Pantene Aqua Light

So I’ve been using Pantene’s new Aqua Light line for just over a week now and I have to stay that my initial concern about it, that it was too light for my fine hair, was completely wrong.

Yes, my introduction to Aqua Light products at Blo Bar did leave me with hair that was more static-y and flyaway-y than usual, but I haven’t run into any of those issues while using this line at home. Instead, I’ve been consistently left with hair that’s sleek, smooth and yes, very light-feeling.

That last quality is what the Aqua Light line is all about. The bottles for both the shampoo and conditioner boast about “zero weight” and a “Clean Rinse formula” that promises to lightly condition and nourish hair. And from my experience, both of these products do exactly that.

To achieve this light-feeling, the shampoo is silicone-free while the conditioner goes with a lighter-than-usual formula (so yes, it still uses silicone but that’s not a bad thing since silicones are what help to give you smooth, shiny hair). Both products are also dye- and paraben-free, safe for coloured hair and reasonably priced (this a classic drugstore brand after all).

Then there’s the Weightless Conditioning Shake, a leave-in conditioning spray you apply to damp hair (after you shake it up to combine its ingredients). The stylist who introduced me to this product during my Blo Bar session told me that the trick to making the spray work was to always follow it with heat.

It certainly does work wonderfully with heat, creating hair that is smooth and also quite soft. But does taking heat away make a difference? To test that out, I applied this product to damp hair that I then let air dry.

Turns out that yep, this spray really is heat activated because while my air-dried hair still felt light and soft, it wasn't nearly as sleek and flyaway-free as when I used heat on it (and trust me, those results weren’t caused by the absent of my blow drying skills).

I also tested this product out by applying it to one half of my hair, and applying Morrocanoil to the other half. The shake side turned out to be slightly sleeker while the Morrocanoil half was slightly shinier. I haven’t tried them out together but I think I will have to, just to see if I can create some kind of ideal sleek-and-shiny hair recipe.

Would I buy these products? While I do like the results that this line gives me, I do worry that my hair, which is prone to dryness, needs more moisture than the conditioner can supply so I wouldn’t be picking that up. But I will be purchasing the shampoo as I’ve always liked to use a lightweight shampoo every now and then and this does seem like a great one.

I'm still not sure about the Weightless Conditioning Shake. I tend to avoid blow drying my hair in the summer and because of that, I don’t really need this product, at least not until the fall. But if it does turn out that it, combined with Morrocanoil, creates  amazing results well, then yes, I will certainly be buying it.

Should you buy it? If you feel like other hair products are weighing your hair down, do give this line a try.  The Weightless Conditioning Shake is also worth trying if you’re someone who regularly uses heat on your hair.