What’s up, ladies! Do you ever go through phases where your hair just looks whack?
For three or four months now my hair’s been looking extra shagadelic — and not in a good way.
I was planning to hack off a few inches this month but changed my mind after reading my March horoscope on Astrology Zone. Susan Miller suggests Geminis delay any makeovers until after April 17, and since Suze’s predictions tend to be dead on for me, I’m sticking with my bird’s nest-y ‘do for a few more weeks. I am not about to mess with the stars!
For now, I may as well make this extra 10 pounds of hair sing for its supper by using it to test some new hair products.
Over the weekend I put some goodies from Pantene’s new Nature Fusion Collection to the test, comparing them to the Aveeno Nourish+ products I reviewed last week. The star ingredient in the new line is the Cassia plant, a shrub related to beans (prooot!) and peas.
Pantene claims Cassia helps to create smoother, shinier and generally better-behaved hair.
How does it work?
After using the Nature Fusion Balance Shampoo ($4), Moisture Balance Conditioner ($4) and Smoothing Creme ($6) three times since Friday, my hair has seemed shinier and more manageable than usual.
Products in the Nature Fusion line cost roughly half as much as the Aveeno Nourish+ products I reviewed last week, but I like both lines for different reasons.
Let’s start with the shampoos. Nourish+ Revitalize shampoo works better as a detangler, but Nature Fusion Moisture Balance Shampoo does a more thorough job of removing hair styling products like gels and hairsprays. After rinsing with it (mmm, smells like Granny Smith apples), my hair felt cleaner than a Jonas Brothers concert. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B+
On to conditioners. Nature Fusion Moisture Balance Conditioner feels thicker and heavier than its Nourish+ counterpart, and it flattens my hair down more than Nourish+ Revitalize does. I don’t consider this a bad thing, though, because sometimes my hair just gets too big, you know? The heavy conditioning really helps to tame my tresses when they’ve launched a full-on rebellion. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B+
Lastly, the leave-ins. If your hair requires extra frizz control, opt for Nature Smoothing Creme over the Aveeno Nourish+ Condition Leave-In. I think it does a better job of smoothing, and I don’t have to use as much product to get good results. A quarter-sized amount run through my damp hair left it baby’s bum soft. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B+
The Entire Line of Pantene Nature Fusion products
- Moisture Balance Shampoo ($4, 12.6oz)
- Moisture Balance Conditioner ($4, 12.6oz)
- Smooth Vitality Shampoo ($4, 12.6oz)
- Smooth Vitality Conditioner ($4, 12.6oz)
- Smooth Vitality Smoothing Creme ($6, 5.1oz)
No. Sleep. Till. Brooklyn.
Wow, after reading the comments on this morning’s Monday Poll I realized I wasn’t the only Daylight Savings zombie today. 🙂
Are ya’ll ready for a nap before dinner? I know I am. I hope I dream of chocolate, perfume and fantastic shoes. 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Sleeping cats are adorable 🙂
I used to really like Whitney Houston before Bobby got hold of her. Poor girl.
Aw, Tabs looks so exhausted!
Zena had a v. stressful day. She had to go to the vet for expressing AND a toenail trim. She’s scaled down her WWIII tendencies during trimming as she kindly let the vet clip her front paws; however, it was WWIIIx2 with her rear paws. She hates people touching her back paws! We were told to feed her rice, carrots and apples on top of her doggy food to help keep her anal glands clear. She gained two pounds too. So, it’s less cheese, table scraps and doggy treats and more rice, carrots and apples as they help control weight too.
Hi Karen,
Just wanted to share a little info with you and all the girls about Pantene. Do not use it! It’s one of the worst products to use on your hair, especially long hair. It contains panthenol that literally grabs onto your hair strand and clings to it. So while your hair appears shinier and smoother it’s actually damaging your hair from the outside in because the panthenol won’t let any real moisture or nutrients penetrate into the hair’s cuticle. Just a little fyi from my cosmetology days. And always check the back of your hair products for panthenol. Like everything listed on the ingredient list, the higher it is on the list the more the product contains. I’ve used Biolage shampoos and conditioners for years and it’s still the only thing I’ll use. Hope this info helps!
Susan Miller? Hmm…I tend to follow Georgia Nicols more for astrology; she’s eerily accurate on the daily and weekly predictions that she offers.
I just read my horoscope from that site and it was scarily accurate about yesterday… freaky!
Katrina,
Thanks for the info. I don’t use Pantene in the first place. My hair fell out in huge clumps when I used it as a kid. My hair is thin in the first place so having it fall out is not good.
Hi Katrina,
Do you know if that panthenol is in all Pantene shampoo? I use been using Pantene since as far back as I can remember (I’m 47 now) and never had any hair thinning. Could it be worse if you’re sensitive or allergic to it?
I saw on Good Eats (the episode where Alton Brown makes cinnamon buns) that a lot of the “cinnamon” we buy in stores is actually cassia. Good for your hair, and tasty too! 😉
Katrina, are you sure about panthenol? I sucked at chemistry (and English isn’t my first language) but panthenol is nothing else than the alcool form of vitamin B5 (don’t get scared about the word “alcool”, not all alcool are bad).
It sucks moisture from the air and heals irritation, so it’s good on scalp, since skin is a living thing. The hair is dead, no panthenol or any other agent will ever change that, any moisture or nourishment will just help it to look better but once it’s damaged it will never heal.
stregalice´s last blog post..il mio preferito
awwww i love your tabs photos shoots! 🙂
I don’t use Pantene products either – I have also been warned off by hairdressers.
Karen, you are definitely not the only one fatigued… I could *not* sleep last night and am a walking zombie today. Hope you get some zzzzs… danged Daylight Savings Time!
Ana.
Thank for the review, I LOVE Pantene… I actually switched to it from a salon brand and cant wait to try the Nature Fusion line. Ive checked out salon brand bottles I had sitting in my cupboards and theres most of the same chemicals and crap in those too… I dont buy the whole “dont use Pantene!” thing from hair dressers… it works great for me, Ive used it for 10+ years, and I have gorgeous hair I get compliments on daily.. why would I stop using something thats never caused me problems? This one stylist told me I had beautiful healthy hair and said it felt soo healthy and blah blah, then she found out I used Pantene and was all “OMG youre murdering your hair”… Umm really? 2 mins ago you said it was gorgeous and super healthy? Hair dressers go to beauty school, not university for a chemistry degree. Bottom line: use what works for you, and shut up about it. Sorry that turned into a rant lol 🙂