As a global brand marketed to the masses, Pantene have never been known to rest on their laurels. To remain competitive, uber-brands such as Pantene who dominate their markets in this way simply have to stay ontop of the latest technologies and even more than that, often be the first to implement them.
The downside to this, from a consumer point of view is that TOO MUCH CHOICE can be a bad thing.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve stood in-front of the haircare shelves in my local supermarket, taking far too long to decide which shampoo to buy and I know that most of us (unless you’re majorly brand loyal) face this same dilemma each time we shop. I mean, ok… it’s one of those 1st world ‘problems’ that isn’t really a problem but in such a competitive market-place, these little things can make a big difference to consumers.
Pantene have relaunched, re-branded…. all that “re” stuff that doesn’t really matter too much to us unless we’re interested by the marketing side of things. What they’ve actually done, in terms that I can get my head around is have a little re-jig. And it looks something like this…
Still looks a bit excessive right? It’s not!
Here are three choices, you can only pick one. Is your hair?
Fine
Normal to Thick
Coloured/Highlighted (if your hair is coloured, choose this option regardless of the texture)
OK, got one? Well, that’s all you need to know to shop the entire range easily and with confidence because Pantene have divided all of their products into these three categories which should in theory, make choosing the right product for your hair type, simple.
Gone should be the days of working out that “volumising” shampoos should be used for fine hair, “protecting” for coloured and “smoothing” for thicker hair types. The industry loves a good buzz word and the above examples are some of the less “out-there” descriptions of what a hair product is supposed to achieve. With the relaunch, stick to that initial question and you’ll be sure to choose a product designed with your hair type in mind.
As part of the relaunch, the brand are also introducing new formulas and ingredients, one of which involves a breakthrough ingredient for dry, frizzy hair-types called AM Triquat-76. This patented whatsit (insert scientific word there) aids silicones to deposit themselves evenly across the hair shaft, thus smoothing the cuticle more effectively with less weigh-down than before and offering better protection from styling.
So, there you have it – the new look Pantene and the reasons behind all these changes. To read more about the relaunch and what it means for your favourite products, click through to the Pantene site.
Which hair type are you?
Now this makes sense! I remember when Clairol released a re-vamped version of their Herbal Essences range- a full wall of rainbow colours with product names like “Long term commitment”, “None of your frizzness” and “Drama clean” with absolutely no explanation of what each might be used for. Thankfully someone worked out that cryptic captions are for crime shows (and nail polishes), and there are now subtitles. I’m so glad that Pantene has worked it out!
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Haha, even worse when they change the name of your much loved product and you assume it’s discontinued until 2 years later, you’re having a coffee with a mate and you go… “OH, do you remember X shampoo from Brand Y?” and they say… “Oh, you can still get that – it’s called “BLAH”. And you realise that you’ve just wasted 2 years of your life using something shite because someone in marketing had a clever idea.
Just me then.
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is this new formula the sample you can get from the boots site?
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Hi Saara,
I’ve just looked and yes, it’s the new style packaging so am assuming it contains the reformulated product – and here’s the link if anyone else wants it.
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I don’t buy that Liv Tyler uses Pantene. I just can’t. She must use placenta or fairy juice or something.
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I know right? Have you seen the swish – these swishes are not humanly possible without an amazing blow dry to go with it!
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Love how they think they have solved everything for everyone and just haven’t. I have thickish hair, prone to greasyness, and don’t really need any kind of smoothing. I also don’t want volume but I tend to buy the volumising shampoo in haircare ranges as it tends to be the least moisturising of all. I have used the shampoo and conditioner for normal/thick hair and it made my hair greasy within a day. One thing I have discovered is that shampoos for damaged hair (which mine is not) actually make my hair mega soft, although I am afraid of over doing it and ending up with lank hair.
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Hey!
From what I understood from the presentation, it’s not so much a case of them saying that they’ve got a shampoo/conditioner for every hair type – just that they’ve simplified the way they categorize what they do have available? I think if I was your hair type, I’d try combining the Ice Shine Shampoo from the Fine Hair Collection with one of their Coloured Hair Conditioners used only on the ends. Also, if you like how the damaged hair stuff feels on your hair but you’re worried about lankness, you could try using one of their intense therapy products but only twice a week (depending on how often you wash your hair) and again, keep it away from the roots.
I have fine hair, v. greasy roots like you but I also colour frequently – so although I’m supposed to ignore the fine-ness thing and go straight for the coloured stuff, I can’t use it on my roots. I love their Aqua Light Shampoo (it’s volumising) and I combine it with twice weekly applications of the Coloured Hair Colour Seal Concentrate to keep my ends from looking like straw.
Hope that helps a bit, it’s such a pain to find things that work for you – and then they invariably stop working after a few months (why is that?!) and you have to shake things up again!
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Really good ideas, thanks! I did try their aqua light and it was ok. Didn’t rock my world but ok. I used to to conditioning masks once a week, then I got lazy, but you just reminded me one of my faves was the one for coloured hair (whatever it was called back then!). Must give it another go. And I’ll give the ice shine a go as well.
My hair is my nemesis, it’s gorgeous about 20% of the time, the other 80% it refuses to behave!
I think haircare companies must put something in the products to stop them working all the time (not really) so you have to keep buying new ones, like mobile phones! Glad Hair Day from S&G claims to have something in it that stops your hair getting “used” to it but I was unconvinced.
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In the US we also have a category for “curly” and I have to say – the curls to straight conditioner is AMAZING. I do notice that my hair gets straighter when I blow dry and it’s very rich without weighing my hair down. Two thumbs up for Pantene
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Pantene used to do a curly conditioner that my MIL swore by, I think they discontinued their curly range over here… it was called Perfect Curls, I spent a weekend going round all the cheap, discount drugstores buying em up in bulk while I could find them for her!
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I’ve got fine hair. Annoyingly, there are two chunks which grow fuzzy like pubes which stem from the back of my head under my ears and make it look like it’s really split, but it’s not. Grrr. Good idea to simplify though. Too much choice confuzzles me!
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Yeah, but you’re a bit weird though
Totally, I really get stressed umming and ahh-ing over choosing the best, especially because my hair is a bit damaged from the colouring and I’m trying so hard at the minute to be good to it!
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