Ok, I’ll admit to being extremely suprised at how good this range actually is. I’ve avoided Pantene like the plague since reading (years ago, admitedly) that it is devilishly difficult to rinse out of your hair. However, not so Aqua Light. In fact, it is extraordinarily easy to rinse – which is just as well, because as far as the shampoo goes, a little goes an extremely long way. With London water so hard it is virtually solid, I’m used to having to use more than the average amount of shampoo to get any lather; using Aqua Light in the same dose as my normal shampoos left me with a gigantic foam head, so the lesson there is that you don’t need much!
The sciency facts of the formulation are ditching vast amounts of silicone, and using ingredients that don’t hang on for dear life to hair. The main ingredient alchemy that you will notice the effect of is the choice of ingredients that stay liquid at room temperature – and don’t ‘solidify’ once your hair has dried – and presumably meaning the death of that kind of waxy residue that makes your hair look and feel blah.
Anyway, the whole lot is impressive – it behaves like a range that is far more expensive than it actually is (Aqua Light Shampoo is £2.55), and that’s always good.
I’m totally not interested in the fact that Cat Deely is the poster girl, in the same way that seeing Davina doesn’t make me want to rush out and dye my hair. This is one of the very few ranges that, in my view, would sell on performance alone with out the need for sleb endorsements.
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9 comments
I have also caved and bought some, I have never used Pantene before but the simple facts about the new formula being water soluble and easy-rinse were enough to sway me. I agree about Cat Deeley, don’t care who endorses it, I would have bought this regardless of celeb endorsements.
I have really fine hair, and have literally just started using this product myself because I’d been looking for something that didn’t bog my hair down, but like you I was really sceptical and was convinced that it was going to be a bit like a bloke (all talk and no action)!! I’d been trying so hard not to be drawn in by fancy language (which is more likely to sell me than Cat Deeley is, but perhaps that’s just me being a writer!)
But, I have to say my hair feels absolutely amazing and I wish they’d created it sooner! I’d been using Simple’s Gentle Shampoo, but for a bottle double the size, but not that much more expensive, Pantene have won this one!!
I have the intensive conditioner and the leave in conditioner and am very pleased with both! I have just gone out and purchased another 2 of the leave ins as its buy 1 get 1 free in boots =)
xx
@Nooberella…I got them 2 for 1 in Boots too 😀 Gotta love Boots!!
I’ve been pretty impressed with the silicone free spray treatment, just a shame that Pantene didn’t eliminate silicones completely with this range – the silicone they use is much lighter than the traditional kinds, but still not totally water soluble, so not suitable for my no-silicone regime, sadly! Still – for a brand with a reputation for silicone heavy products, the lightness is pretty astounding and I’ve yet to find someone who doesn’t get on with them!
Thanks for the review – I’ll give this one a try. Incidentally the reputation for build up that the Pantene range has a bit of an odd background. It turns out that there is a bit of a cultural difference between the way Americans and Europeans use shampoo. The first Pantene products were developed, launched and went down very well in the States. Wash and Go was the same team. They didn’t meet with such high approval over here, but it took P&G a while to figure out what the problem was.
In the meantime, they thought it was that they weren’t spending enough on advertising. If you are old enough to remember the early nineties, you may recall that you couldn’t turn on the telly or walk down the street without being informed by some smug looking individual that they no longer needed to take two bottles into the shower.
I really like the Pantene Aqua Light shampoo and conditioners (can’t see much difference between the standard conditioner and treatment conditioner though). I was extremely sceptical at first, but I am amazed that they actually do as they say. Didn’t think I’d ever be a Pantene fan!
I liked Aqua Light before Cat Deeley was announced as the “ambassador”, and I am never swayed by celeb endorsement. But there are plenty of people who are. I remember reading parents complaining about the Cheryl Cole (hair extensions galore) shampoo ads because their daughters were pestering them to buy the shampoo because they wanted to look like Cheryl Cole. Poor things…
I remember my mum buying us two in ones throughout the early nineties – terrible stuff! I love the new Pantene range though, and I usually go for really heavy shampoo and conditioners x
Any word on when this will be available stateside?