Last week we told you Pantene just launched a completely new collection of products specifically for women with relaxed, natural, and transitioning hair. This week, we were able to put the line to the test.
Yesterday, the brand invited us to experience the Gold Series up close and personal via a styling session with celebrity stylist Chuck Amos that demonstrated just what wonders the line can do. As I sat with Chuck — a man whose hands have touched the hair of Alicia Keys, Beyonce, and now me — I told him that I’d tried the co-wash and curl defining pudding from the collection for my standard wash n’ go style, so he decided to do something different with my mane, a la a curly ‘fro.
We began with a typical cleanse using the moisture boost Shampoo. While Pantene certainly isn’t the first brand to promise intense hydration with a particular product or infuse a line with argan oil, they are the first to use gel technology that actually offers a conditioning benefit in the cleansing stage. In other words, your hair isn’t stripped of moisture when you shampoo it with their product, moisture is actually added to the hair. And unlike co-washing with a conditioner — a staple of many naturals’ routine — which can leave you with a false sense of clean, this shampoo guarantees both clean strands and hydrated strands, Chuck explained.
Pantene Gold Series product group
My wash was followed up with another dose of hydration via the moisture boost Conditioner. Although there wasn’t time to fully experience the restorative properties of the repairing mask, Chuck did apply it to my hair so I could get a sense of how it works, and then he had me actually feel my hair as the conditioners penetrated my strands. It took nothing for me to run my hands through my hair. The “slip” was great and there were no snags at all. As Pantene Scientist Rolanda Johnson Wilkerson, who helped developed the line, explained of the products, “Protection is right away and penetration is right away.”
Before blow-drying, just a small amount of the hydrating Butter-Creme and intense Hydrating Oil were added to my hair. FYI, if needed, there is a leave-on detangling milk in the line that coats the hair nicely and drastically cuts down on comb time so you can get right into styling, which is what Chuck did after just 5-7 minutes of blowing my hair dry with a diffuser to maintain volume.
Next, he went old school with a tiny barrelled curling iron heated by a stove and made about a hundred little spiral curls all around my crown. You can peep the process below, along with a detailed explanation from Chuck on all the steps.
With all the curls complete, I was sent on my merry little way to go to bed and try my best not to ruin the foundational masterpiece laid while I slept. Thankfully, my satin pillowcases did not fail me and I woke up with curls just as defined as they were when I left the shop. I followed Chuck’s directions to separate the curls one by one and pull down on them to loosen each one and give my overall shape more length. Although he suggested I use a blowdryer on the roots for even more stretch, I was too terrified of messing something up so I just went with the separate and tug method and was blown away by the finished look.
I’ve always wanted to rock a curly banged, around the way girl kind of ‘fro but never really knew how to go about it — or if the style would look right on me — but I’m absolutely in love with this look. There’s also nothing like walking into work and hearing a bunch of “oooh and ahhhs” of approval from all of my natural-haired co-workers.
Two things I’d be remiss not to mention are how much shine my hair has — like it was glistening when I left the shop yesterday, and this morning I just added one drop of the intense hydrating oil to my hands as I separated each curl just to be sure I wasn’t creating frizz. Second, my hair is incredibly soft! No hold spray or spritz was applied to maintain the curls, so although they’re super defined they’re not hard at all. My hair honestly looks so perfect, I feel like people think I’m wearing a wig right now. If they ask, I’ll just tell ’em it’s Pantene.
