Review: Pantene Pro-V Restoratives Breakage Defense Conditioner

Why do most drugstore deep conditioners fail to give me what they say they're going to give me? Case-in-point, Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition 3-Minute Undo (you can see my full review here). This product weighed down my hair, left it feeling limp and greasy and did nothing to improve the overall dryness of my hair. At all.

When I tried Sally Beauty's GVP (Generic Value Products) version of Joico K-PAK, I soon realized that this product is actually not a deep conditioner but more of a protein treatment (two very different things). So while I really like it as a protein treatment, it failed to give me the instant oh-my-hair-is-so-incredibly-soft results that I yearn for in a deep conditioner. (To see my full review of GVP's version of Joico K-PAK, click here).

But all of that disappointment has led me to a few amazing products recently, which brings me to this review:

Pantene Pro-V Restoratives Anti-Breakage Conditioner

Let me first say that I haven't been a big fan of Pantene in the past. For some reason, their products just don't seem to work well with my hair, and I have always attributed that to the amount of silicone-based ingredients in their formulas. While I don't claim to be a chemist or expert in the world of haircare ingredients, I do know that silicone-based ingredients are what make hair feel smooth and slick, and it's these same ingredients that can build up in your hair and, ultimately make your hair feel limp, heavy or greasy over time. If you've ever had a favorite product suddenly stop working for you, it could be due to silicone build-up. If the silicone-based ingredients in your product are not water-soluble, it can be tricky to remove them from your hair. This is why I personally like to use a good clarifying shampoo about once a week (one of my favorites is Suave Daily Clarifying--click here for my review) to remove the silicones from your hair. Sometimes all you need to do is clarify to get your favorite product to start working for you again.

Sorry for the tangent--let's get back to the review! So I had a $1 off coupon for any product in Pantene's new Restoratives line, which led to me to my local CVS recently. Admittedly, since I'm not a big fan of Pantene, I really didn't know which product to try. When I don't know much about a new product line, I tend to use some crazy logic in selecting my purchase. I usually go for the product that has the least amount of units remaining on the shelf. I actually use this logic when shopping for food as well (if there are several different flavors of a new brand of drink, I'll buy the flavor with the least amount of bottles left on the shelf because I always think, "OK, this MUST be the best flavor because it's the most popular.") Sometimes this silly logic works for me, sometimes it doesn't. Leaving my fate in the hands of the general population is scary, I know, but sometimes consumers know best!

So that's what led me to purchase Pantene Pro-V Restoratives Breakage Defense Conditioner. It was the last tube left on the shelf while all of the other Restoratives conditioners had 5 or 6 tubes remaining. The entire line was on sale for $3 each, so with my $1 off coupon, I was good to go!

Before I go any further, I want to be clear that nowhere on this tube does it state that this product is a "deep conditioner". I am calling it one because that's how this product performs for me, and plus it's in a small tube (8.5 oz) as opposed to a bottle, like other Pantene conditioners. Also, there is a shampoo counterpart to the Breakage Defense Conditioner but I did not purchase the shampoo.

The first thing I noticed about this product is the size of the opening on the tube:

That is one teeny-tiny opening for a cap that's about 1-1/2 inches wide! I'm not sure why they made the opening so small, but for my hair, which is quite long, I felt like I had to squeeze that tube for hours before enough product was in the palm of my hand.

Let's talk about the product itself:

I couldn't really capture the pretty color of this product on my camera. It is a light violet-lavender shade (so pretty and so unexpected!) and the smell! My goodness, this product smells divine! It reminds me of sweet plum candy. Yum.

The texture of this product is rich, thick and creamy. When I apply it to my hair, it feels like a deep conditioner. When I work it through my hair, I can instantly feel it start to work. My tangles start to melt away and I can feel it coating and moisturizing my hair with every minute that passes.

For the past several weeks, I've been using this conditioner 2-3 times a week. I apply it after shampooing and I leave it on for about 3 minutes in the shower. When I rinse, I immediately know that it's working because my hair just feels so much softer than before I use it. It rinses easily and I'm telling you, my hair feels brand new when I'm done. It's soft, it's silky and--here's the best part--it doesn't feel heavy or weighed down!

Let me stop right here and tell you that I have long hair that's oily at the roots and very dry at the ends. My hair is color-treated and it's fine in texture. Also, I have naturally wavy hair that is VERY demanding if I want to wear it wavy. I can't use products that will weigh it down or my curls will fall flat instantly. If I choose to straighten my hair I usually just use a hair dryer and that leaves my hair pretty straight but still bouncy because of my natural wave.

Over the past several weeks, I've tried wearing my hair wavy and also straightened after using this product. Guess what? It rocks both ways! If I wear my hair wavy, my curls are light and springy and never feel weighed down. If I wear my hair straight, I don't even need to use an anti-frizz cream when I style it. This conditioner alone makes my hair incredibly soft and manageable.

I've got to say, Pantene Pro-V Restoratives Breakage Defense Conditioner is a hidden gem in the drugstore haircare aisle. You may have to search a bit to find it, but if you've got dry hair that needs help, yet you tend to steer clear of heavy products that may weigh down your hair, this may be your ticket to super soft, bouncy hair. It definitely works for me and I haven't had any trouble with build-up so far (though I do use a clarifying shampoo once a week).

One last note: Although this product is for "Breakage Defense", I haven't really experienced a dramatic improvement in that area yet. My hair doesn't break super easily to begin with though, so I don't know if I would notice improvement even if it was improving the strength of my hair.

Have you tried any products from the Pantene Restoratives line?