doesn’t seem to defrizz my hair very well. It just makes my hair look kind of greasy. Maybe I should try a different brand, but I’ve tried multiple defrizzants with no success.
I’ve never heard of an oil treatment, but I just used Regis protein treatment for about a week until I ran out. It seemed to make my hair a little better but I didn’t have enough to use it long enough to see if it was actually working completely. What kind of anti-breakage conditioner would you suggest? I use Garnier Fructis leave-in conditioner. It makes my hair a little softer, but I haven’t seen or felt any difference in the strength of my hair, even though it’s supposed to strengthen hair and prevent breakage. I feel like it weighs my hair down a bit.
I used pantene for many yrs and it has made my hair fall out. I use nexxus now and its better. I know lots of people that had their hair fall out from pantene,so that statement is true.
You lose hair each day naturally. If your hair isn’t very well conditioned, the ‘lost’ hair stays within the body of your hair (even though it’s no longer attached to your scalp). If your hair is well conditioned and silky, you’ll comb it through better and will notice the hairs that you’ve naturally lost. This is why Pantene shampoos (which bar the transparent ones have a bit of conditioning agent in too) make people believe their hair is falling out.
I would say just try using a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner. try using a salon brand like Design Line’s ‘Olive Oil Shampoo’ and conditioner. its a huge container that last a long time and smells really good. plus olive oil is good for your hair. its like 13.99 but the container is HUGE so it will be worth the buy. try that…i like pantene personally…but people seem to be convinced it makes them loose their hair so..i would recommend that salon brand.
I have been losing hair recently and finally googled “Pantene+hair loss.” I was astonished at the number of people who have experienced hair loss from this product! It should come with a warning! I have had all the obvious blood work that might indicate a health problem…all came back OK. It is probably the Pantene. I have switched to an all natural product that seems to be working well.
I am a hair stylist and I can truthfully say that I am not out to sell any products that I don’t truly believe in. I care about the condition of my clients hair as well as their pocketbook. I suggest professional products that I like but I also tell them to use what works best for them. I was a Pantene user for years before I was a stylist. In fact, I’m sure I used about every supermarket brand available at one point. I don’t have to compare the ingredient labels in professional vs. non-professional because I can see and feel it in my hair, as well as my clients. I can tell when they’re using cheap shampoo because their color fades much quicker, and when they go back to the pro…what do you know! Less fading! No, I don’t have scientific evidence to back up that theory, but I see it so much I’m convinced. I don’t recall experiencing abnormal hair loss using Pantene, but I haven’t used it in years. There are a ton of reasons for sudden hair loss–stress, illness, climate change, diet, product build up clogging follicles, the list goes on. I just tell my clients finding the right product is all about trial and error. Most professional brands are guaranteed meaning if you try it and not satisfied you can return it to the salon. Can you return Pantene to Wal Mart if you don’t like it? You can also usually get free samples from salons before you commit to buying. Once you find a pro brand you like, you can usually get a great deal on liter sizes which will last you a long time. After you’ve gone pro for awhile, go back to your old stuff for a day or two and judge the difference for yourself. O, and even pro shampoos and products will build up on your hair, along with minerals from your water, pollutants in the air, etc. I recommend a good clarifying shampoo every now and then.
I went to my stylist to get a haircut and it had been much longer than it should have (probably about 6 to 9 months since my last trim). She commented on how she was very surprised at how healthy my hair was and how few split ends I had considering how much time had passed since my last visit. When she asked me what shampoo/conditioner I was using and I told her it was Pantene, she told me that I should switch because it wasn’t good for my hair. Obviously, she just wanted to make money by selling me the expensive salon products because she had just told me moments before that my hair was in really good shape. Just thought I’d share!
I’m sorry but I think the Brain seems to be wrong here. Why do I say so? Her logic to prove that both shampoos are about the same lies in her assertion that both contain similar ingredients. But even with similar ingredients they come in DIFFERENT AMOUNTS and FORMULATIONS, which will have an impact on how, say, silicones coat the hair, or how harsh the sulphates are.
Please don’t subscribe to the Brain’s logic because it has made a simplistic conclusion.
People, use some common sense here. Hair stylists have ALWAYS downed products sold in stores but not in hair salons. It’s how they make their money. They try and convince you that THEIR products are better, so buy from ME. Wouldn’t you?
Pantene Ice Shine is the best. I do alternate between different shampoos, because it has been my experience that they work better when given a “break”. However, I don’t think salon brands are any better than a good brand sold in stores. Anyway, haven’t you noticed that brands sold only in salons are eventually sold in Target and Wal-Mart, lol. Same as prescription drugs make it to shelves after the prescription-only industry squeezes enough money out of it.
I guess I have to add my own anecdotal evidence to the batch. I’ve been growing my hair out for 3 years to donate to Beautiful Lengths. It’s now reaching my hips. I have used Pantene conditioner because REAL professionals (with degrees, not someone with a license in cosmetology after having gone to school for two years) have said it works. I have brilliant shiny, soft hair with NO split ends whatsoever. I’ve only gotten it trimmed once to even it out, and the stylist kept saying how beautiful and healthy it was. When I told her what I used, she, of course, told me it was no good. Well, obviously it is – I have beautiful, healthy hair and she had terrible, unhealthy, brittle hair.
The other products you use can attribute as well. I don’t use anything on my hair (I’m “blessed” with hair that looks good when I wake up with just a little finger-combing) – not even heat to dry it. I leave it in a towel until mostly dry and then let it air dry the rest of the way. I get frizz because it’s incredibly thick and coarse and it’s humid down here, but I just use a leave-in conditioner/frizz treatment once in a while.
I believe the most important “product” for hair is good nutrition. If one product worked perfectly for everyone, we’d all be using it. But don’t discount the word of the scientific community based on anecdotal “evidence.”
Heh heh. The little face I got is so cute.
I use Pantene shampoo and conditioner twice a week. It really makes you hair shiny and manageable.
I have short hair, actually it is medium iguess and it is also thin should i use the oantene full and thick collecton or beautiful lengths collection?
I am a hair stylist myself and I have to say that pantene is very damaging to MOST peoples hair. Everybodys hair is different so not everybody gets as much damage as another person does. But right off the bat I can feel if someone uses Pantene in their hair from the waxy build up in the hair coating it and making it feel smoother and looks shiny. I have return clients who switched from pantene to a Professional product, and their hair is in much better shape, and much healthier. But especially for women trying to grow their hair out, I reccomend every 4-6 weeks getting a trim because longer hair is going to split, you can’t completly stop it, but you can prevent a fair amount of it by using the right products and taking care of your hair. Also yes, hot oil and deep conditioning treatments work wonders in your hair, especially in the winter months. I have seen too many women come into the salon complaining about their hair falling out and 95% of the time, they are using pantene. And yes, the pH is alkaline in pantene where your hair and skin are acidic, changing the pH of the hair causing damage. So Pantene is in my opinion and from all the hair that I see, the worst shampoo one could use in their hair.
In the late 70’s Pantene was only available in salons, and that is when I started to use it, I could only purchase it from a salon. I was thrilled when it became available to purchase through a retail store, I have been using Pantene since the late 70’s. I have always been told that I have beautiful hair!
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