Pantene...please give your opinions!

Hiya,

Here's a great rule of thumb.......

Try any shampoo at first in a diluted formulation which safely cleanses your hair but also protects your hair as well from any harsh chemicals.  When you dilute try this formula (depending on your hair length, thickness and dryness factors)

1.  Take clean 1 gallon plastic bottle (works best generally speaking)
2.  Fill 1/2 way with luke warm water (not hot)
3.  Add 1/8 to 1/2 teaspoon of shampoo 
4.  Shake to form sudsy mix
5.  Take shower and make sure to get hair really wet
6.  Pour sudsy mix over top of hair and let it run down your strands from the roots to the ends.  Pat...do not rub...the mix into strands.  Remember, ends do not really get as dirty as root area unless you have super short tresses.
7.  Allow sudsy mix to flow down from roots to the ends patting it in until you feel that the entire head of hair has been exposed to adequate suds.
Note:  If you have fringe that gets oily you can concentrate more of the suds in that area to remove oil/dirt/grime
8.  Rinse well with lukewarm water.
9.  If hair is naturally dry, damaged or colored, apply rinse out conditioner from 1" below roots to the ends focusing on dry or damaged areas.
10.  Rinse well and then finish with a cool/cold water rinse if you can.  One trick is to have cool water in separate clean plastic, bend over and pour cool water on hair so as not to make contact with body.  Brrrrr.
11.  Towel blot and then apply any leave-in conditioners and/or styling cooktail (i.e. defristants or gels or mousse.)
12.  When possible allow hair to air dry or aid dry partially before blow drying.

If you dilute your shampoo formula above you can never have a problem with any shampoo because you are neutralizing the intensity with water.

Remember that shampoo is designed to clean and companies can't do a bunch of customized formulas so they attempt to create a cleaner/shampoo that will work for the majority.  Which means for some it will be fine but others too harsh.

One last thing to consider is the fact that you can play with your own dilution formula.  You can add more or less shampoo depending on the intensity of the suds you want.

Hope that helps remove any fear of any drugstore shampoo brands.

As an FYI, I even dilute the most expensive brands because my hair is so long and thus delicate and dry.  It has helped me with my hair for years.

Please let me know if you have questions of would love your feedback.


Edited by Karen Shelton - February 02 2010 at 9:34am

Hi back,

Usually when hair becomes uneven it can be due to breakage.  How does the breakage happen?  It can be due to overuse of hot styling tools such as hot irons, hot rollers or excessive blow drying.

Once hair breaks and renders the entire head uneven, the best bet is to have hair trimmed to even out the strands.  However, if you don't want to do that, you can start by having just 1" cut off the ends every month and eventually the new growth will even out with the breakage over time.  It could take up to a year of healthy growth combined with the monthly trims to even out your strands but it is a less traumatic path than the big chop.

In the meantime, treat your hair with extreme kindness to make sure you don't do any more damage in the process.

Hope that helps.

bellbell wrote: what about combing? i knowww its bad to overly comb or comb wet hair...but i cant help it >.< i got a wide tooth comb that was called a "wet comb" on the package...does that make it ok? :P< id="gwProxy" ="">< ="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" ="">

It depends whom you talk to.  Some hair experts say you should never brush or comb wet hair.  Others say it's OK if done properly.  Some say you can comb wet hair, others say you can brush and comb.

I don't think anyone should ever brush their hair when its wet because it is most fragile and for most people it will break. 

Of course you will need to use something to detangle damp hair.  The key to combing hair that is damp is to be sure to use a comb with smooth teeth and work from the ends to the roots up to the roots.

The mistake many people make is combing their hair when it is soaking wet, combing from the roots to the ends instead of the reverse and combing large sections of hair instead of detangling smaller sections.

The best way to detangle hair to avoid ripping and breaking is to use a rinse out detangler/conditioner in the shower. 

Finish with a cool/cold rinse and then towel blot to remove excess moisture.  Then to detangle spritz with a detangler spray and separate hair into 1-2" sections and use a smooth comb or pick and then work from the ends up to the roots.

This will prevent unnecessary breakage. 

Of course if you use a comb or brush on wet hair and it doesn't break, then of course do what works for you. 

However, I know following the method above will eliminate a lot of unnecessary breakage.

If you are unsure if combing hair while wet is causing breakage, experiment with not combing while wet and see if it makes a difference.

Sometimes the key to growing healthy hair is to experiment with different methods of caring for your hair to determine what generates the best results for you.

It's not goin to make your hair fall out lol and neither does herbal essence. lol. that's ridiculous. However, they are store brand shampoos and sense they are on the cheaper end they tend to use detergents that can dry your hair out. & even the moisture renewal kind will leave you with a waxy build up making you think your hair is soft and silky, but I'd reccomend only salon brands. Stay away from drug stores and grocery stores.