Smooth, Sleek manageable hair that needs washing more frequently (Pantene Smooth & Sleek Shampoo)

Member Name: Lools_24

Product:	Pantene Smooth & Sleek Shampoo
Date:	10/11/09 (57 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Reasonable price, sleek frizz free hair

Disadvantages: Made my hair slightly greasy

I recently opted in to complete some research on Valued Opinions for shampoo and was sent both Pantene Pro V Smooth and Sleek shampoo and conditioner. Not only was this a freebie I was pleased I had yet more products to review for Dooyoo purposes. This review is for Pantene Pro V Smooth and Sleek Shampoo.


***Packaging and Claims***

Pantene Pro V Smooth and Sleek Shampoo comes in quite plain packaging which does not really stand out on the shelf. This is a creamy white 400ml bottle with a navy blue flip top lid. The lid is on the bottom of the bottle therefore you need to ensure that you close the lid in order to stand the product back up. The bottle is semi opaque and you can see how much product that you have left in the bottle if you hold it up in the light.

The bottle is not pretty but it is practical. I found that the shape and the plastic made it easy to squeeze even with wet hands which dispensed enough products but not too much. The design of the bottle also means that it is easy to dispense product even when the shampoo is running low so you do not get a lot of wastage.

The claims on the packaging are:

Pantene's cleansing formula is designed to give you the polished, lustrous look you want. The smoothing formula helps control hair frizziness, and is the first step to irresistibly smooth hair.


***Price***

I did not pay for my bottle of Pantene Pro V Smooth and Sleek Shampoo as it was sent to me free for market research purposes. However I did browse the shelves at Asda out of curiosity to check the price. A 400ml bottle of this shampoo costs £3.29. This is a reasonably large bottle and if used daily lasts around 6 weeks. I feel that this is reasonable value albeit you can buy other brands slightly cheaper which are more effective in my opinion.


***Application***

Directions for use are pretty straightforward. Apply to wet hair and rinse thoroughly. Repeat if necessary.

The shampoo is a pearly white colour and reasonable thick in its consistency. What I particularly liked about the shampoo was the scent. As soon as it was poured out of the bottle it had a light refreshing fruity smell very much like apricots, but was not too sweet and sickly as a scent.

I applied an amount of shampoo around the size of a 50p piece to my hair which is mid length and pretty thick. This is more than enough to ensure the shampoo lathers and can be massaged through all of my hair. The shampoo lathers up very easily and spreads through hair easily. When rinsing the shampoo out of the hair I found the shampoo does have quite a silky greasy texture but rinses out of hair easily so hair is left feeling clean and all traces of product removed. You are not left with a greasy residue which occurs with some shampoos that offer a "smooth and sleek look".

I never use shampoo alone and always use conditioner therefore the next step was to apply conditioner. I have used the Pantene Pro V Smooth and Sleek conditioner with this shampoo but have also used other conditioning products such as TRESemme Salon Silk and Toni & Guy Daily Conditioner.


***Results***

I did feel that after rinsing the shampoo out of my hair, my wet hair felt a lot smoother and soft. My hair was also left smelling gorgeous and the fragrance of the shampoo was still apparent in my hair.

After blow drying my hair after using the shampoo I felt my hair looked, felt and smelt very nice. My hair felt and looked smooth and did appear frizz free and had a nice shine to it so I do feel the shampoo lives up to the claims on the product. Shine wise my hair did have a nice shine to it but after using other shampoos both from "salon brands" but also lower priced brands I do feel that they have given a greater shine to my hair; more than this Pantene shampoo has. My hair smelt lovely and the fresh and fruity scent of the shampoo could be smelt in my hair throughout the day without being over powering.

I did feel that my hair was soft and smooth however it was quite weighed down. My hair is thick but the texture of my hair is quite fine (according to my hairdresser I just have a lot of fine hair!). For those with hair that is quite fine and thinner than mine they may find their hair looks too flat and difficult to style.

I personally felt the shampoo was more effective on my hair when used separately with another conditioning product rather than the Pantene Pro V Smooth and Sleek conditioner. When used together my hair lacked volume and although it was left smooth my hair went greasy quite quickly. This made styling my hair difficult as even though I was pleased my hair had a shine to it and looked smooth I felt that styles dropped out of it very quickly and if I washed and styled my hair in the morning, by lunch time the style had dropped out of it. I also felt that I definitely needed to wash my hair that evening or the next morning as my hair looked excessively greasy. I would consider my hair to be normal to slightly greasy and therefore I felt together the Pantene Pro V Smooth and Sleek products probably gave it too much moisture and would be better suited to those with drier hair types.

When used with a different conditioning product the above problem did not occur and I was extremely happy with the results from the Pantene Pro V Smooth and Sleek shampoo. It did not appear to be as weighed down and did not get greasy as quickly. I would be confident that if I didn't wash my hair the following day (which I don't often do) it would not look dirty.


***Overall***

I found the Pantene Pro V Smooth and Sleek Shampoo lived up to the claims of leaving hair smooth and frizz free but overall it did not impress me and feel for a similar price there are products which are more effective for my type of hair. I think that this would definitely be better suited to those with drier hair types with hair that is thick in texture and suffers from frizziness.

Hair is left shiny and smells gorgeous but for me hair is left with a much cleaner feel when not used with the Pantene Conditioner from the same range. An average shampoo from what I consider to be a pretty average brand.

Pantene Pro V Smooth and Sleek conditioner review to follow

Summary: A good value shampoo from Pantene more suited to dry hair types.