The smell of vintage Pantene shampoo is as dear to me as the smell of old books. It's a sunny day in the late 1970's and I'm walking down Fordham Road past the Thom McCann shoe store in my neighborhood. I'm about to cross the street to get to the Bronx Central Library on Bainbridge Avenue. I see my ex-best friend from childhood with her new best friend as they are leaving Nardi Hair Salon. I would always tell the redhead that her hair was orange and wasn't truly red. (Anyone who ever owned a box of crayons would know that.) I avoided both girls on my way to the library because seeing their carefree post-coif stroll reminded me that my family had less money.
Pantene’s presence in salons and drugstores
Nardi used salon versions of Pantene shampoo and conditioner that they advertised in their second floor window which included generic headshots of tony models donning the latest hairstyles. The smell of Pantene that was sold in gold-topped bottles at the drugstore in the 1970's was out of this world. The salon versions of shampoo and conditioner had the same prestige scent, but they were more aldehydic which was in step with smelling like an expensive French perfume.
Functional perfumery can be more challenging than traditional perfumery as functional perumers, who are chemists, have to manage naturally occurring odors in personal and household products. In the late 1990's, after jumping on the all-in-one shampoo and conditioner bandwagon, the scent of Pantene took a fruity turn and smelled like a collection of headdresses worn by Carmen Miranda that had been curated for an exhibition in an overripe fruit museum.
I enjoyed reflecting on those two undulating rivers of brown and red hair that were etched into memory. I wanted to resurrect that remembrance with my sense of smell.
Modern Pantene products and nostalgia
Last year I bought a bottle of Pantene Pro-V Overnight Miracle Repair Serum that is formulated to condition hair as you sleep. The hair remedy is packaged in a pump dispenser that cannot be sniffed like other items in the hair care aisle. (The most public smelling you'll ever see happens in the hair care aisle because hair care aisles are veritable smell museums.) This serum had an interesting side effect after I put it on my hair that evening. An olfactory bouquet of vintage Pantene bloomed and resurrected memories in the dark. It was a powerful sensation that felt like dreaming with my eyes open.
The smell of vintage Pantene allowed me to witness the past in the present, and was perfumed by the fact that how I felt about what I was sensing belonged to me and no one else. Many people crave the scent of vintage Pantene shampoo. A post titled "That Old Pantene Smell" and others like it echo this nostalgic sentiment.
Shampoos of note and the broader scent landscape
Shampoos of note from my childhood include: Body on Tap, Castile shampoo, Breck, Earthborn, Egg Shampoo, Flex, Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific, Johnson's Baby Shampoo, Lemon Up, Pantene and Prell. It's not uncommon for popular scents to reappear in the formulas of other brands decades later. If you are bent on the smell of nostalgic shampoos visit the Vermont Country Store.
Human hair retains scent longer than skin retains the smell of perfume. The Bronx Central Library was located in a building designed by McKim, Mead and White (they designed Columbia University and Pennsylvania Station in New York City). The Georgian revival style of the two-story structure and the inclusion of a wing along the rear facade provided a haven for inquiring minds and book lovers of all ages. You could feel history as soon as you walked inside and smell knowledge wafting out of the pages of books. The building, which was known as the Bronx Central Library when I was growing up, is no longer open to the public as the library has been relocated and is now the Bronx Library Center.
Market snapshot and current Pantene lineup
Image of Hair Collage by Michelle Krell Kydd. SuggestedUses item details. Price when purchased online Overall pick Pantene Pro-V Shampoo Daily Moisture Renewal, 27.7 oz $9.97 36.0 ¢/fl oz. Pantene Pro-V Shampoo Daily Moisture Renewal, 27.7 oz 4.8 out of 5 Stars. 6295 reviews. Pantene Pro-V Volume and Body Shampoo, 27.7 fl oz From $9.97, 4.7 out of 5 stars with 1961 reviews. Best seller Pantene Pro-V Shampoo, Volume and Body, All Hair Types, 10.4 fl oz From $4.97. Pantene Pro-V Daily Moisture Renewal Shampoo, All Hair Types, 10.4 fl oz $4.97. Pantene Pro-V Classic Clean 27.7 fl oz $9.97.
- Pantene Pro-V Shampoo, Volume and Body, All Hair Types, 10.4 fl oz offers strong user ratings.
- Pantene Pro-V Daily Moisture Renewal 2 in 1 Shampoo and Conditioner is widely available and well reviewed.
- Pantene Pro-V Classic Clean 2 in 1 Shampoo and Conditioner remains a staple in many households.
Overall, Pantene’s history blends nostalgic scent memories with a broad, modern lineup that continues to dominate shelves while evoking the distant, scent-rich years of the 1970s and 1980s.
