# pantene bad for hair? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 27, 2008, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pantene-bad-for-hair/461405 "2008-08-27T11:40:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pantene-bad-for-hair/461405/1 "2008-08-27T11:40:30Z")
THe wife wants me to ask this. She says all of the hairstylists she goes to are adament that Pantene is bad for her hair. Then they try to sell her their own special more expensive crap. She wants to know if Pantene really is bad for her hair. We’ve established that: 1. it probably isn’t 2. the stylists are just saying that to extract money 3. most people will have the opinion that it isn’t bad; but won’t have hard evidence to support that. So, any help from the masses? Is there any real evidence to support Pantene is “bad” for you hair (whatever “bad” means)? on edit; Wellcrap I found this [Why Is Pantene Bad?: longhair — LiveJournal](http://community.livejournal.com/longhair/650139.html). Maybe I should search some first before I go diving for the clitoris ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pantene-bad-for-hair/461405/2 "2008-08-27T12:06:31Z")
Overshampooing is bad for your hair, but it’s hard to come up with any reasons why Pantene would be worse than, say, H&S or Llongeras’ Supreme Shampoo Of Poshness. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pantene-bad-for-hair/461405/3 "2008-08-27T12:29:06Z")
About every 5 years Consumer Reports does a thing on shampoos. Each time they come up with the same result. The only difference between the $50 bottle and the $5 bottle is the smell. They are all soap. Unfortunately, CR’s on-line site is $26/year. You’d have to go the a brick library to find the cite. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pantene-bad-for-hair/461405/4 "2008-08-27T13:33:18Z")
[QUOTE=picunurse] About every 5 years Consumer Reports does a thing on shampoos. Each time they come up with the same result. The only difference between the $50 bottle and the $5 bottle is the smell. They are all soap. [/QUOTE] I thought $5 a bottle was the expensive stuff. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pantene-bad-for-hair/461405/5 "2008-08-27T13:56:16Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] I thought $5 a bottle was the expensive stuff. :eek: [/QUOTE] Depends on the size of the bottle. We buy the one-gallon size at the warehouse store. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pantene-bad-for-hair/461405/6 "2008-08-27T14:05:10Z")
[QUOTE=picunurse] You’d have to go the a brick library to find the cite. Sorry. [/QUOTE] The last _CR_ report on shampoo was in 2000. Alas, my branch doesn’t keep issues back that far, or I’d be happy to provide a quote. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pantene-bad-for-hair/461405/7 "2008-08-27T14:08:33Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] The last _CR_ report on shampoo was in 2000. Alas, my branch doesn’t keep issues back that far, or I’d be happy to provide a quote. [/QUOTE] [Here’s one from January 2004](http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/health-fitness/beauty-personal-care/shampoo-ingredients-104/overview/index.htm?resultPageIndex=1&resultIndex=1&searchTerm=shampoo) (I have subscriber access to the website) > [@](#): > > While shampooing, have you ever glanced at the bottle and wondered: What in the world does Hydroxypropyl Trimonium Honey do for my hair? Well, we have. So we bought a handful of shampoos and asked a hair-product-development consultant for the real purpose of ingredients you may encounter in the shower. Here’s his take: > > Ammonium laureth sulfate, ammonium lauryl sulfate: They clean and add lather. > > Citric acid: It adjusts the pH. > > Cocamide DEA, cocamidopropyl betaine, lauramide DEA: They add to the lather’s richness and volume. > > Tetrasodium EDTA: It helps the preservative do its job and removes trace metals from ingredients and hair. > > SNIP > > The products we bought cost from $1.40 (for a 15-fluid-ounce bottle) to $11 (13 fluid ounces), but there’s no need to spend a lot: Our past tests have shown that any shampoo is likely to clean hair just fine, and there’s no need to pay a lot for special conditioning. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pantene-bad-for-hair/461405/8 "2008-08-27T14:13:38Z")
Another thing about Pantene (but also about other shampoos/conditioners with a lot of silicone derivatives in them) told to me by a hair stylist once is that the residue they leave on your hair makes it damn near impossible to dye after! I was having my hair dyed, and had spent 2-3 days at my parents, where they had Pantene, so I used it, and he had to wash my hair several times with something else before he was satisfied that they were stripped down enough to get the dye to work. Obviously, the whole process wasn’t all that good for my hair! He said that if I was going to stick to store brands but still want to colour my hair, L’Oreal Vive line was probably about the best. I didn’t listen to him, though. I use Herbal Essences 😉 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pantene-bad-for-hair/461405/9 "2008-08-27T14:18:57Z")
[QUOTE=stpauler] [Here’s one from January 2004](http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/health-fitness/beauty-personal-care/shampoo-ingredients-104/overview/index.htm?resultPageIndex=1&resultIndex=1&searchTerm=shampoo) (I have subscriber access to the website) [/QUOTE] Sumbitch. That doesn’t show up in the Buying Guide indices. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pantene-bad-for-hair/461405/10 "2008-08-27T14:19:08Z")
[QUOTE=picunurse] About every 5 years Consumer Reports does a thing on shampoos. Each time they come up with the same result. The only difference between the $50 bottle and the $5 bottle is the smell. They are all soap. [/QUOTE] Detergent. Shampoo is detergent. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pantene-bad-for-hair/461405/11 "2008-08-27T14:27:42Z")
Bear in mind the stylists are usually not intentionally lying. They’re passing on what they’ve been taught. The bs has been administered from On High. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pantene-bad-for-hair/461405/12 "2008-08-27T15:33:09Z")
I use Pantene. And I dye. No problems, and my hair is healthy and shiny. But basically, I subscribe to the “shampoo is shampoo” theory, with the exception that the really cheap brands seem to be harsher and more drying. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pantene-bad-for-hair/461405/13 "2008-08-27T16:23:41Z")
I don’t know what all the differences are between what’s on the website and what’s in the magazine, but FWIW the January 2004 issue of _CR_ does not have anything about shampoo in it. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pantene-bad-for-hair/461405/14 "2008-08-27T16:24:30Z")
I don’t use shampoo at all and my hair seems fine. A bit of water from the shower now and then. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pantene-bad-for-hair/461405/15 "2008-08-27T17:42:36Z")
Shampoo is shampoo. Doesn’t nearly work the same way for conditioner, however. Back in my hair-down-to-my-ass days, I hated spending the money on Nexxus Keraphix, but the difference between my hair with that in it versus something like Suave was night and day. The best trick I ever found back then was to switch up the brand of shampoo I was using four or five times per year. It would seem like my hair would “get used” to a particular brand, and would become more and more lifeless as time went on. Switching brands always seemed to perk it back up. ---
**Author:** ![Taters](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/taters/32/2845_2.png) [@Taters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taters)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pantene-bad-for-hair/461405/16 "2008-08-27T17:44:24Z")
I’ve used Pantene for years and I dye my hair. I’ve never had any problems with it. In fact, whenever I go to the stylist, she always comments on how healthy my hair is.