help for a friend

[jojo]

hi all,
My friend is experiencing problems which she thinks may be down to using pantene. Her hair has a few fine blond highlights and her hair is very fine and normally very shiny, she has used pantene for years and now her hair looks dry and the shine has gone, also she thinks her thin hair is getting thinner.

I have suggested clarifying as she has never done this, she is willing to give this a try but do you all think pantene would cause dryness and increased hair fall?

I used it years ago and never really had any problems with it, maybe the highlights have contributed to this change in her hair?

I keep trying to get her to join but she is kind of shy, so I said I would post on her behalf.

Thanks in advance everybody x

[DavidN]

Hi Jojo, although I don't use Pantene anymore, I do use cones, and Pantene is known for having lots of cones. I think the reason for the dryness could be from the cones, since they can coat the hair shaft and prevent water from penetrating, hence the dryness in her hair. I use a clarifying shampoo once a week to remove buildup from the cones, and my other weekly shampoo is a regular shampoo. (Other days are CO washes) Hopefully, you can persuade your friend to clarify, and that this will help.

On occasion I have thought about trying cones free, but my one experience with this was less than successful, and my hair seemed dryer without the cones.

[jojo]

hello David,
Yes im thinking clarifying too is the answer. thanks for your very quick reply, she does use straighteners too, i need to guide her to the LHF.

thanks again x

eta- how often do you clarify im supposing its more if you use cones? like im cone free at the moment and only clarify monthly. thanks again x

[missy60]

It would be a good idea to clarify then do a deep treatment of some kind without cones. She can then apply the pantene to follow but she does need cones if she is straightening. Does she use a heat protectant product before straightening? Its a must but even then it can only do so much.

[jojo]

im not sure if she uses protection before straightening, i now she uses a serum. I will have to ask her, will show her this thread tomorrow.

[Anje]

I agree... Have her clarify, and give her some SMT mix with instructions to put it on afterward and leave it on for 30 minutes to as long as she can stand it, then to just rinse it out. Last person I made some mix for raved about how soft it made her hair and passed along the recipe to someone else!

Suggest to her that she might have less dryness and breakage if she ditches the straightener (especially if she uses it daily), and maybe direct her here. Even if she doesn't ever want to grow her hair long, this place is awesome for teaching people how to care for their hair and how to like their hair and deal with its waves or curls.

[jojo]

thanks Anji, yes that sounds a like a plan, she is growing her hair but to be honest her hair doesn't seem to be growing ? breakage. Her hair is presently just past BSL and it did look really healthy, maybe due to the pantene/straighteners, so much so i was even thinking of trying cones again myself.

I really do wish she would ditch the straighteners, shes over tomorrow I think a 'be kind to your hair day' is in order! will make her a batch of smt up, i love it myself too x

[DavidN]

hello David,
Yes im thinking clarifying too is the answer. thanks for your very quick reply, she does use straighteners too, i need to guide her to the LHF.

thanks again x

eta- how often do you clarify im supposing its more if you use cones? like im cone free at the moment and only clarify monthly. thanks again x


Hi again, Jojo! In addition to my CO washes nearly every day, I have two "shampoo plus contioner" days. One of the weekly shampoos is a clarifying shampoo. Ironically, although I do not use Pantene conditioners, the clarifying shampoo IS from Pantene.

Sometimes I have contemplated trying cones free for a trial period again, since my last trial was a short one. However, my hair seemed frizzier and more dry without the cones, but it could be because I did not have a long enough trial.

[Loviatar]

Ditch the straighteners, first off. In the archives, Rini posted a way to heat-free straighten. It was kind of a wrapping technique.

I use Tresemme Vitamin C, which has ALS and grapefruit and lemon extracts, to clarify when I have used cones. I rarely use them as they seem to dry my hair out and I lose half my volume. Once I have rinsed the Vit C 'poo out, I do a long cone free conditioning session or sometimes a SMT.

Once when I really felt my hair needed clarifying (after a long few months on cones and before starting shampoo bars, which didnt work but thats another story) I used Vit C shampoo with a teaspoon of baking soda mixed in. But my hair was not happy afterwards, and I had to condition like mad.

HTH.

[jojo]

thank you both for your replies, great advice x

[missy60]

Highlights are very drying to hair she needs deep treatments, and on a regular basis for a while. If she uses sulfate shampoo on a regular bases like every wash that should be removing the cones. With recent highlights I would be careful with the clarifying method I used you dont want to make the dryness worse. I tried clarifying when my hair was first bleached and it took a while to get the moisture back in.

Loviatar sorry I got a call during my post so it seems like I said the exact same thing you did.

[mommy101405]

I agree with Missy60. She may want to be careful clarifying b/c it could affect the color of the highlights. Highlights can be very drying.

It prob wouldnt hurt to try a new shampoo and see if it helps since what she's doing doesnt seem to be working. I would go with something very gentle and very moisturizing. A deep conditioning treatment could help too.

[heidi w.]

hello David,
Yes im thinking clarifying too is the answer. thanks for your very quick reply, she does use straighteners too, i need to guide her to the LHF.

thanks again x

eta- how often do you clarify im supposing its more if you use cones? like im cone free at the moment and only clarify monthly. thanks again x


There's a post right now on the Mane Forum about Clarifying Hair. One only needs to do it once usually, and on an as-needed basis thereafter. More is not better, necessarily.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=4318

To remove cones, one clarify hair wash should do it. You don't need repetitive hair washes that are clarify hair washes.

Instruct her to also wash her detangling tools.
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=4192


heidi w.

[heidi w.]

Yes, if she recently colored her hair, or has a habit of not using conditioner for color treated hair (same for shampoo), then that could well be the cause. In this instance, clarifying may not be necessary at all. She just may need to do a really good deep conditioning treatment.

I recommend Biolage's Conditioning Balm. It's thick and really does a good job. Pricey though. She can get it at Walmart if it's a supercenter with a salon, and other beauty supply chains.

heidi w.

[Aljona]

For me pantene seems to cause extra hairfall. I used their volumizing line, I think it was called sheer volume. I normally shed almost nothing at all so the shedding was really noticable.It was the shampoo that caused the hair fall, the conditioner was ok. Back then the shampoo was cone-free, so it wasn't the cones fault. Pantene shampoos all seem very harsh and can strip your hair and scalp.

Your friend should probably clarify and start using gentler products.

[heidi w.]

WIth color treated hair it's extra vital to condition well with any type of clarify hair wash, whether a home recipe OR store purchased product.

Please be sure to instruct how to clarify carefully so she doesn't under-perform or not perform a conditioning session as follow up and as part of the clarify hair wash.

Otherwise she'll end up, without conditioning or not conditioning enough, with hair that's fly-away, more dry, brittle feeling (won't break or be damaged). I'm thinking she should first try just merely a good deep conditioning session, and if that still ends up weird...then try clarify and follow with conditioning.

She might want to scritch her scalp skin before a hair wash.

Her stylist that applied the highlights should have instructed her to condition her hair well, and provided her information regarding appropriate shampoo and conditioner products for use specifically on color treated hair (both for preserving the color, and its longevity; and for conditioning the hair)

heidi w.

[teela1978]

I used pantene daily for several years and grew my hair out to tailbone. I found it made my hair rather shiny, and did not experience the problems your friend is experiencing. Everybody's hair is different, but I would tend to attribute the dryness to the highlights and the straightener (kills my hair I know) more than any product she's putting on it.

[jojo]

some great replies thank you so much, well I clarified her hair with my giavanni 50:50 clarifying shampoo and then I did a SMT using a cone free conditioner.

Her hair is strange, the coloured/highlighted bits are like chewing gum, really stretchy, they are a little better after the SMT but im thinking it will be best if she does these every time she washes. I think the main contributing factor is heat and dye, ive also never had no problems with pantene in the past but every bodies different and ingredients get changed in products. She is going to try a sulfate/cone free regime and see if theres any difference, also she is now hooked on coconut oil, her hair drinks it up!

thanks again guys for you advice x

[Aljona]

Your friend could benefit from using a protein treatment, when my hair was bleached I had to use both protein and moisture treatments. The best protein treatment for my hair was Joico k-pak reconstructor, but different things work for different people. Maybe she could clarify, then use protein and smt? And since she seems to like coconut oil, she could also oil her scalp sometimes. My scalp got dryed from the bleching, but when I started to oil it the hair loss stopped.

[Gecko]

I'd say what's causing her hair ruin is the heat styling and higlights. I think Pantene is nice and it has just as much silicones as other condtioners.

[Shanarana]

some great replies thank you so much, well I clarified her hair with my giavanni 50:50 clarifying shampoo and then I did a SMT using a cone free conditioner.

Her hair is strange, the coloured/highlighted bits are like chewing gum, really stretchy, they are a little better after the SMT but im thinking it will be best if she does these every time she washes. I think the main contributing factor is heat and dye, ive also never had no problems with pantene in the past but every bodies different and ingredients get changed in products. She is going to try a sulfate/cone free regime and see if theres any difference, also she is now hooked on coconut oil, her hair drinks it up!

thanks again guys for you advice x

I was going to suggest that. My hair is very dry and finding coconut oil has been the best thing for my hair I've ever used.

[Kiraela]

One question I must ask is, which Pantene line is it? I've found that one certain one, I don't remember which, made my hair rough and dry, and just generally unpleasant, while the rest work wonders! I started shedding more when I stopped using the Ice Shine conditioner, actually. Some of my bleached ends are stretchy like you described.... I am going to go look up SMTs myself now!

I hope her hair gets into better condition!

(psst! jojo's friend! ditch the straighteners! ;) your hair will be happier without them...)

[missy60]

I have to agree she does need regular protein treatments for a while if her hair is stretch and gummy.

[jojo]

One question I must ask is, which Pantene line is it? I've found that one certain one, I don't remember which, made my hair rough and dry, and just generally unpleasant, while the rest work wonders! I started shedding more when I stopped using the Ice Shine conditioner, actually. Some of my bleached ends are stretchy like you described.... I am going to go look up SMTs myself now!

I hope her hair gets into better condition!

(psst! jojo's friend! ditch the straighteners! ;) your hair will be happier without them...)

she also uses the Ice shine poo and conditioner, she said to say thank you for all your help and said she will join up, but ive told her no more hogging my comp, i couldnt get on yesterday;)

[lady G]

I would say ditch the straighteners if she uses them and has bleach on the hair it will cause that kind of damage it hapeened to my friend and she had all the damage cut off!!:mad: straighteners and bleach = dry damage


hope she will join us here :)