Now, Pantene and I, we’ve always had a good thing going on. There’s been so much talk about the high amount of silicone in Pantene haircare products for years. To be honest, it didn’t deter me. For such a big company (owned by Procter & Gamble), heaps of money gets thrown into the research of better technology for haircare. It’s one of the very few haircare brands I still love and trust today simply because it makes my hair feel and look good. It has for years and is still going strong.
When I was sent a box of the Clinicare Split End Fuser Leave-On Treatment for editorial consideration almost a year ago, it stumped me. I didn’t know whether to try it or even review it because I know that you simply cannot cure split ends. There’s no product in the world that can magically fuse split hair and make it like new again. Products that claim to heal split ends simply seal the split end temporarily to help it look healthier but the damage cannot be reversed.
After having this box in my bathroom cabinet for so many months, I decided to take the tubes out of the box and give them a try. I stubbornly dared it to defy biology. I wanted to see if these would “cure” my split ends.
Description:
The Pantene Clinicare Split End Fuser Leave-On Treatment formula contains premium conditioning ingredients to repair and bind split ends, with the unique “Repair Binder” formulation to fuse split ends together and the triple amino containing Pro-Vitamin B5 to deliver an intensive dose of hydration into the hair fibre.
Now when I finally tried the Split End Fuser, my hair was at its worst. I’ve not had a haircut in 4 months, it was badly overgrown and the split ends were very severe. My hair is long and sadly over 50% of it had split ends. Some even split to half the length of the hair. Well, if that wasn’t the best time to try this out, I didn’t know what was.
The Split End Fuser is a light-textured cream which is synonymous to every other Pantene product. It has the distinct Pantene scent that you’d either like or dislike. The box states to apply an appropriate amount onto towel-dried hair, focusing on the middle of the hair to the tips. As it’s a leave-on treatment, I’m not to rinse it off.
Even though my hair was long (at least 2 inches past my bra strap), I found that I only needed 1/3 of the tube per application. The tube isn’t big to begin with and with just 1/3 for my hair, each tube lasted me 3 washes. That’s very good for such a small tube.
Onto the most crucial part of the review – did this mend my split ends? No, it didn’t. I never expected it to. The badly split ends (split to half the length of the hair) were too damaged to be rescued. The smaller splits looked pretty much the same. The hair looked all right when it was damp (that was when I’d apply the cream, which “seals” the cuticles) but when it dried, the tips were back to normal.
BUT (and it’s a very big BUT) what it did was made my hair feel very soft. It toned the frizziness down and my hair was soft and bouncy. My hair returned to its normal healthy self after a proper haircut. The Split End Fuser made my hair less frizzy and maintained the health of my ends. It prevented them from splitting too soon in between haircuts.
As the tubes are small, I find them incredibly handy for traveling. I threw in 3 tubes for my month in Malaysia and it lasted me at least 9 washes. My hair remained soft and healthy (can’t say much for frizz control, although it has more to do with the crazy humidity in Malaysia than anything).
So if you’re looking for something to cure split ends, this isn’t it. There’s no product to “glue” split ends back together. The only way to get rid of split ends is to get regular haircuts. It will remove split ends and keep your hair healthy. The Split End Fuser is more of a preventative measure and a handy leave-in treatment. For that, I give it an enthusiastic thumbs up.
Pantene Clinicare Split End Fuser Leave-On Treatment retails at $19.99 per box. Each box contains 10 5ml tubes. For me, that would last me at least 30 uses, which isn’t bad at all.
What I like about it: Tones down frizziness, keeps hair looking healthy, leaves hair soft and bouncy, each tube has 3 applications (for me), very handy for travel
What I do not like about it: Claims that it repairs and binds split ends
Just curious, did P&G ask you for any feedback, other than perhaps blogging about the product? Perhaps they’ll change the positioning and see it as a deep conditioning, defrizzing product instead.
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Not at all. I guess with any other beauty company, each of them wants to be able to claim a breakthrough in technology on a new “revolutionary” product that can cure this and cure that. I don’t have access to their data or research on whether this so-called “repairing of split ends” really work or not. Education taught me that split hair cannot be repaired. The cuticles cannot be glued back together to make the hair like new again.
On the other hand, P&G has the funds for research and who knows, maybe they did stumble upon some sort of technology to make this happen. All I know is that as a “split ends fuser”, this did jack to my hair. There wasn’t any difference to the split ends on my hair. But as a deep conditioning and all-round-make-your-hair-feel-better product, I’d say it did the job. ๐
I’m a focus group moderator/market researcher, and I have worked for P&G in the past. You are absolutely right that they have deep pockets for R&D as well as market research. I was just wondering if they collected any data from bloggers to add to their research arsenal. I guess not! Also, I’m kind of surprised they launched a product that doesn’t deliver on the key benefit they’re promising when, unlike some skincare promises, the consumer can actually see the results, or not see the results, lol. Thanks for the good and honest review, Tine!
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I was thinking about this while I was in the shower (yeah I get ideas in the oddest places) and if P&G really hit the nail on the head with a new technology/product that can actually fuse and repair split ends, it will be an amazing breakthrough. A miracle, even. You’ll see it in the papers. Heck, there’ll be patents slapped on the technology so fast, you wouldn’t even see it coming. Plus I don’t think such a revolutionary product would be sold at the low, low price of $19.95. ๐
Of course, on the other hand, if only they marketed this product as a good leave-in conditioner that helps prevents split ends, then yes they would be right. I have absolutely no doubt that this does just that.
Ah well, that’s the beauty industry for you, I suppose. They tell consumers what they want to hear.
Years ago, I used to love drugstore hair care products. I mean, there are so many options with inexpensive prices. I really didn’t see the need to pay big money for higher end brands. Well, then suddenly my hair got so bad – split ends, hair lost, and tons of other problems (I was still just taking care of my hair and getting regular hair cut as usual). It was really frustrating, so I finally talked to my hair stylist. What he told me is that all the bad chemicals (dimethicone especially) in these drugstore brands were damaging my hair gradually. The only reason that these products worked well for me before (for the many years) was because they have been slowly killing my hair and scalp but the effect wasn’t big enough for me to notice. The example he gave is with dimethicone, which is a cheap “moisturizing” ingredient that a lot of brands (some high end as well) like to use. With hair, dimethicone coats the hair and makes it feel really smooth and nice. However, once coated, dimethicone can not be easily washed off. And with continued use of dimethicone based products, my hair was just getting more and more amount of dimethicone “sticked” to it. Eventually, it got to the point that my hair can no longer “breathe”. That’s when all the hair falling and other bad stuff come. Obviously there are other ingredients that contribute to my hair problems as well, but the biggest one is dimethicone. A big drugstore brands are notorious for adding large amount of dimethicone to their products. Since then, I have steered clear of any products (drugstore and department store) with even the slightest bit of dimethicone.
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Your hair stylist does have a point there. Which is also why the same companies come up with clarifying shampoos to remove said built-up on hair. Of course, they mention that it’s useful to remove the built-up of hairstyling products on hair but it’s also good for removing the silicone off hair. Clever eh? Or sneaky? Ahhh…
I’ve tried a number of silicone-free hair products and to be honest, they made my hair feel real awful. I tried to get used to the lack of lather, the feel of lank hair when I’ve washed and conditioned them, etc but it just wouldn’t work. I had to return to haircare that contained silicone for my hair to look and feel good again. Sigh. It’s kinda like crack. My hair’s hooked. ๐
I feel the same about silicone free products. It’s so hard to even get the smallest amount of lather and sometimes I even wonder why I use such products. However, I saw huge improvement in the overall condition of my hair ever since switched to non-silicone based products. And my hair definitely feels healthier. I hate the application process but for the sake of my hair, I’ll have to continue using these.
A side note regarding clarifying shampoos. Not sure if it’s true or not but supposedly according to the hair stylist, clarifying shampoos are not going to get rid of dimethicone (that’s why it’s so bad). I forgot his exact words but I think he mentioned something about dimethicone being different than regular product buildup from styling products. The regular product buildup will just kind of stick onto the hair, so a good clarifying shampoo or treatment should get rid of the stuff. However, for dimethicone, it slowly forms this coat all around each hair. Eventually, it’ll completely cover the hair but can’t be washed off because it has now become part of the outer layer of the hair. But it’s not suppose to be good because it will pretend for the hair to feel smooth and look nice, but the real hair under it is actually still not healthy. Complicated reason, but whatever he said sounded really horrible.
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Pantene has been lovely for my hair back when I was in school, but I sorta fell out of love when Tsubaki came (love it!) and discovered Essential (love this too!). Loreal drugstore has worked pretty okay for me too.
i am very lucky to have healthy hair, despite being lazy with treatments/ hair mask, no regular hair cuts , blow drying it everyday and then i have my hair relaxed once a year.
but i guess i owe it to the hair serum/oil i use before blow drying, and being very careful when I wash and dry my hair. And I am careful with the way I brush or comb my hair these days. It’s the little things that matters, for my hair that is.
As long as I be a good girl and be careful with the way I handle my hair, most shampoos/ conditioner work alright for me, except for Dove and Sunsilk. That two just refuse to work with my hair!
plue recently posted..Goodbye 2012, Hello 2013!
I haven’t actually tried Tsubaki before, can you believe it?! I’ve heard so many good things about the shampoos and conditioners but have yet to buy a set to try. I saw it in Malaysia and Japan and try as I might, I couldn’t bring them home. I’ve seen it sold here at around $45 per set, which I think is daylight robbery.
Dove doesn’t work for my hair too. Sunsilk does, thank goodness. I’m such a cheapskate when it comes to taking care of my hair. Tsk tsk. No wonder my hair looks like crap ๐
that is expensive! i was already thinking that Tsubaki here is pretty expensive compared to prices in TW, but in Aussie that’s another new level of daylight robbery!
eh eh being cheapskate has got nothing to do with crappy hair ok! my hair stuff all drugstore okie! though i am very tempted in getting a kerastase serum ๐
plue recently posted..Goodbye 2012, Hello 2013!
Mine too! Tarak Kerastase lah. Pantene, Sunsilk and the very most, Wella. Good enough for my hair. Hee hee ๐
Pantene unfortunately never worked for me and I doubt they found a cure for split ends, given that nothing can cure split ends except for a trim. Most products that claim to ‘fix’ split ends mostly make the splits ‘stick’ for a while, disguising the problem but not solving it. I prefer to trim my hair and use pro naturals moroccan argan oil (love this) on the ends to make them stronger.
My point exactly. The products can temporarily “stick” the ends together but when hair is dry, they spring apart once more. Best way to take care of split ends is regular haircuts. ๐
Wow!! It claimed to repair and heal up the split end! I’m not Pantene fans as till now I don’t think it’s hair products helped my hair. Anyway I’m happy for you Tine as their products suited your hair. PS: I really like to read your blog contents! Just to share with you ๐
Yeah, I wasn’t too happy about the claim. As you can see my conversation with Angela in the comments, I’d like it to be renamed as something else instead of claiming to “fuse” split ends. A great leave-in conditioner perhaps, because it is a good one at that.
PS: Aww aren’t you sweet. Thank you! ๐ xx
Really liked your review of the Pantene’ Split End Fuser, really impressed how many washes you got from one tiny little tube, very impressive.
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Thanks Marisa. Three washes, one small tube – WIN ๐