Thursday, September 4, 2014

Despite The Expense, Pantene Pro-V Repair & Protect Shampoo Does What It Promises And Is Worth The Price!


The Good: Cleans hair exceptionally well, Great lather!
The Bad: Expensive! No recognizable scent.
The Basics: Pantene Pro-V Repair & Protect shampoo is a really good shampoo, despite the expense of it.


When my wife picked up a bottle of Pantene Pro-V Repair & Protect Shampoo, I was shocked to realize that in my tenure as a reviewer, I had only previously reviewed one Pantene shampoo. Years ago, I reviewed the Pantene Pro-V Daily Moisture Renewal Shampoo (reviewed here!) and I haven’t picked up more Pantene shampoos since. My wife, though, loves trying new things and she thought it was a good time for us to shake up our shampoo usage (which is recommended to prevent build-up as different shampoos have different ingredients, some of which cut through the build-up of others). So, we ended up with a decent-sized bottle of Pantene Pro-V Repair & Protect Shampoo.

Pantene Pro-V Repair & Protect Shampoo - at least in conjunction with the conditioner - did exactly as the name promised. My hair was noticeably cleaner, less dry and my hair was far less brittle after using the Repair & Protect Shampoo for a month. This shampoo, on its own, always left my hair perfectly clean and far less oily than when I began. Given how much I have been working of late, my hair is usually sweaty and gross after work, so the cleaning power of this shampoo cannot be underestimated.

I tend to like shampoos that both clean and leave hair smelling good. The Pantene Pro-V Repair & Protect shampoo did the former well, but the latter poorly. After my first use of the shampoo, my hair was perfectly cleaned and smelled clean and neutral. After my first use of the shampoo and conditioner, my hair was clean, bouncy, more manageable and looked better. The result was so noticeable that my wife smiled at me and said, “I’m glad you finally started using that new shampoo I got us!” The effects after one use were that dramatic. I tend to have hair that gets dry quickly when overwashed and given that my job requires me to wash once or twice per shower per day in order to get it clean after work, I needed a good repairing shampoo. The Pantene Pro-V Repair & Protect shampoo was it!

Fortunately, the Repair & Protect Shampoo lived up on its second promise as well. Since starting to use it a month ago, this shampoo has adequately protected it from further breakage. Instead, in conjunction with the Repair & Protect Conditioner, my hair has not returned to a place where it has split ends and similar damage again.

With a cost of approximately $4.99 for a 12.6 fl. oz. bottle, Pantene Pro-V Repair & Protect is comparatively expensive. The bottle is smooth and is more flat than round. When wet, it slips out of the hands easily. The cap has a flip-top that makes it very easy to get the shampoo out with only one hand. As well, the large cap makes it even easier, though because the hole is still fairly small, there is no waste from the bottle.

The scent of Pantene Pro-V Repair & Protect is very much a chemical smell. The shampoo smells like an indistinct mix of cleansers without anything to recommend it for the aroma. The scent is strong in the bottle and in the shower. However, there is no scent left on the hair after the shampoo is washed out. There is no scent outside "shampoo" and it does not linger in the hair at all when one washes it out. As one who loves interesting smells – fruit or floral - one of my problems with Pantene Pro-V Repair & Protect is that it leaves no scent. I have discovered I enjoy shampoos that trigger a scent memory and the generic shampoo scent of this triggers nothing.

Pantene Pro-V Repair & Protect is a white, opaque shampoo that is creamy and smooth. It has a nonwatery consistency and while it is not especially thick, it does not need to be watered down to get the most out of the product.

Like most shampoos, there is nothing mysterious to using this product. You wet your hair, lather it up with this shampoo and rinse. Like most shampoos, I can get away with using about a quarter-sized drop and that is so with the Pantene Pro-V Repair & Protect. This is pretty consistent with other Pantene products I have used, but I have been shocked by how very well Pantene Pro-V Repair & Protect shampoo lathered up. This becomes one of the most foamy shampoos when lathered into the hair that I have ever used. That also helps it wash out exceptionally easily.

This shampoo has an excellent lather quality. It took almost nothing to work it up to a lather and that lather spreads into the hair and cleans amazingly. Indeed, with average usage, the product was one of the easiest shampoos I have used to spread through my hair. This required very little agitation to lather it properly and the results were spectacular, especially for the minimal effort.

This shampoo rinses out incredibly easily, as well. When I am in a hurry and can only wash my hair, the Pantene Pro-V Repair & Protect shampoo rinses out very quickly and leaves my hair very clean. Moreover, the shampoo alone leaves the hair without any scent, so there is nothing to rinse out. The Pantene Pro-V Repair & Protect required almost no effort to rinse it out, making is a quick shampoo to apply and rinse out.

When a product works this well, it is strange because there is actually so little to say about it. I don't like to spend a ton of time on my hair, but I like the results of a good shampoo or conditioner. The Pantene Pro-V Repair & Protect is a great shampoo, but one pays for the quality and it seems like the conditioner associated with this does a lot of the work of moisturizing, as opposed to the shampoo. Still, the repairing aspects of this shampoo cannot be understated.

The Pantene Pro-V Repair & Protect Shampoo does not make my hair feel heavy when it is still wet, and once dry, the shampoo lives up to its promise of moisturized, healthy-looking hair. Washing my hair as much as I do, I could end up with very dry hair, but the Repair & Protect Shampoo eliminates any adverse affects to washing hair so much. Restoring my hair to cleanliness and preventing split ends is enough to enthusiastically recommend this shampoo, regardless of the price. Even without the conditioner, that is what Pantene Pro-V Repair & Protect Shampoo does!

For other shampoo reviews, please check out my analysis of:
VO5 Free Me Freesia Shampoo
Suave Mango Mandarin Shampoo
Bigelow Mentha Hair Mint Shampoo

8/10

For other health and beauty reviews, visit my Index Page for an organized listing of the products I have reviewed!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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