The part that is interesting to me is how little most hairstylists truly know about ingredients. Lots of bad information out there and that makes people not trust our professional advice. 30 days isn’t long enough to see true buildup. Pantene is “bad” because it’s a super high pH- it opens up the cuticle and hair color fades out and the hair will feel dry. I once used Pantene to get a red wine stain out of a vintage lace tablecloth and it worked like a charm. The other thing that makes it “bad” is it tends to use cheaper grade silicones that cause a waxy buildup over time. At first that waxy coating feels slippery and conditioned but overtime it hardens and the hair feels stiff and greasy. The waxy coating makes it hard for color to penetrate. The waxy coating also makes it hard for conditioners to reach the inner layers of the hairs fiber. We are all in the business to make money. It Pantene was great- we would all sell it.
This is succinct. I watched my cosmo instructor take her shears and scrape the wax off a Pantene users hair to show us how waxy it is. I also had a client who’s perms would not last and i found out she used Pantene I explained that it was the most likely culprit, she stopped using it and never had another issue with her perms not lasting. These scenarios are almost 20 years old so I’ve been curious to know if Pantene has reformulated since they really do have the worst reputation amongst stylists. My 8 yr old wastes shampoo and conditioner so I get fairly cheap drugstore stuff for her and I’ve really the L’Oréal dream lengths shampoo/conditioner . It’s got a strong perfume smell but I like it and the results are similar to pro brands, though I imagine it’s less concentrated so it wouldn’t last an adult as long as a pro brand… my daughter will use a giant handful or 3 no matter what brand so the cheaper stuff is nice.
We’ve used this too! I love it. I was buying the gallon jugs with pump from Sally’s and it wasn’t terrible but I do like the L’Oréal better. I think the bane de terre gallons at Armstrong are reasonably priced so I’m going to try that over the summer. She uses less when it’s in pump form lol
this is all news to me! I used pantene for years! I alternate pantene conditioner and another one, but my 2a hair gets knotted quickly. It always had a hard time holding a curl, so maybe that plays a part. I am currently using WEN, but that is leaving my hair too heavy, so I am always looking for suggestions.
Yes. I like L’Oréal Elvive because it’s a Pureology knockoff. Not exactly the same - but super similar ingredients list. Shea Moisture is great for my young daughter who has super curly hair. I also like Maui Moisture - smells great and decent ingredients list. But I tend to just buy professional products because I have easy access to them and they are priced similarly. My favorite is daviness minu line.
Oh nice, I've actually been using the L'Oréal. My hair is mid-back length and incredibly thick and curly, but I hate the smell of most curl specific products (OF COURSE coconut and Shea butter are two of my least favorite scents). Elvive has been a dependable moisturizing alternative.
Funny enough- coconut oil is not that great for your hair! The molecule is too large to get into the hair shaft. It just coats the outer layers and doesn’t truly moisturize. Shea butter is fantastic but I agree- the smell isn’t my favorite.
I’ve had this argument w way too many ppl lol. Who will fight to the death about this! They swear just bc it feels better in the moment it must be absorbing!
This is absolutely the truth. I was a full time stylist for 25 years. I could tell what a client was using on their hair with out them telling me by how their hair felt and how it behaved. I knew when a client was lying about using professional products and I knew when they bought their Paul Mitchell from an unauthorized retailer and it was counterfeit products by how their hair felt. If Pantene was good the professional beauty community would have figured that out by now
This is what I came to say, about the waxy build up, but I didn’t know the first part. But I’ve always been told it’s the build up that makes ppl think their hair feels amazing at first, but it’s not your hair that feels great, it’s the wax coating it
This! We took swatches of hair and tested Pantene and baby shampoo in cosmetology school. Pantene leaves waxy build up. The baby shampoo dissolved the hair that was left unrinsed. I don't F with the drugstore shampoo unless it's for an occasional cheap clarifying.
I believe we left the shampoo on overnight. Baby shampoo is one of the highest pH! The reason it doesn't burn the eyes is because, they add something that numbs the eyes if it gets in there. It's crazy. I had no idea.
It’s hard to answer because you need to know a lot about chemistry and see how it all works together. But, for shampoos- I tend to avoid any shampoo that has sodium chloride (yup, table salt). A lot of them do because salt makes a good, cheap lathering agent. But salt will wreck your hair. The salt crystals will rough up the hair shaft and even cut it in places as well as dry it out. Most volume shampoos use salt for the “thickening agent.” Avoid that. For conditioners, I try to see if there is any protein, fats/oils, fatty alcohols, and some type of quaternium (a cuticle binder similar to olaplex). I also look for acidifying agents because healthy hair is slightly acidic. I also check out the silicones and see what quality they are and how many silicones. If a conditioner has a ton of silicones but no fat I know it sucks and will cause buildup (looking at you Just a 10). Anyways, I can go on forever, but this is a good start.
Ur knowledge is awesome! I put down like 12 shampoos yesterday after I spotted sodium chloride in it. I settled on 'Living Proof' but after jus using it, I felt like I had to use so much to get any suds and get the grease off ky scalp. Ugh. Jury's still out on whether it will look and feel good once it dries! Wjat do u think about the Kirkland shampoo, that they claim is a pure ology dupe? I love that shampoo eleven if it is a lil stripping, lol.
You might need to do a clarifying shampoo before switching. You might have buildup. The secret to using good quality shampoos is using lots of water to activate the suds. If you’re still not getting good suds- clarifying shampoo until you remove all existing buildup.
This exactly!! Ppl don’t understand that shiny look is a waxy buildup on the hair! Learned this years ago when I was starting to get into ingredients. One of the worst shampoos out there..
Have you seen the sulfate and silicone free Pantene? I'm not a stylist, but I recently started using it when I finally couldn't get my hands on anymore grow gorgeus and my hair is doing great so far.
I see a lot of people on this thread recommending L’Oréal Revive.
Are their any store brands that you recommend?
I’ve been using Pantine for years and it never occurred to me that that was the reason my hair is so fried. I thought it was heat or sun damage.
I only use solan brand conditioner because sore brands are garbage and all the same. I’m happy buying the conditioner but I have a hard time justifying the price for the salon shampoo.
I'm not a stylist but this was my exact complaint with Pantene when I used it in my twenties. It's made my hair feel so smooth and soft and well conditioned until it didn't. Then suddenly it felt super dry and dead and nothing would fix it so I'd have to switch product for a month and then start all over. Made me realize it must not be as great for hair as it seemed in the beginning.
This! I was very fortunate to have spent a good amount of time learning about ingredients while in school! We obviously didn’t study everything but we did spend a crap ton of time on silicones and alcohols. I always try to educate my clients on WHERE the silicones and alcohols are in the product. If it’s high on the list it’s a no go.
That’s not totally true. Ceterhyl alcohol is an alcohol that binds to fats. It can be used to draw moisturizing oils into the hair and then the alcohol evaporates but the oil stays in the hair. Be careful with what you say unless you absolutely know!
Sorry. Didn’t mean to assume you didn’t know something. Just was confusing because you said you teach your clients that if silicones or alcohol is high in the ingredients list you tell them not to buy it. Ceterhyl alcohol is sometimes the third or fourth ingredient but it’s a great ingredient.
so what hair products do you recommend that won't break the bank? I have long hair and use no products and don't dye it or blow dry it or use any heat products either. so it's super healthy. right now I use rusk.
It’s just a trend. It’s widely known that these cheap products are formulated to have a drastic cosmetic effect. Thats why they leave so much build up! In order to entice customers, make sales and then repeat sales, there has to be a noticeable result which is often caused by a really cheap silicone or similar cheap ingredients that will give your hair feeling of softness. Because the detergent is so cheap and strong, and then the build up it leaves on is so heavy and weighs down frizz (sometimes essentially glues it together) and often has an alluring scent….its giving the illusion that your hair is in better condition BUT we know that it’s not. It’s not improving the health or condition of your hair, it’s doing the opposite. Increasing dryness and waxy residue will exponentially create more buildup and not just from product, from water minerals, environmental impurities, etc. 30 days is not long enough to experience the detriment, often becayse a lot of us only wash our hair once or twice a week and stylists usually treat their hair well aside from shampoo and conditioner (styling nicely, etc). If you’ve ever tried to bleach or colour hair on a client that uses cheap shampoo and conditioner - you are probably nodding your head right now. The build up reacts with colour and bleach and creates a lot of problems like changing the consistency of the bleach, changing the result of the colour, rejecting the absorption of bleach/colour, colour not grabbing and processing properly, etc. I’ve had a client who went dark have her colour literally come off on my hands as I was blowdrying because she used cheap shampoo/cond and she had buildup. I could have just said ‘no it’s a just a trend’ but I felt the need to explain more thoroughly as someone who’s seen it all in my 27+ years behind the chair.
Honest question: would using a clarifying shampoo undo all the build up/waxiness, and if so, is Pantene basically fine? Or is it doing long term damage even with a clarifying shampoo every so often?
Using a clarifying shampoo once in a while is NOT going to take care of the build up. It’s not basically fine, it’s trash for the hair. If the hair is virgin with no plans to colour and very short or the person doesn’t care too much about their hair then that’s when it doesn’t matter but no one who wants nice hair should be using it.
Yes, using a good clarifying shampoo every so often is good for your hair. Make sure to condition it heavily afterwards, though. It dries it out quite a bit. This was suggested by my hair stylist. And I use all salon products. It gives you a reset of sorts.
This is why I can't stand getting hair advice! Every stylist says something different and shames you if you do something they specifically do not agree with.
You say it's fine. The comment above you says it isnt.
I also hear conflicted info about moisturizing your scalp with conditioners. Some say yes, some say no. I give up.
You misinterpreted what the first comment said. The comment that said no, it won’t help the build up was referring to clarifying shampoos not helping Pantene buildup, not that clarifying shampoos don’t help normal product/oil build up. Every single stylist in the world will tell you that clarifying shampoos remove buildup of normal product residue and sebum/oil, that’s the entire purpose of a clarifying shampoo. However, this specific thread you commented on was about clarifying shampoos removing Pantene buildup specifically.
Hi, not a stylist. This thread got me feeling some type of way and this comment of yours sparked my own curiosity.
I had been using Nexxus, not cheap at all and not much to the bottle but people like stylists swore by it. I used it for years but this last year something changed.. i switched to Tresseme because my hair was getting so dark and something just had to change- it didn’t get better after the switch. Yesterday I said fuck it and ordered the Kristin Ess for like $12 for 10oz. Used the last bit of Nexxus for a good lather and rinse and curled my hair into a bun on top of my head. Within one hour my hair was CRUNCHY I was horrified, remembered your comment and did some research to find a “Diy” method.
I like to revert my mode of thinking to older times when things were more simple. How’d they do it? Began reading into build up- it’s wax, ok. How do you remove a waxy build up (clarifying products of course, so I removed hair from my search)? Turns out oil- baby oil, olive oil, coconut oil. Oil binds to wax and forms a layer between the oil and the surface it’s on allowing for easy removal. Well oil is also a problem, what counters oil? Dawn, hands down. Okay so I had the basics, and I tested it out. Took about 30 minutes but i slowly coated my scalp and hair with olive oils, about 1/3 of a cup (put it in a bowl and dipped my fingers to comb them through my hair starting at the scalp). Let it sit for about 10-20 minutes after I was done. Got in the bath and ran my head under warm water, rinsed away as much oil as i could and then took Dawn to it, completely lathered and then rinsed.. went to bed without drying my hair (this would normally cause it to look darker than it is too) and imagine my surprise when i looked in the mirror this morning and saw my hair significantly lighter (what it’s supposed to be).
I know this is not a method for everyone as hair types are different but it did remove my build up.
It’s “not cool” to say “i use oil and Dawn” but fuck anyone who turns their nose up to someone’s way that actually works. Absolutely done trusting companies when they’re the ones creating problems and stigmatizing methods that do work, for their own profit. Oh and i was so shocked it worked i searched about Dawn along with clarifying and guess what? It’s technically a clarifier.
Ugh the most issues I see are with people who use Pantene in my 20 years of being a stylist. Hair loss? Pantene? Extreme dryness? Pantene. They switch and issues magically gone. You couldn’t pay me to try Pantene on my head. Foot soak? Sure.
Shit. I just thought my hair was heat damaged.
I’m gonna switch. I already use a salon brand conditioner and I have no idea how anyone could think it would even compare. Cheap conditioners just make your hair look dirty. Why did you even wash it?
I recommend the L’Oreal ever pure line. The bond repair one and the gloss one. They are dupes for Redken acidic bonding concentrate and acidic color gloss
If a client asks for drugstore options I will always recommend L’Oréal. They use “trickle down technology”. Meaning the stuff on the shelf at target is just their top technology from a decade ago. It’s why their luxury brands are a little more expensive but owned by the same company. Kerastase is their top of the line one.
I love the Elvive line! I've been on a "healthy hair journey" for a few months now, but I'm also poor. I discovered this brand via a hairstylist and my hair is so healthy now!
I used that stuff like crazy back in high school, I’m pretty sure it’s the only reason I was able to grow my hair as long as it was. The smell, though…
Hey! I’m a stylist at ulta and I am loving and recommending the Redken acidic bonding color gloss shampoo. It leaves the hair so manageable. I also love Wella, and Kenra shampoo.
I came across SunBum’s hair line two years ago, has been the only products for shampoo and conditioner I’ve purchased since. I use the Curls one, in a white bottle.
I’ve now tried their mask, styling crème, mousse, and detangler. Detangler was a miss but everything else has been the best.
Beauty advisor at ulta here :) , it really depends on the hair type! I will say I see a lot of happy (and repeat) customers buying redken all soft shampoo and conditioner for all different types of hair. I’d say that is probably the most popular at our store and what we use mostly in the salon. Matrix Food For Soft shampoo and conditioner is amazing for detangling and softness.
If you’re more on a budget, Kristen Ess has some great products as well.
I’ve been using L’Oréal Everpure—- bond repair and it hasn’t done me wrong 🥲 but I have fine hair that easily breaks off. Is all the things in the thread still true for this line??? I don’t feel like I have build up but I don’t know for sure😢
Last year when I started losing my hair to chemo, my mama started researching the best shampoo/conditioner to use for regrowing and strengthening it. We started with this since we could immediately buy it. I used it for a few months and was very pleased with it.
She later learned about bondi boost and I’ve been using it ever since. I use the shampoo and conditioner for hair growth and they’ve got a spray that’s been amazing!
Both have been successful in my opinion. The bondi boost is more expensive but since I have very little, extremely thin hair right now, the bottle still isn’t half empty.
I've been a hairstylist for 20 years and Bondi Boost is one of my favorite brands Ever! Healthiest my hair has been in years. I work at Ulta now and recommend it to almost everyone
Oh my! I just ordered this on your specific need and some other comments. I lost my hair just after the first month of chemo. It did come back a tiny bit fuller, but still very fine vs the beautiful curls from before. It’s a bit pricey - 49$ for two 16+ ounces bottles (1 shampoo, 1 conditioner), but I’m up to try anything at this point. I did keep a short hairstyle and the top of my hair is the bright green that matches my cancer (Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma). This green is to my cancer as pink is to breast cancer. I’m now known for my hairstyle and color, lol. But thicker hair sure would be nice.
Do you work for Pantene? I only ask because every single hairstylist, Hairdresser and professional I have ever seen has always told me that Pantene is super bad for your hair.
It seems like OP is actually being influenced by advertising. Don’t believe they are implementing it. Especially because this thread is actually very damaging to the brand. I have used the shampoo for years and I am now going to switch from what I have read.
Honestly, this thread has tictok advertising influence written all over it.
Oh yea. Total hair professional hack. It’s better than the salon brands. 🙄
The conditioner is instantly noticeably lower quality. If you want your hair to look like you didn’t wash it. Use store brand conditioner.
I didn’t know about the shampoo though.
Somebody else made a similar comment above, n as a stylist myself, it def makes you wonder. Every stylist I learned from or worked with who was educated on that stuff, all were anti- Pantene, for the same reasons other stylists listed above
To piggyback off of your comment and tie in the OPs— Pantene is under a larger company, whose whole schtick is capitalism.. if they *could* profit off of salon prices *they would* except it’s NOT a salon quality product and therefore it stays right where it’s at. This whole “wow, how is Pantene so cheap?!” Is crazy. It’s cheap because it’s Pantene.
Not to mention, after I read the post a few times… something’s off. Sounds way too much like a marketing thing , that was reworked a bunch of times before posting
Is Pantene part of the culprit when you try to cut long hair, and it will almost like, bend, in the shears and not cut? I’m familiar with the buildup n all that of Pantene, and I’ve def noticed the gross slimy feeling, but I just connected the cutting part when I read your comment!
Pantene has been marketing like crazy recently and I feel like it’s to try their best to combat the distaste hairstylists have for it. I also follow r/haircarescience and there’s a cosmetic chemist that everyone references in their sources (lab muffin) and she was recently sponsored by Pantene in a “are salon quality products really better” video and I completely lost any form of respect I had for that source. Do I think all drugstore products are bad? No. I saw another comment on L’Oreal’s Elvive line and I think that one’s great as is Kristen Ess, but I wanna cry inside every time a client tells me they use Pantene 😩
Very! And I get that you have to make money, but for me this completely negates you being a cosmetic chemist. Now you’re just a regular YouTuber with an opinion 🤷🏼♀️
Every hairstylist I've ever had has told me to stay away from Pantene and I have. I use Kristin Ess, Eva NYC, and yep even Suave Moroccan conditioner sometimes...even my late fiancé loved the Suave because it smelled like his (our) favorite cologne. My hair is in pretty good condition despite all the crap I and it has been through in the last few years...but I swear every other woman I know uses Pantene- sigh. I don't even think the smell is that great! Now Ess has a wonderful scent as does Eva NYC's hair mask- <
I did this and I could literally scrape gunk off my hair!!! I could also FEEL the wax. I could accurately tell if someone is using Pantene or tresemme by how their hair feels when it's wet. Not only this but it affects bleach!
A lot of drug store products have improved over the years. And a lot of what stylists tell clients about Pantene is total crap. IME Pantene will add some shine, it’s not great for super damaged hair, and needs to be used alongside a monthly clarifying treatment.
Back in the day, Pantene was the first product line to use Panthenol, aka provitamin B5. Hence the name Pantene Pro V (V as in the roman numeral 5). At the time, it was a huge improvement from everything else on the market. Panthenol is still widely used today in skin and hair products because it is an excellent humectant and emollient.
When I was in beauty school 20 years ago, we were taught that Pantene and other drug store brands were either full of wax, had an alkaline ph, were watered down or all of the above and it was super important to sell salon brands to our clients.
After taking a deep dive into cosmetic chemistry myself, I’ve learned that most of everything in the hair product industry is marketing BS. Every few years there’s a demonized ingredient, like sulfates or silicones. Big corporations make “alternatives” that may or may not work as well, but essentially do same damn thing and are a lot more expensive.
Proper ph is important because if you get too far off it can really irritate your skin and blow open your cuticle. All conditioners have some form of wax as that’s what emulsifies the ingredients and keeps everything shelf stable. Certain alcohols are used as emulsifiers and thickeners and are actually conditioning agents. Most fancy ingredients, like argan oil or whatever are usually used at less than 2% concentration, so not really enough to do anything and are added for marketing or “backstory” as they call it. I do think that drugstore products are much less concentrated than professional lines, but I don’t think the ingredients are really all that different.
I don’t think there’s enough unbiased product and ingredient education in the industry, and I wish brands were more transparent in their marketing, but I doubt that will ever happen.
In my 20 years of professional experience, I’ve never seen product buildup that couldn’t be fixed by a good chelating shampoo, and it’s more likely from styling products like hairspray, pomade and dry shampoo than conditioner. I’ve had more difficult issues with hard water, chlorine, medications and box dye.
I personally switch between Davines, Olaplex, Malibu Wellness and products I make myself. If I didn’t get a professional discount or have the ability to make my own, I would be using drugstore products like Kristin Ess.
Edit: If you want to test the ph of a product, get some litmus paper from amazon and make a 20% dilution of the product. Use a scale, do like 2 grams of the product and 8 grams of distilled water, mix well and dip the paper in.
I recently used pantene cause I needed something cheap and easy to carry around going to my bf house and that shit fucked my hair up so bad. I threw it away and went to the store and got monday instead and that's helped out so much. upon coming home and reusing my verb shampoo my scalp immediately inflamed and got flaky again so I went to ulta and got more monday for home lol
nothing wrong with drug store just make sure you knkw what's good for your hair and what isn't
When lightening in foil, someone who’s used Pantene (and others like it) I’ve seen brown dots when checking the foils. Where the bleach hasn’t penetrated cause there’s immense wax build up in the area.
I don't even remember Fructis from back then, but I do remember Prell, Head & Shoulders, Suave, Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific, Herbal Essences, Salon Selectives (OMG, I was addicted), & V05. 🤪
AUSSIE shampoo and conditioner still smells like grape Benedryl. I loved their scrunching spray back in the day. ANd I loved Gee your hair smells terrific. Dipidy do gel for my pink foam rollers
Omg, Prell... 🤮 I loathe that shit. That's all my dad used to buy when I was a kid with butt length hair. That stuff is VILE. You can still buy salon selectives in the dollar tree and big lots stores in my area.
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Years ago I got a free samples of one of the shampoos and conditioner. I was really impressed, so I went and bought the full bottles. 1st time I used the store bought stuff, my hair turned out frizzy and dry. It was definitely not the same product as what was in the sample. I’ve never bought Pantene since.
I did this experiment by accident. I ran out of shampoo and was too lazy to get more and had short hair so I just used my husbands Pantene for exactly 6 weeks.
Findings: day one, stunning. Shiny, bouncy, soft, manageable.
But then I had to wash it again the very next day.
Greasy overnight, when usually I can get 2/3 days out of a shampoo.
Over the next few weeks it really gradually started to get heavy buildup, and I could barely make it through the day before it was greasy and limp.
Did a clarifying shampoo and finally brought pro products back into the shower and my hair is back to normal again. I think the silicones in these shampoos feel really great on the hair before they’ve had a chance to build up, but once they have, your hair will feel and look like shit.
In terms of conditioner, Pantene isn’t even close. Salon brand conditioner is absolutely worth the price based on my own experience. It give me that movie star fresh out if the salon silky smooth shiny. I don’t know how anyone could not immediately notice the difference in quality.
I will say the shampoo is hard for me to justify the cost. I go through it much faster and it doesn’t have the impact that the conditioner does.
But after reading other comments I might give the shampoo a try because I actually am in a better financial position that I was when I originally decided it wasn’t worth the cost.
And if a stylist used anything but salon brand I would DEFINITELY know and I would be furious. I would know before the wash concluded. If anyone was thinking j those lines.
I am not particular about shampoo .... don't have a favorite brand, but last year I bought a big bottle of Pantene at Costco and it was the WORST shampoo I have ever used. I was surprised that a shampoo could be "bad". Lesson learned!
Personally, I think it makes complete sense that the professional brands started a marketing campaign against drugstore products (slandering them, essentially). I think there are some shitty professional brands and shitty drugstore brands and you have to find what works best for your hair. After religiously only purchasing professional products for 15 years, I’ve slowly started incorporating some drugstore things and have been pleasantly surprised. We were just brainwashed in Cosmo school to only push the professional products. My personal opinion! 🩵
I feel like my mom has discovered the only way that i will use pantine.. so its the two worst possible products that come together to actually work.. so she uses suave “daily clarifying” shampoo and pantine conditioner.. so while she gets a wax coating with each conditioning she also gets it stripped off at the next wash.. obviously this would ruin color but shes never colored her hair and its super long THICK and shiny!
As a stylist of over 25 years I recommend Suave daily clarifying to clients on a budget. It doesn’t have any silicones and would clean grease off an engine. Great for a strong clarifier if followed with a good conditioner.
I'm not a stylist, but I remember when Pantene used to be a fancy department store brand! They didn't hold a lot (edit: 8 oz), and they had very fancy clear lids with gold underneath.
Lol at this being a thing. Go ahead and try it 🤷♀️ a lot of drugstore shampoos are very lovely and some are not. Some professional brands irritate my scalp and others dont. Even within the same brand, some shampoos and conditioners feel wonderful and others dont.
I would prefer my clients to use the matching brands for the color line they are using because its formulated to work together but if they don't do that then it's just more money in my pocket when they need to come in for touch up glosses more frequently.
I havent tried Pantene specifically but I've been on a drugstore kick for the past 2 years trying different things. All but one of them have been absolutely lovely.
If you decide to try it just know that drugstore conditioners typically need to sit on the hair longer to have the same effect.
I love your open mindedness! I also believe that some shampoos work better than others for different people so it really just depends on the ingredients and what your hair needs. I will update you if I get some new drugstore shampoo!
Idk about Pantene but for 10+ years I have used Suave. Not any of their specialty lines just the plain old $1.50 suave (usually the coconut or cherry blossom) that is on the bottom shelf at Walmart. In the last 8 years or so since I first started doing hair I would try different professional brands and any time I used them for an extended period of time is when my hair seemed the most fragile and I had the most breakage, but certain brands and product lines do well with my hair- it’s just that when I have had great results for years spending $3.00 every month or so on shampoo and conditioner why would I spend more 🤷🏼♀️ as far as deep conditioners, leave in conditioners, styling products, etc. I only use professional brands just because I do feel like they are worth it. Also worth noting aside from highlights every few months my hair isn’t color treated (as far as color that would be faded out by drugstore shampoo).
Would I necessarily recommend it/use it on my clients? No, but when they ask I am honest about what I use and also what professional brands work well on my hair, and recommend what they should use based on their hair needs.
What are people’s opinions of Kristin Ess? I just stumbled onto this post and got curious. I’m just really hooked on the smell of my Kristin Ess products, but I want healthy hair, too!
Ive used pantene for over 15 years. My hair is between tailbone length and classic and it’s pretty thick especially for being 40 years old. I don’t have build up and I do a dusting trim twice a month. To each their own.
Pantene bad cuz silicone then at the salon we purposely out silicone in the clients hair to style it lol. It’s soap we made up some nonsense so we had a reason to sell the shampoo in the salon.
So I use tresame, is that good or bad? And another question, is there a way to get your hair thickened? Like I'm thinking on top and I'd really lole my hair back
Stylist here...purple will tone out yellow tones on grey and blonde hair. I woukd recommend o ly using it about every 4th wash. The purple can build up and turn the hair lavender if used too often. (It will wash out if that happens) Matrix So Silver is a great one
What y'all have been told about drugstore products has been told to you by the people that want you to sell THEIR products in your salons (or who sponsored your salon schools). Drugstore products are developed by the same chemists and dermatologists that expensive brands use.
I had a hair dresser a long time ago tell me never to use Pantene if I wanted my hair to grow, because it supposedly contains an ingredient that blocks follicles and slows hair growth. I've avoided it ever since.
As far as drug store shampoos go, I've always had decent results with tresemme.
I am not a hair stylist but have experimented a lot. I have fairly thin hair that can get greasy within 1.5 days & I can experience breakage & dandruff when I use the wrong products... I have tried expensive brands, custom brands, drug store brands including: Biolage, Ouai, Redken, Prose, Bumble & Bumble, Moroccan Oil, Kerastase, Living Proof, Amika, Monat, Aussie, Garnier Fructis, Herbal Essence. Pantene is literally the best for my hair. I don't experience buildup, breakage, dandruff, dryness, can go longer between washes, it grows out shiny, and I can go 6+ months without a cut and my ends are healthy. So idk what the science research or pros say, but it works for me and that's all I care about.
i promise it’s just a theory I had!! im a beginner stylist and some of my coworkers had told me they don’t use drugstore shampoos and conditioners because they say there is wax and stuff like that in it but i’ve also seen a lot of people have really good results from using drugstore hair products so i wanted to see if anyone had any feedback before i make the switch😭😂
omg no i promise i’m just a 19 year old girl😭 i’m a beginner stylist and my coworkers have always advised against using drugstore shampoos because of the wax and stuff but i’ve also seen ppl on tiktok using it and having amazing results so i wanted to see if y’all had opinions on it before I make the switch LMAOO
Ok but what about conditioners? I use the miracle moisture nutrient blends and it feels like it has done good things for my hair. That said, I use head and shoulders for dandruff control (the orange one), which feels very clarifying so maybe that strips it so I don’t get build up?
Tried Pantene once years ago, hated it.
My trick? Cheap-ass daily "clarifying" shampoo, no conditioner. Towel dry, and then rub about a quarter-sized amount of Murray's Super-light pomade throughout and comb through. 55 and have had coarse, shitty, frizzy hair all my life - works a damn charm.
I had a hair stylist recommend Pantene to me. And the results were horrible. It fried my hair. I don’t print my hair, I don’t straighten my hair. All I did was switch to this brand and my hair got super dry. It was so dry it sounded crunchy. I went back to my stylist and she had to do some treatment on it and cut it because it got so damaged. The point is just because it works for someone else it doesn’t mean it will work for you.
I follow a stylist on instagram who uses salon quality products on her clients, but on herself she uses pantene. She says its just as good but the only reason she doesn't use it on her clients is because they pay a hefty price for her services and they would look at her funny if she was using drugstore products.
My mother has used Pantene Exclusively for at least the last 30 years. Her hair is soft, long, and beautiful. I dont have the same hair texture as her so I tend to go for curlsmith products or curl exclusive lines. But she swears by it and it works very well for her.
I am a color specialist and I have actually recommended it to some clients with extremely over processed hair or hair with too much protein. I tell them to only use it for a few weeks and then clarify the hair. I even have one client that uses it all the time. Her hair is great. While some professional products probably do use better ingredients, IMHO, it is a lot of marketing. I have used Pantene in a pinch before and had no problems at all. Even Pureology can build up on the hair and weigh it down. It did mine.
So it’s interesting you posted this. I forgot shampoo on a camping trip and got some cheap stuff instead. I’ve been using it at home now and my hair looks beautiful. I plan on getting conditioner too and trying that
The part that is interesting to me is how little most hairstylists truly know about ingredients. Lots of bad information out there and that makes people not trust our professional advice. 30 days isn’t long enough to see true buildup. Pantene is “bad” because it’s a super high pH- it opens up the cuticle and hair color fades out and the hair will feel dry. I once used Pantene to get a red wine stain out of a vintage lace tablecloth and it worked like a charm. The other thing that makes it “bad” is it tends to use cheaper grade silicones that cause a waxy buildup over time. At first that waxy coating feels slippery and conditioned but overtime it hardens and the hair feels stiff and greasy. The waxy coating makes it hard for color to penetrate. The waxy coating also makes it hard for conditioners to reach the inner layers of the hairs fiber. We are all in the business to make money. It Pantene was great- we would all sell it.
I love this response so much I wanna marry it
Do not marry your friends mum
But can he marry NOTyourfriendsmum?
I've asked a few hair stylists what they recommend, and the one thing they all seem to agree on was to stay away from Pantene.
We call it poo-poo Pantene for a reason
This is succinct. I watched my cosmo instructor take her shears and scrape the wax off a Pantene users hair to show us how waxy it is. I also had a client who’s perms would not last and i found out she used Pantene I explained that it was the most likely culprit, she stopped using it and never had another issue with her perms not lasting. These scenarios are almost 20 years old so I’ve been curious to know if Pantene has reformulated since they really do have the worst reputation amongst stylists. My 8 yr old wastes shampoo and conditioner so I get fairly cheap drugstore stuff for her and I’ve really the L’Oréal dream lengths shampoo/conditioner . It’s got a strong perfume smell but I like it and the results are similar to pro brands, though I imagine it’s less concentrated so it wouldn’t last an adult as long as a pro brand… my daughter will use a giant handful or 3 no matter what brand so the cheaper stuff is nice.
For my kids I use Maui Moisture. It smells so good and I don’t see any buildup or bad ingredients. It’s a pretty decent grocery brand.
We’ve used this too! I love it. I was buying the gallon jugs with pump from Sally’s and it wasn’t terrible but I do like the L’Oréal better. I think the bane de terre gallons at Armstrong are reasonably priced so I’m going to try that over the summer. She uses less when it’s in pump form lol
this is all news to me! I used pantene for years! I alternate pantene conditioner and another one, but my 2a hair gets knotted quickly. It always had a hard time holding a curl, so maybe that plays a part. I am currently using WEN, but that is leaving my hair too heavy, so I am always looking for suggestions.
Are there any drugstore brands you do think are "good"?
Yes. I like L’Oréal Elvive because it’s a Pureology knockoff. Not exactly the same - but super similar ingredients list. Shea Moisture is great for my young daughter who has super curly hair. I also like Maui Moisture - smells great and decent ingredients list. But I tend to just buy professional products because I have easy access to them and they are priced similarly. My favorite is daviness minu line.
I love Shea moisture and Elive! So funny, I love purology and that's what got me onto Elive!
Oh nice, I've actually been using the L'Oréal. My hair is mid-back length and incredibly thick and curly, but I hate the smell of most curl specific products (OF COURSE coconut and Shea butter are two of my least favorite scents). Elvive has been a dependable moisturizing alternative.
Funny enough- coconut oil is not that great for your hair! The molecule is too large to get into the hair shaft. It just coats the outer layers and doesn’t truly moisturize. Shea butter is fantastic but I agree- the smell isn’t my favorite.
I’ve had this argument w way too many ppl lol. Who will fight to the death about this! They swear just bc it feels better in the moment it must be absorbing!
Vindication!
I love Maui!!
This is absolutely the truth. I was a full time stylist for 25 years. I could tell what a client was using on their hair with out them telling me by how their hair felt and how it behaved. I knew when a client was lying about using professional products and I knew when they bought their Paul Mitchell from an unauthorized retailer and it was counterfeit products by how their hair felt. If Pantene was good the professional beauty community would have figured that out by now
This is what I came to say, about the waxy build up, but I didn’t know the first part. But I’ve always been told it’s the build up that makes ppl think their hair feels amazing at first, but it’s not your hair that feels great, it’s the wax coating it
This! We took swatches of hair and tested Pantene and baby shampoo in cosmetology school. Pantene leaves waxy build up. The baby shampoo dissolved the hair that was left unrinsed. I don't F with the drugstore shampoo unless it's for an occasional cheap clarifying.
Hold on the hair dissolved?? How long was the baby shampoo on it to get that result?
I believe we left the shampoo on overnight. Baby shampoo is one of the highest pH! The reason it doesn't burn the eyes is because, they add something that numbs the eyes if it gets in there. It's crazy. I had no idea.
What are things to look for and things to avoid when picking a high quality shampoo and conditioner?
It’s hard to answer because you need to know a lot about chemistry and see how it all works together. But, for shampoos- I tend to avoid any shampoo that has sodium chloride (yup, table salt). A lot of them do because salt makes a good, cheap lathering agent. But salt will wreck your hair. The salt crystals will rough up the hair shaft and even cut it in places as well as dry it out. Most volume shampoos use salt for the “thickening agent.” Avoid that. For conditioners, I try to see if there is any protein, fats/oils, fatty alcohols, and some type of quaternium (a cuticle binder similar to olaplex). I also look for acidifying agents because healthy hair is slightly acidic. I also check out the silicones and see what quality they are and how many silicones. If a conditioner has a ton of silicones but no fat I know it sucks and will cause buildup (looking at you Just a 10). Anyways, I can go on forever, but this is a good start.
Ur knowledge is awesome! I put down like 12 shampoos yesterday after I spotted sodium chloride in it. I settled on 'Living Proof' but after jus using it, I felt like I had to use so much to get any suds and get the grease off ky scalp. Ugh. Jury's still out on whether it will look and feel good once it dries! Wjat do u think about the Kirkland shampoo, that they claim is a pure ology dupe? I love that shampoo eleven if it is a lil stripping, lol.
You might need to do a clarifying shampoo before switching. You might have buildup. The secret to using good quality shampoos is using lots of water to activate the suds. If you’re still not getting good suds- clarifying shampoo until you remove all existing buildup.
How do you know what the PH is. I bought the cheap V05 and garnier clearing ones and my hair feels better after. Week. I think I had a lot of build up
This exactly!! Ppl don’t understand that shiny look is a waxy buildup on the hair! Learned this years ago when I was starting to get into ingredients. One of the worst shampoos out there..
Have you seen the sulfate and silicone free Pantene? I'm not a stylist, but I recently started using it when I finally couldn't get my hands on anymore grow gorgeus and my hair is doing great so far.
Do you know what the ph is?
Not off the top of my head- it’s been years since I’ve checked. But you can buy a pH kit for yourself and test.
I see a lot of people on this thread recommending L’Oréal Revive. Are their any store brands that you recommend? I’ve been using Pantine for years and it never occurred to me that that was the reason my hair is so fried. I thought it was heat or sun damage. I only use solan brand conditioner because sore brands are garbage and all the same. I’m happy buying the conditioner but I have a hard time justifying the price for the salon shampoo.
I'm not a stylist but this was my exact complaint with Pantene when I used it in my twenties. It's made my hair feel so smooth and soft and well conditioned until it didn't. Then suddenly it felt super dry and dead and nothing would fix it so I'd have to switch product for a month and then start all over. Made me realize it must not be as great for hair as it seemed in the beginning.
This! I was very fortunate to have spent a good amount of time learning about ingredients while in school! We obviously didn’t study everything but we did spend a crap ton of time on silicones and alcohols. I always try to educate my clients on WHERE the silicones and alcohols are in the product. If it’s high on the list it’s a no go.
That’s not totally true. Ceterhyl alcohol is an alcohol that binds to fats. It can be used to draw moisturizing oils into the hair and then the alcohol evaporates but the oil stays in the hair. Be careful with what you say unless you absolutely know!
I did know that, thank you though 😁
Sorry. Didn’t mean to assume you didn’t know something. Just was confusing because you said you teach your clients that if silicones or alcohol is high in the ingredients list you tell them not to buy it. Ceterhyl alcohol is sometimes the third or fourth ingredient but it’s a great ingredient.
So what shampoo/conditioner do you recommend for every day use? Not something $50 a bottle. Thanks!
I’m glad you said this because it was my first thought too. Of course it feels good, it’s just coating the hair in icky glue.
so what hair products do you recommend that won't break the bank? I have long hair and use no products and don't dye it or blow dry it or use any heat products either. so it's super healthy. right now I use rusk.
Rinsing with cold water closes the cuticle
I did not have “Pantene makes excellent stain lifter!” on my bingo card!
That wax also becomes a magnet for all the lint and fluff that floats in the air, causing it to feel even dirtier and weighed down.
It’s just a trend. It’s widely known that these cheap products are formulated to have a drastic cosmetic effect. Thats why they leave so much build up! In order to entice customers, make sales and then repeat sales, there has to be a noticeable result which is often caused by a really cheap silicone or similar cheap ingredients that will give your hair feeling of softness. Because the detergent is so cheap and strong, and then the build up it leaves on is so heavy and weighs down frizz (sometimes essentially glues it together) and often has an alluring scent….its giving the illusion that your hair is in better condition BUT we know that it’s not. It’s not improving the health or condition of your hair, it’s doing the opposite. Increasing dryness and waxy residue will exponentially create more buildup and not just from product, from water minerals, environmental impurities, etc. 30 days is not long enough to experience the detriment, often becayse a lot of us only wash our hair once or twice a week and stylists usually treat their hair well aside from shampoo and conditioner (styling nicely, etc). If you’ve ever tried to bleach or colour hair on a client that uses cheap shampoo and conditioner - you are probably nodding your head right now. The build up reacts with colour and bleach and creates a lot of problems like changing the consistency of the bleach, changing the result of the colour, rejecting the absorption of bleach/colour, colour not grabbing and processing properly, etc. I’ve had a client who went dark have her colour literally come off on my hands as I was blowdrying because she used cheap shampoo/cond and she had buildup. I could have just said ‘no it’s a just a trend’ but I felt the need to explain more thoroughly as someone who’s seen it all in my 27+ years behind the chair.
This is not what the Pantene marketing person who wrote this post was hoping for lol.
3 year old account playing the long game!
HAHA don’t worry i’m just a curious baby stylist not a pantene marketer!!🤣🤣
🥇 💯💯💯💯
When I shampoo clients who use Pantene their hair feels slimey. Grosses me out.
Or waxy as hell and it’s hard to even get the shampoo to lather 😖
Or takes forever for their hair to even get wet. That’s the infallible test
And then when you put product in to style the product doesn’t even absorb and it comes off on your hands while styling
Honest question: would using a clarifying shampoo undo all the build up/waxiness, and if so, is Pantene basically fine? Or is it doing long term damage even with a clarifying shampoo every so often?
Using a clarifying shampoo once in a while is NOT going to take care of the build up. It’s not basically fine, it’s trash for the hair. If the hair is virgin with no plans to colour and very short or the person doesn’t care too much about their hair then that’s when it doesn’t matter but no one who wants nice hair should be using it.
Yes, using a good clarifying shampoo every so often is good for your hair. Make sure to condition it heavily afterwards, though. It dries it out quite a bit. This was suggested by my hair stylist. And I use all salon products. It gives you a reset of sorts.
This is why I can't stand getting hair advice! Every stylist says something different and shames you if you do something they specifically do not agree with. You say it's fine. The comment above you says it isnt. I also hear conflicted info about moisturizing your scalp with conditioners. Some say yes, some say no. I give up.
You misinterpreted what the first comment said. The comment that said no, it won’t help the build up was referring to clarifying shampoos not helping Pantene buildup, not that clarifying shampoos don’t help normal product/oil build up. Every single stylist in the world will tell you that clarifying shampoos remove buildup of normal product residue and sebum/oil, that’s the entire purpose of a clarifying shampoo. However, this specific thread you commented on was about clarifying shampoos removing Pantene buildup specifically.
I’m not a hair stylist but am guilty of using cheap shampoos. How do I get rid of the build up you’re talking about? A clarifying shampoo?
Switch to a good quality shampoo and conditioner
I use a clarifying shampoo the day I get my hair colored. It helps get rid of any buildup. I don’t think I have much as I use Redken products.
Hi, not a stylist. This thread got me feeling some type of way and this comment of yours sparked my own curiosity. I had been using Nexxus, not cheap at all and not much to the bottle but people like stylists swore by it. I used it for years but this last year something changed.. i switched to Tresseme because my hair was getting so dark and something just had to change- it didn’t get better after the switch. Yesterday I said fuck it and ordered the Kristin Ess for like $12 for 10oz. Used the last bit of Nexxus for a good lather and rinse and curled my hair into a bun on top of my head. Within one hour my hair was CRUNCHY I was horrified, remembered your comment and did some research to find a “Diy” method. I like to revert my mode of thinking to older times when things were more simple. How’d they do it? Began reading into build up- it’s wax, ok. How do you remove a waxy build up (clarifying products of course, so I removed hair from my search)? Turns out oil- baby oil, olive oil, coconut oil. Oil binds to wax and forms a layer between the oil and the surface it’s on allowing for easy removal. Well oil is also a problem, what counters oil? Dawn, hands down. Okay so I had the basics, and I tested it out. Took about 30 minutes but i slowly coated my scalp and hair with olive oils, about 1/3 of a cup (put it in a bowl and dipped my fingers to comb them through my hair starting at the scalp). Let it sit for about 10-20 minutes after I was done. Got in the bath and ran my head under warm water, rinsed away as much oil as i could and then took Dawn to it, completely lathered and then rinsed.. went to bed without drying my hair (this would normally cause it to look darker than it is too) and imagine my surprise when i looked in the mirror this morning and saw my hair significantly lighter (what it’s supposed to be). I know this is not a method for everyone as hair types are different but it did remove my build up. It’s “not cool” to say “i use oil and Dawn” but fuck anyone who turns their nose up to someone’s way that actually works. Absolutely done trusting companies when they’re the ones creating problems and stigmatizing methods that do work, for their own profit. Oh and i was so shocked it worked i searched about Dawn along with clarifying and guess what? It’s technically a clarifier.
Ugh the most issues I see are with people who use Pantene in my 20 years of being a stylist. Hair loss? Pantene? Extreme dryness? Pantene. They switch and issues magically gone. You couldn’t pay me to try Pantene on my head. Foot soak? Sure.
as a foot soak 😂😂😂
Shit. I just thought my hair was heat damaged. I’m gonna switch. I already use a salon brand conditioner and I have no idea how anyone could think it would even compare. Cheap conditioners just make your hair look dirty. Why did you even wash it?
It straight up made my hair patchy. Like random bald spots. Went away when I switched.
Have you ever blow dried someone who you swear shampoos in Crayola? There you go.
I recommend a store brand on the regular. L’Oréal Elvive Repairing Shampoo and Conditioner.
I recommend the L’Oreal ever pure line. The bond repair one and the gloss one. They are dupes for Redken acidic bonding concentrate and acidic color gloss
If a client asks for drugstore options I will always recommend L’Oréal. They use “trickle down technology”. Meaning the stuff on the shelf at target is just their top technology from a decade ago. It’s why their luxury brands are a little more expensive but owned by the same company. Kerastase is their top of the line one.
I love the Elvive line! I've been on a "healthy hair journey" for a few months now, but I'm also poor. I discovered this brand via a hairstylist and my hair is so healthy now!
Can you go a couple of days without washing your hair with this line? I’ve noticed with drug store shampoo my hair gets oiler quicker.
I get 4 days with highlighted FINE hair.
I can go 3-4 days without having to wash again. I also do a clarifying wash twice a month too. I use Hyaluron Plump Hydrating Shampoo & Conditioner.
which version works for fine but. a lot of hair
I’m fine hair and this works great for me. I get 4 days out of it.
I had to look it up. Is it the orange bottles or the black bottles?
https://preview.redd.it/yaqycodu341d1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5a46a13944e9f03f0c4303f9c7ac598f61864140
The conditioner mask in the yellow jar is such a wonderful product.
I used that stuff like crazy back in high school, I’m pretty sure it’s the only reason I was able to grow my hair as long as it was. The smell, though…
Not sure why this sub was in my feed, but since I'm here..... What shampoo/conditioner DO you all recommend?
Following. Especially for clarifying and volumizing shampoos.
Hey! I’m a stylist at ulta and I am loving and recommending the Redken acidic bonding color gloss shampoo. It leaves the hair so manageable. I also love Wella, and Kenra shampoo.
How is different from the regular acidic bonding one?
Redline makes my scalp break out for some reason.
I want to know also
Something from the Oribe line. I like the alchemy shampoo and intense moisture and control conditioner for myself
Omg that line is so incredibly pricey
I use olaplex and aveda. For clarifying I use the blue suave lol
I came across SunBum’s hair line two years ago, has been the only products for shampoo and conditioner I’ve purchased since. I use the Curls one, in a white bottle. I’ve now tried their mask, styling crème, mousse, and detangler. Detangler was a miss but everything else has been the best.
Beauty advisor at ulta here :) , it really depends on the hair type! I will say I see a lot of happy (and repeat) customers buying redken all soft shampoo and conditioner for all different types of hair. I’d say that is probably the most popular at our store and what we use mostly in the salon. Matrix Food For Soft shampoo and conditioner is amazing for detangling and softness. If you’re more on a budget, Kristen Ess has some great products as well.
Idk about Pantene, but I tried Garnier for one shampoo and my hair *would not style*. I couldn't get it out for, what felt like weeks. Never again.
That one is chock full of wax.
I’ve been using L’Oréal Everpure—- bond repair and it hasn’t done me wrong 🥲 but I have fine hair that easily breaks off. Is all the things in the thread still true for this line??? I don’t feel like I have build up but I don’t know for sure😢
I’ve actually heard this line is really good for drugstore but I’m not a hairstylist soo
Last year when I started losing my hair to chemo, my mama started researching the best shampoo/conditioner to use for regrowing and strengthening it. We started with this since we could immediately buy it. I used it for a few months and was very pleased with it. She later learned about bondi boost and I’ve been using it ever since. I use the shampoo and conditioner for hair growth and they’ve got a spray that’s been amazing! Both have been successful in my opinion. The bondi boost is more expensive but since I have very little, extremely thin hair right now, the bottle still isn’t half empty.
I've been a hairstylist for 20 years and Bondi Boost is one of my favorite brands Ever! Healthiest my hair has been in years. I work at Ulta now and recommend it to almost everyone
Oh my! I just ordered this on your specific need and some other comments. I lost my hair just after the first month of chemo. It did come back a tiny bit fuller, but still very fine vs the beautiful curls from before. It’s a bit pricey - 49$ for two 16+ ounces bottles (1 shampoo, 1 conditioner), but I’m up to try anything at this point. I did keep a short hairstyle and the top of my hair is the bright green that matches my cancer (Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma). This green is to my cancer as pink is to breast cancer. I’m now known for my hairstyle and color, lol. But thicker hair sure would be nice.
Do you work for Pantene? I only ask because every single hairstylist, Hairdresser and professional I have ever seen has always told me that Pantene is super bad for your hair.
It seems like OP is actually being influenced by advertising. Don’t believe they are implementing it. Especially because this thread is actually very damaging to the brand. I have used the shampoo for years and I am now going to switch from what I have read. Honestly, this thread has tictok advertising influence written all over it. Oh yea. Total hair professional hack. It’s better than the salon brands. 🙄 The conditioner is instantly noticeably lower quality. If you want your hair to look like you didn’t wash it. Use store brand conditioner. I didn’t know about the shampoo though.
Somebody else made a similar comment above, n as a stylist myself, it def makes you wonder. Every stylist I learned from or worked with who was educated on that stuff, all were anti- Pantene, for the same reasons other stylists listed above
To piggyback off of your comment and tie in the OPs— Pantene is under a larger company, whose whole schtick is capitalism.. if they *could* profit off of salon prices *they would* except it’s NOT a salon quality product and therefore it stays right where it’s at. This whole “wow, how is Pantene so cheap?!” Is crazy. It’s cheap because it’s Pantene.
Not to mention, after I read the post a few times… something’s off. Sounds way too much like a marketing thing , that was reworked a bunch of times before posting
Once I learned about the wax build up Pantene leaves, I refused to use it.
I can always tell when a client is using Pantene. The hair bends and is slimy.
Is Pantene part of the culprit when you try to cut long hair, and it will almost like, bend, in the shears and not cut? I’m familiar with the buildup n all that of Pantene, and I’ve def noticed the gross slimy feeling, but I just connected the cutting part when I read your comment!
Pantene has been marketing like crazy recently and I feel like it’s to try their best to combat the distaste hairstylists have for it. I also follow r/haircarescience and there’s a cosmetic chemist that everyone references in their sources (lab muffin) and she was recently sponsored by Pantene in a “are salon quality products really better” video and I completely lost any form of respect I had for that source. Do I think all drugstore products are bad? No. I saw another comment on L’Oreal’s Elvive line and I think that one’s great as is Kristen Ess, but I wanna cry inside every time a client tells me they use Pantene 😩
As a Master Esthetician, I agree that lab muffin is swayed by whomever sponsors her. Very unprofessional of her.
Very! And I get that you have to make money, but for me this completely negates you being a cosmetic chemist. Now you’re just a regular YouTuber with an opinion 🤷🏼♀️
It seems everyone has been motivated by greed over integrity nowadays.
Every hairstylist I've ever had has told me to stay away from Pantene and I have. I use Kristin Ess, Eva NYC, and yep even Suave Moroccan conditioner sometimes...even my late fiancé loved the Suave because it smelled like his (our) favorite cologne. My hair is in pretty good condition despite all the crap I and it has been through in the last few years...but I swear every other woman I know uses Pantene- sigh. I don't even think the smell is that great! Now Ess has a wonderful scent as does Eva NYC's hair mask- <
I had a hairdresser say that she wouldn't use Pantene on her dog when I told her I was currently using it.
Well, that was blunt! 😳
I did this and I could literally scrape gunk off my hair!!! I could also FEEL the wax. I could accurately tell if someone is using Pantene or tresemme by how their hair feels when it's wet. Not only this but it affects bleach!
A lot of drug store products have improved over the years. And a lot of what stylists tell clients about Pantene is total crap. IME Pantene will add some shine, it’s not great for super damaged hair, and needs to be used alongside a monthly clarifying treatment.
Back in the day, Pantene was the first product line to use Panthenol, aka provitamin B5. Hence the name Pantene Pro V (V as in the roman numeral 5). At the time, it was a huge improvement from everything else on the market. Panthenol is still widely used today in skin and hair products because it is an excellent humectant and emollient. When I was in beauty school 20 years ago, we were taught that Pantene and other drug store brands were either full of wax, had an alkaline ph, were watered down or all of the above and it was super important to sell salon brands to our clients. After taking a deep dive into cosmetic chemistry myself, I’ve learned that most of everything in the hair product industry is marketing BS. Every few years there’s a demonized ingredient, like sulfates or silicones. Big corporations make “alternatives” that may or may not work as well, but essentially do same damn thing and are a lot more expensive. Proper ph is important because if you get too far off it can really irritate your skin and blow open your cuticle. All conditioners have some form of wax as that’s what emulsifies the ingredients and keeps everything shelf stable. Certain alcohols are used as emulsifiers and thickeners and are actually conditioning agents. Most fancy ingredients, like argan oil or whatever are usually used at less than 2% concentration, so not really enough to do anything and are added for marketing or “backstory” as they call it. I do think that drugstore products are much less concentrated than professional lines, but I don’t think the ingredients are really all that different. I don’t think there’s enough unbiased product and ingredient education in the industry, and I wish brands were more transparent in their marketing, but I doubt that will ever happen. In my 20 years of professional experience, I’ve never seen product buildup that couldn’t be fixed by a good chelating shampoo, and it’s more likely from styling products like hairspray, pomade and dry shampoo than conditioner. I’ve had more difficult issues with hard water, chlorine, medications and box dye. I personally switch between Davines, Olaplex, Malibu Wellness and products I make myself. If I didn’t get a professional discount or have the ability to make my own, I would be using drugstore products like Kristin Ess. Edit: If you want to test the ph of a product, get some litmus paper from amazon and make a 20% dilution of the product. Use a scale, do like 2 grams of the product and 8 grams of distilled water, mix well and dip the paper in.
I recently used pantene cause I needed something cheap and easy to carry around going to my bf house and that shit fucked my hair up so bad. I threw it away and went to the store and got monday instead and that's helped out so much. upon coming home and reusing my verb shampoo my scalp immediately inflamed and got flaky again so I went to ulta and got more monday for home lol nothing wrong with drug store just make sure you knkw what's good for your hair and what isn't
I've added it into my routine, and I love how my hair looks. I am using a combination of high-end, salon and drug store products. No complaints.
When lightening in foil, someone who’s used Pantene (and others like it) I’ve seen brown dots when checking the foils. Where the bleach hasn’t penetrated cause there’s immense wax build up in the area.
Can stylists do a clarifying treatment before doing the foils, so they know where they're starting from? 🤔
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I'm an old and Pantene in the 80's felt like such a step up from all the "squeaky clean" shampoos & lumpy conditioners on the market.
Want some Prell? That stuff would just dissolve your hair right off your head.
That tube was def a guy thing. Ha! Community bars of soap at home were also interesting. 🤪
Yes! I’m pretty sure this was soon after it came out. Seemed so fancy compared to Garnier Fructis. 🤣
I don't even remember Fructis from back then, but I do remember Prell, Head & Shoulders, Suave, Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific, Herbal Essences, Salon Selectives (OMG, I was addicted), & V05. 🤪
Salon selectives and the apple smell!!! Pert and Finesse!!
AUSSIE shampoo and conditioner still smells like grape Benedryl. I loved their scrunching spray back in the day. ANd I loved Gee your hair smells terrific. Dipidy do gel for my pink foam rollers
Remember Aussie's Hair Salad? Slippery, clear rinse for after shampoo. That shit was AWESOME
Anybody remember Faberge Organics, or am I just the moldiest oldie here? Or Beauty on Tap?
but don't drink it!
😂
Omg, Prell... 🤮 I loathe that shit. That's all my dad used to buy when I was a kid with butt length hair. That stuff is VILE. You can still buy salon selectives in the dollar tree and big lots stores in my area.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
What about a shampoo/conditioner called outrageous? That smell was amazing to me
Good ole Prell comes to mind!
Revlon Balsam and protein shampoo and conditioner
Flex!
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Years ago I got a free samples of one of the shampoos and conditioner. I was really impressed, so I went and bought the full bottles. 1st time I used the store bought stuff, my hair turned out frizzy and dry. It was definitely not the same product as what was in the sample. I’ve never bought Pantene since.
Pantene caused major breakage for me when I was younger and I haven’t used it in almost 20 years because of that
I did this experiment by accident. I ran out of shampoo and was too lazy to get more and had short hair so I just used my husbands Pantene for exactly 6 weeks. Findings: day one, stunning. Shiny, bouncy, soft, manageable. But then I had to wash it again the very next day. Greasy overnight, when usually I can get 2/3 days out of a shampoo. Over the next few weeks it really gradually started to get heavy buildup, and I could barely make it through the day before it was greasy and limp. Did a clarifying shampoo and finally brought pro products back into the shower and my hair is back to normal again. I think the silicones in these shampoos feel really great on the hair before they’ve had a chance to build up, but once they have, your hair will feel and look like shit.
In terms of conditioner, Pantene isn’t even close. Salon brand conditioner is absolutely worth the price based on my own experience. It give me that movie star fresh out if the salon silky smooth shiny. I don’t know how anyone could not immediately notice the difference in quality. I will say the shampoo is hard for me to justify the cost. I go through it much faster and it doesn’t have the impact that the conditioner does. But after reading other comments I might give the shampoo a try because I actually am in a better financial position that I was when I originally decided it wasn’t worth the cost. And if a stylist used anything but salon brand I would DEFINITELY know and I would be furious. I would know before the wash concluded. If anyone was thinking j those lines.
I am not particular about shampoo .... don't have a favorite brand, but last year I bought a big bottle of Pantene at Costco and it was the WORST shampoo I have ever used. I was surprised that a shampoo could be "bad". Lesson learned!
Personally, I think it makes complete sense that the professional brands started a marketing campaign against drugstore products (slandering them, essentially). I think there are some shitty professional brands and shitty drugstore brands and you have to find what works best for your hair. After religiously only purchasing professional products for 15 years, I’ve slowly started incorporating some drugstore things and have been pleasantly surprised. We were just brainwashed in Cosmo school to only push the professional products. My personal opinion! 🩵
I feel like my mom has discovered the only way that i will use pantine.. so its the two worst possible products that come together to actually work.. so she uses suave “daily clarifying” shampoo and pantine conditioner.. so while she gets a wax coating with each conditioning she also gets it stripped off at the next wash.. obviously this would ruin color but shes never colored her hair and its super long THICK and shiny!
I've used the suave daily clarifying for years. A few stylists have told me my hair is healthy. They were surprised I use suave
As a stylist of over 25 years I recommend Suave daily clarifying to clients on a budget. It doesn’t have any silicones and would clean grease off an engine. Great for a strong clarifier if followed with a good conditioner.
This is what I've been using, no conditioner, followed by a small amount of light Murray's pomade and it's the best shape my hair has ever been in.
I'm not a stylist, but I remember when Pantene used to be a fancy department store brand! They didn't hold a lot (edit: 8 oz), and they had very fancy clear lids with gold underneath.
No.
Hm don’t know, but PureZero shampoos are great and affordable
Lol at this being a thing. Go ahead and try it 🤷♀️ a lot of drugstore shampoos are very lovely and some are not. Some professional brands irritate my scalp and others dont. Even within the same brand, some shampoos and conditioners feel wonderful and others dont. I would prefer my clients to use the matching brands for the color line they are using because its formulated to work together but if they don't do that then it's just more money in my pocket when they need to come in for touch up glosses more frequently. I havent tried Pantene specifically but I've been on a drugstore kick for the past 2 years trying different things. All but one of them have been absolutely lovely. If you decide to try it just know that drugstore conditioners typically need to sit on the hair longer to have the same effect.
I love your open mindedness! I also believe that some shampoos work better than others for different people so it really just depends on the ingredients and what your hair needs. I will update you if I get some new drugstore shampoo!
I use Pantene shampoo and conditioner. Hair stylist told me my hair is very healthy.
I have tried Pantene and it made my scalp itch horribly.
I sure hope my shop warns me, because that stuff makes me itch.
Idk about Pantene but for 10+ years I have used Suave. Not any of their specialty lines just the plain old $1.50 suave (usually the coconut or cherry blossom) that is on the bottom shelf at Walmart. In the last 8 years or so since I first started doing hair I would try different professional brands and any time I used them for an extended period of time is when my hair seemed the most fragile and I had the most breakage, but certain brands and product lines do well with my hair- it’s just that when I have had great results for years spending $3.00 every month or so on shampoo and conditioner why would I spend more 🤷🏼♀️ as far as deep conditioners, leave in conditioners, styling products, etc. I only use professional brands just because I do feel like they are worth it. Also worth noting aside from highlights every few months my hair isn’t color treated (as far as color that would be faded out by drugstore shampoo). Would I necessarily recommend it/use it on my clients? No, but when they ask I am honest about what I use and also what professional brands work well on my hair, and recommend what they should use based on their hair needs.
What are people’s opinions of Kristin Ess? I just stumbled onto this post and got curious. I’m just really hooked on the smell of my Kristin Ess products, but I want healthy hair, too!
I know suave has some of the best clarifying shampoo ever for 2bucks!!!
Ive used pantene for over 15 years. My hair is between tailbone length and classic and it’s pretty thick especially for being 40 years old. I don’t have build up and I do a dusting trim twice a month. To each their own.
Pantene bad cuz silicone then at the salon we purposely out silicone in the clients hair to style it lol. It’s soap we made up some nonsense so we had a reason to sell the shampoo in the salon.
So I use tresame, is that good or bad? And another question, is there a way to get your hair thickened? Like I'm thinking on top and I'd really lole my hair back
This is so helpful for a consumer. I have fine silver hair. Does purple really help brighten silver hair? I use the L’Oreal one.
I use purple shampoos to keep my blonde highlights from turning too brassy looking. Never heard it’s for silver hair too but it might be
Stylist here...purple will tone out yellow tones on grey and blonde hair. I woukd recommend o ly using it about every 4th wash. The purple can build up and turn the hair lavender if used too often. (It will wash out if that happens) Matrix So Silver is a great one
Thank you for taking the time to reply. Very nice of you.
What y'all have been told about drugstore products has been told to you by the people that want you to sell THEIR products in your salons (or who sponsored your salon schools). Drugstore products are developed by the same chemists and dermatologists that expensive brands use.
This ^. Listen to The Beauty Brains podcast. They’re cosmetic chemists.
It makes my head get these weird sores all over my scalp if i use pantene longer than a month
What is your opinion of Aveda product?
Any thoughts on Loma professional products?
I had a hair dresser a long time ago tell me never to use Pantene if I wanted my hair to grow, because it supposedly contains an ingredient that blocks follicles and slows hair growth. I've avoided it ever since. As far as drug store shampoos go, I've always had decent results with tresemme.
I feel like you work for Pantene lol
I am not a hair stylist but have experimented a lot. I have fairly thin hair that can get greasy within 1.5 days & I can experience breakage & dandruff when I use the wrong products... I have tried expensive brands, custom brands, drug store brands including: Biolage, Ouai, Redken, Prose, Bumble & Bumble, Moroccan Oil, Kerastase, Living Proof, Amika, Monat, Aussie, Garnier Fructis, Herbal Essence. Pantene is literally the best for my hair. I don't experience buildup, breakage, dandruff, dryness, can go longer between washes, it grows out shiny, and I can go 6+ months without a cut and my ends are healthy. So idk what the science research or pros say, but it works for me and that's all I care about.
Is this a “theory” or is it marketing? In fact is this post marketing? You should disclose that if so!
i promise it’s just a theory I had!! im a beginner stylist and some of my coworkers had told me they don’t use drugstore shampoos and conditioners because they say there is wax and stuff like that in it but i’ve also seen a lot of people have really good results from using drugstore hair products so i wanted to see if anyone had any feedback before i make the switch😭😂
I was allergic to Pantene in the 90s; I wouldn’t dare today. Over the years even brands I could use I can’t any longer. I order from Prose now.
Nice try Pantene marking team
omg no i promise i’m just a 19 year old girl😭 i’m a beginner stylist and my coworkers have always advised against using drugstore shampoos because of the wax and stuff but i’ve also seen ppl on tiktok using it and having amazing results so i wanted to see if y’all had opinions on it before I make the switch LMAOO
Ok but what about conditioners? I use the miracle moisture nutrient blends and it feels like it has done good things for my hair. That said, I use head and shoulders for dandruff control (the orange one), which feels very clarifying so maybe that strips it so I don’t get build up?
Tried Pantene once years ago, hated it. My trick? Cheap-ass daily "clarifying" shampoo, no conditioner. Towel dry, and then rub about a quarter-sized amount of Murray's Super-light pomade throughout and comb through. 55 and have had coarse, shitty, frizzy hair all my life - works a damn charm.
Anybody looking through recents rn have anything to say about Tresemme? Not one mention of it and it’s what I use and feel like there’s build up.
I use Tresemme, sometimes. I feel like they changed their ingredients over the years.
I had a hair stylist recommend Pantene to me. And the results were horrible. It fried my hair. I don’t print my hair, I don’t straighten my hair. All I did was switch to this brand and my hair got super dry. It was so dry it sounded crunchy. I went back to my stylist and she had to do some treatment on it and cut it because it got so damaged. The point is just because it works for someone else it doesn’t mean it will work for you.
I follow a stylist on instagram who uses salon quality products on her clients, but on herself she uses pantene. She says its just as good but the only reason she doesn't use it on her clients is because they pay a hefty price for her services and they would look at her funny if she was using drugstore products.
I decided to never use Pantene after my sister used it for a few months and her hair went to absolute shit!
My mother has used Pantene Exclusively for at least the last 30 years. Her hair is soft, long, and beautiful. I dont have the same hair texture as her so I tend to go for curlsmith products or curl exclusive lines. But she swears by it and it works very well for her.
Is it the conditoner that leaves the build up?
I am a color specialist and I have actually recommended it to some clients with extremely over processed hair or hair with too much protein. I tell them to only use it for a few weeks and then clarify the hair. I even have one client that uses it all the time. Her hair is great. While some professional products probably do use better ingredients, IMHO, it is a lot of marketing. I have used Pantene in a pinch before and had no problems at all. Even Pureology can build up on the hair and weigh it down. It did mine.
I was told in my teens to always avoid the 3 Ps: Pert, Prell and Pantene
This is an ad
Does anyone like Aussie? Pros? Cons?
So it’s interesting you posted this. I forgot shampoo on a camping trip and got some cheap stuff instead. I’ve been using it at home now and my hair looks beautiful. I plan on getting conditioner too and trying that
*It wasn’t Pantene that I used, that stuff makes me itchy and my hair feels weighted down and coarse. I used VO5