Beauty on a Budget: Clear Scalp & Hair Beauty / Pantene Curly

I have been reading rave reviews about Unilever's newest haircare line, Clear Scalp and Hair Beauty Therapy, for a few months now. At $5-6 a bottle and represented by the lovely Heidi Klum, I decided this was definitely worth a try.  Unilever's claim for this line is that it "feeds the scalp and creates the right foundation for stronger, more beautiful hair in just seven days."  I bought the Clear Scalp Damage and Color Repair shampoo and conditioner and used them for a little over a month.    

Unfortunately, I saw no positive change to my hair.  It didn't make my hair worse, but it also didn't strengthen it or make it look more healthy, shiny, etc.  I could have kept using this line, because it certainly wasn't damaging my hair, but I just wasn't overly fond of it.  The smell was kind of generic.  The shampoo lathers well, but feels like it strips my hair.  And the conditioner was a little on the thin side for repair.  It is certainly an inexpensive choice, but you are getting what you pay for, which is to say nothing special.  For my chemically treated hair, I need something that is really going to make it happy and feel soft and soothed.  This stuff is just not it.


I was happier with the Clear Scalp line than some of the other drugstore brands I've tried (Garnier Fructis, John Frieda and Redken) and I used it for as long as I did because I couldn't afford my usual from Bumble and Bumble.  Luckily, I came across a coupon for Pantene Pro-V and found that Pantene has a lot more choices and doesn't cost much more.

I was delighted to find that Pantene has a few lines specifically for curly hair (I didn't think drugstore brands got that specific).  I chose the Pantene Pro-V Curly Hair Series Moisture Renewal line.  I've now been using the shampoo and conditioner from this line for the past two weeks and I really like it.  I was surprised at how much I like the way it makes my hair smell.  The shampoo lathers so well that even my big ol' pile of hair only needs a quarter-size dollop.  And the conditioner controls my frizz and makes my hair shiny without weighing it down.  I really like the fact that Pantene offers a lot of options, since a lot of curly haircare lines don't work for me (my hair type, aside from being curly, is not usually targeted).  


More Clear Scalp reviews from MomAdvice.com, Budget Beauty Blog and Makeup Alley.

More Pantene Pro-V Curly Hair Series Moisture Renewel from WalMart, Drugstore.com and Total Beauty.