Pantene is not bad for your hair. However, Pantene may or may not be the right product to use on your hair. You should know what is in everything you use, but the key point is that Pantene is not a bad product.
I say this because I was lunching with some friends of mine the other day, and the discussion got a bit heated. The argument wasn’t about liking the same guy, though. That would have made more sense.
No, it was all about Pantene!
In recent times, Pantene products have been hailed as dangerous. This is usually coming from stylists who have claimed that it damages the hair.
One stylist had said that Pantene’s Moisture Renewal line of shampoo and conditioner made a client’s hair have smoke coming out of the aluminum foil during a hair coloring session.
As the stylist told it, apparently, after asking a series of questions, he *thought* it could be related to this client’s use of Pantene for over a year.
His claim was that it left an unsavory buildup of plastic, parabens, and silicone on the hair, which can be dangerous with bleaching or any high-lifting coloring techniques, causing it to melt the buildup.
This vocal stylist wasn’t the only one. As my friends squabbled, one who religiously uses Pantene and the other who is terrified of it now because of social media, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was any merit to any of this.
After the lunch in question, I sat down to look into the topic of whether or not Pantene was good or bad for your hair.
I found the original post from the stylist who claimed this hair-burning happened, and it had gobs of shares and other tales of woe.
See, the thing for me is that so many people make up stories on Facebook about all kinds of issues, it’s hard to know the truth.
Actually, “hard” isn’t accurate. It’s more like it’s lots of research to uncover that truth. Lucky for you, I’ve done all that work for you!
Yes, there are plenty of complaints out there about Pantene. Some have said they had scalp burns, while others suffered hair loss. But as I dug around, I couldn’t find one single shred of scientific evidence to support these claims.
Read on to find out exactly what’s going on with the whole Pantene is good or bad for you thing!
Is Pantene Bad for Your Hair?
Pantene is not a bad product for your hair. Depending on hair type, it can give hair good results. There are many myths about Pantene and the ingredients it uses. However, it uses the same ingredients as salon brands. No evidence exists to prove that Pantene is not good for hair.
Stylists do best when you buy salon brands from them, which is why they are the most vocal against Pantene. In blind testing, people prefer the brand of Pantene over other brands.
Look, I have friends that are stylists. They’re great people. But my friends are not trying to push their clientele into buying specific brands to make sales. Remember, it is a great talent to know how to cut, style, and color hair. That said, none of these people have a degree in molecular science.
These formulations are scientific creations. Pantene’s shampoo and conditioner formulations are among the best, according to those that have an understanding of these molecular functions.
The makers of Pantene, P&G, have a massive research budget devoted to this sort of thing, something that a salon doesn’t have.
That means they can finance the methods of developing and testing formulas to ensure effectiveness and safety.
What’s absolutely hilarious about these claims from “people” on social media, and I’ve put “people” in quotes because many of these accounts seemed fake, is that Pantene’s formulas have always outperformed salon products during blind-product testing.
That means that those they’re testing it on can’t see the brand name being used.
To answer the question of whether or not Pantene is good for your hair, it works fine for a number of people. It can be diluted with water, too, which will reduce any exposure to the cleansing agents used in its formulation.
For others in these tests, the complaint was that hair felt dry or even crunchy.
That’s because Pantene isn’t a one-size-fits-all type of product. Hair type, texture, condition, color, and length all come into play. That’s why my friends argued.
For one of them, it fit her needs perfectly. For the other, she was even too afraid to try it after all the nonsense she read online. As for me, I rolled my eyes and ordered another beverage.
Pantene is definitely good at what it does, though, for certain hair types. If you’re not sure if it’s for you, you should buy just a small amount to start with.
If you like it, awesome! It is good stuff, but if it doesn’t give you the desired results, you’d be annoyed with a larger container. If it doesn’t help your hair, you haven’t wasted much on buying it.
So Why Are People Claiming That Pantene Shampoo Is Bad for Your Hair?
The complaints come from the ingredients. Pantene contains water as the first ingredient, which of course, isn’t bad. After that, though, you get sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium laureth sulfate, and a bounty of other uh-oh-sounding ingredients.
That’s stuff like Glycol Distearate, Dimethicone, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Citrate, Cocamide Mea, Sodium Xylenesulfonate, Fragrance, Citric Acid Panthenol, Panthenyl, Sodium Benzoate, Polyquaternium-76, Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium EDTA, and Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate,
Both sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate do raise concerns, though they have never been known to cause burning or hair loss. They’re used in countless beauty products across the board.
You can make a face at these ingredients, of course, as is your right. The biggest concern here, for many though, is going to be dimethicone. This ingredient, for some people, may lead to a waxy buildup over time.
In the beginning, it will leave your hair looking super shiny. But for the wrong hair, it can leave buildup, cause it to feel sticky, and may make it brittle.
Is this why stylists say Pantene coats the hair or makes it fall out? No! This is what they say because their sales reps at the salon make them so you will be scared to death like my other friend and only buy what that salon sells you.
Listen, I’m not shilling for Pantene here, but I will say that you should look further than people’s bickering and “stories” on Facebook for the facts. If you’re going to buy a salon brand, don’t be pushed into it out of fear. Research it.
Try a small bottle to see how you like it too. Because Pantene or any other brand under the sun may not make your hair look and feel the way you were hoping for it to.
Another way to do that is to pull up the ingredients for both Pantene and any other salon brands you’re considering. They have many of the same types of ingredients.
There are fatty alcohols like stearyl and cetyl. There are conditioning agents like quaternium-18 and stearamidopropylamine. And there are silicones too, like cyclomethicone, and yes, dimethicone too!
There are no plastics in Pantene. And it doesn’t make your hair fall out, so please, stop believing that. If you don’t want to use Pantene, fine. But please, look at the real facts and not the hype.
Here Is Why Pantene Is Bad for Hair Is Just a Myth
Surely, you’ve heard that Pantene Pro-V leaves a layer of wax behind on the hair and causes a buildup of wax over time the more you use it. Myth busted!
There are no waxes… ZERO… in Pantene shampoos or conditioners. The brand does have proprietary ingredients brought on by technological means.
However, those classes of ingredients they use are the same types that are used with consistency throughout the entire industry of hair care. Those things are fatty alcohols, silicones, cationic surfactants, and cationic polymers.
Pantene shampoo and conditioning products do leave something behind though, and that’s conditioning ingredients.
These things include terminal amino silicones, liquid crystals, and coacervate conditioning complexes. What these do is moisturize, protect from damage, and add shine.
The product line of shampoos and conditioners that Pantene creates are meant to work together.
So, the things the conditioners deposit to leave your hair soft, shiny, and manageable are all designed to be washed out by Pantene’s shampoos during your next washing.
If you feel like you have buildup from the shampoos or conditioners you use, you might be using something that is too heavy for your hair type. For this, you will want to look for something that isn’t as richly conditioning.
Remember, your hair can change over time. From aging to damages caused by coloring or UV exposure, your hair’s needs may just be different now. In that case, I suggest you look at what your hair is trying to say.
A greasy scalp after one wash may mean you need to focus on your scalp health and avoid using heavier conditioners, for example. But all in all, you shouldn’t turn your nose up at Pantene because someone on social media says so.
Look for the proof behind what people claim about brands. We’re in the age of information at our fingertips, and it’s not hard to find these things.
If you’re trying to avoid certain ingredients, just know that Pantene isn’t the only brand that uses them.
Those ultra-pricey brands your stylist might be pushing could have the same things in them too.
Read the labels to make the decision that works best for your hair, and you’ll be much better off.
Conclusion
Pantene is not bad for your hair. It’s simply social media hysteria coming into play. Pantene contains the same kind of ingredients you find in salon brands. Some will find Pantene works great on their hair, while others will find it to be too heavy or too light in conditioning.
It’s all a matter of preference; however, if you are keen to avoid a particular ingredient, read the ingredients on Pantene’s list and the ingredients on any other salon brand before buying. And know this… you don’t have to spend a fortune to have beautiful hair!