Review: Pantene Pro-V Hair Fall Control

So recently, Pantene upgraded the formula of its range of hair care products - Pantene Recharging Fluid Pro-V Formula. The new products now come in new packaging and improved formula, promising to answer every woman's hair woes.

" It's time to turn heads & be the talk of the town. Inside, you find every hair wish granted. Open the packaging to embark on your journey to truly gorgeous, truly shiny hair "

Ok so far, nobody has turned around to check my hair out but this 14 days Hair Transformation challenge by Pantene has definitely transformed my views on its products generally. 

Before everything, please spend some time to read about my hair profile because all products react differently on everyone. If your hair's somewhat similar to mine, you might find this review helpful or informative. Otherwise, digest these info at your own risk.

P&G kindly sent me a Pantene Pro-V Hair Fall Control Shampoo, Conditioner and Intensive Treatment to try for 14 days after I have agreed to experience the transformation myself. After using all the products for 14 days consecutively, here's a round up on what I think about them.

Shampoo

Packaging: 5/5

Results: 4/5

Value: 4/5

What to like: Honey dew pudding scent! Leaves hair soft and manageable, foams up easily.

What to not like: Too conditioning for fine hair and oily scalp.

Will I repurchase?: Yes

Conditioner

Packaging: 4.5/5

Results: 4/5

Value: 4/5

What to like: Detangles, strengthens hair.

What to not like: Doesn't work impressively to tame frizz.
Will I repurhase?: Yes

Intensive Treatment

Packaging: 3/5

Results: 5/5

Value: 4/5

What to like: Detangles. Leaves ends smooth, shiny, frizz free and healthy looking. Strengthens hair.

What to not like: Packaging

Will I repurchase?: Yes

Of course, there's more to just numbers and yes/no/maybe. I cant help it but am a VERY long-winded person :P Now if you don't find reading a chore...

Claims and list of ingredients:

"Pantene Hair Fall Control is designed to strengthen hair from the root to tips, to give you stronger hair and noticeably less hair fall due to breakage. It addresses the issue of hair fall by tackling problems such as cuticle damage and hair roughness, which ultimately lead to hair fall. By effectively lubricating and conditioning, hair friction is reduced and as a result, hair fall due to breakage is reduced too."

"... 14 days is all it takes for total hair transformation! And, that's not even taking into account the amazing ability of the product to reduce hair fall due to breakage from as much as 100 strands of hair to 2."

Quoted from press release

No need to squint your eyes to read, pictures will be enlarged upon clicking.

Left: Shampoo. Right: Conditioner.

Treatment.

Packaging:

Intensive Treatment

The treatment comes in a plastic tub with a flip-top cap. New products are sealed so no worries of buying something that is... unknowingly 'touched'. The wide opening also makes it easy to tell when I'm running out of product. In the beginning I had no complaints about its packaging but after something happened, I noticed a flaw. 

One day while showering I accidentally dropped it from the shelf I store it, about 4 feet from the ground. Guess what happened? The cap flipped open during the impact and product was splattered everywhere on my bathroom floor :( Flip-top caps can be convenient for a tub/jar like this because if it's a screw lid, you'll need to look for a space in the bathroom to put the lid down, scoop out the product, put the tub/jar down and make sure it's not too near the shower to avoid water dropping into it, screw the lid back with one hand... To cut it short, squeezable tubes would make more sense for a hair treatment/mask like this. Actually I won't even mind if the intensive treatment comes in a bottle like the conditioner.

Shampoo and Conditioner

Both come in a plastic, sleek-looking bottle with a flip-top cap. I'm quite pleased with the bottle design. I know the conditioner is supposed to be placed with its cap at the bottom but I'm glad they also made the shampoo  bottle in a way where you can also store it upside down. It's especially useful when you're running low on the shampoo because when it's upside down gravity will help to pull every drop of shampoo down to the nozzle.

The nozzle is neither too big nor small, a good size for a good control over the amount of product squeezed out.

And looking at my misfortune with the intensive treatment, I did an experiment. I dropped both the shampoo and conditioner from the same shelf (4 feet from the ground) and guess what? NOTHING HAPPENED TO BOTH OF IT. Caps didn't flip open, bottles didn't break, nothing was wasted.

Everything is fine... but it would have been perfect if the conditioner's bottle comes in a squeezable tube. Since the bottle is opaque, I can't tell when I'm running out of conditioner, no? Shampoo's kinda runny so it's easier to tell when I'm running low but conditioner's semi solid and doesn't 'run' down to the nozzle, and I can't possible squeeze the heck out of the plastic bottle.

Product:

Shampoo

At the first whiff it reminded me of watermelons. After using it for a while it now smells more like honey dew pudding! The shampoo lathers extremely easily - exactly how I like shampoos to be. A little is all you need or you'll end up having shampoo residue in your hair/scalp. I only use the size of a quarter of my palm, about 2.5-3cm. Very economical and easy to use.

Conditioner

The conditioner doesn't smell too strong of watermelons/honey dew pudding but it does smell a tad bit like its corresponding shampoo. I use a blob, the size of a quarter of my palm. Pretty basic and easy to rinse off.

Intensive Treatment

I can't quite put my finger on a thing to describe its scent but many have said it smells 'like Pantene'. I'm not sure about this because I personally have not been a long time user of Pantene. If I have to, I'd say it smells like any regular hair treatments/masks - nothing special. It's not offensive but I prefer the honey dew pudding scent :P The texture of this is similar to the conditioner, slightly thicker. I use this once a week only at the ends of my hair replacing the conditioner, but I leave this on slightly longer than I would the conditioner. It takes a little bit more time (you should anyway) to rinse it off.

Results:

Shampoo

The most noticeable result is how soft and manageable my hair is, with a touch of shine. I heard that when a shampoo lathers really easily it is due to the high amount of a certain ingredient, which can also dry out your hair severely. This shampoo not only foams up like crazy, it doesn't dry out my hair in the slightest bit.  And on top of that, despite the shampoo having such amazing conditioning properties, it doesn't weigh my hair down when it's dried. If anything, it even gives my hair a little bit of volume after it's dried! :D

*All pictures are taken without flash, under fluorescent lighting.

 Left: Shampoo + Conditioner, air dried. Right: Shampoo + Conditioner, blow dried.

However, there IS (sad to say) one downside to this shampoo. I need to wash my hair quite frequently when using it. Here are pictures of my hair after having it washed the night before. I was out and about the next day so I assume the environment did affect the results.

Left: Hair by the end of the next day. Right: Hair at the third day.

I'm not sure if you can tell but while my hair didn't turn absolutely flat and greasy looking, there's a certain 'stiffness' by the end of the next day (almost one day after washing it). The stiffness felt as though I had some kinda hair styling product in my hair, almost like a tiny amount of wax. It's not super stiff though. Instead of falling into place when I flipped it, it became flexible (or pliable), not as dry, clean and 'springy' as the beginning of the day. By the morning of the third day(about 1 and half day), it became kinda gross so I concluded that it's better to shampoo daily when using this product.

I'm not saying this will happen to everybody, I'm guessing this shampoo is too conditioning for my fine hair and oily scalp. This situation doesn't worsen when the shampoo is used consecutively, neither does it improve.  Also, I noticed when I'm indoor most of the time my hair doesn't turn 'waxy' as quickly, but I still feel the need to shampoo daily.

When used regularly, I did notice a reduction in the amount of hair I shed.

My scalp isn't sensitive but if a shampoo isn't right for it, I will start shedding lots of hair. Besides the fact that with this shampoo my hair oils up quicker, it doesn't add anymore dandruff problems or cause more hair fall (it's a shampoo for hair fall, if it causes more hair fall problems I'll curse it) issues so I'm quite pleased.


Conditioner

This does a pretty decent job in conditioning the ends of my hair without weighing it down. It detangles them nicely but when it comes to taming frizz, the results aren't extremely impressive. Not absent, just nothing to shout about. One thing I do like about this is how it 'straightens' my hair a little. Not crazy straight but enough for me to notice.

It does help to strengthen my hair as I did notice the amount of hair usually stuck onto my round brush  whenever I blow dry my hair is getting lesser. Also, whenever I run my fingers through my hair, I get lesser hair in between them.


Intensive Treatment
This has got to be my favourite out of the rest when it comes to results!

L: Shampoo+Treatment, blow dried. R: Shampoo+Conditioner, blow dried.

I'm not sure if you can tell from the pictures but I can assure you that my ends are very soft, silky and shiny whenever I use this. Impressive! For both occasions I blow dried my hair without a heat protector and you can obviously tell from the pictures that the mask does a better job in protecting my hair from becoming frizzy from all the heat. I only use this once a week, replacing conditioner each time.

I'm not sure if this is supposed to be used on the scalp but I personally will never use this on my scalp simply because it feels too rich and oily to do so. Also, if Connie had not pointed it out, I wouldn't have noticed the conditioner and intensive treatment actually have the same ingredients. Seriously... who uses conditioner on their scalp anyway?

On the ends of my fine hair, I think it works well even without using a conditioner before. If the ends of your hair is extremely dry/damaged/coarse and you find the conditioner not sufficient, like Plue, you might want to try using this as your conditioner instead.

As for hair fall control, I think this works as well as the conditioner does. If anything, this treatment feels more like something weekly or occasionally used to pamper my hair.

Value for money:

Shampoo

At RM 9.30/180ml, since it lathers so easily and you only need a small amount each time, I'd say it's very economical but like I've said, with this shampoo, I find it a necessity for me to shampoo everyday which isn't something very pleasing.

Conditioner

Does a decent job and at RM 9.30/180ml, it's an OK price. Not a steal, not cut-throat either. I can foresee myself finishing this quicker than the shampoo.

Intensive Treatment

Love love love :) With something so rich, I don't even need to use it every week. At RM14.90/135ml, it really isn't too much to ask for IMO because it works and it's going to last me at least a good 3-5 months. I wish it comes in a better packaging though. A good amount of product was wasted during the fall :/

Conclusion:

I do not usually stick to certain hair products for too long (unless I need to churn out a review for it) because hair/scalp will become too adjusted to it and also I find the need to use multiple types of products(different line/range) to tackle different problems. I will repurchase this shampoo simply because it  does help with certain hair fall issues and is an economical option. It is great for in between uses whenever I use something else. Also, I really like the honey dew pudding scent and how soft it makes my hair feel. I will repurchase the conditioner simply because it is also a decent, affordable option for everyday or in between uses. As for the treatment, I think I've made it clear enough that I love it THAT much to repurchase :)

That is all for my review, I hope it has been helpful!