"I love Pantene" contest winner shares her healthy hair secrets!

The other day, I had the pleasure of interviewing one of the lucky winners of the recent "I Love Pantene" contest. The minute I saw Brooke's amazing hair, I just knew I had to talk hair with her. Very rarely do you see a head of relaxed hair as fabulous as Brooke's. Length, thickness, health, her has has it all. You can imagine how excited I was to get a glimpse into her hair routine.



Much to my surprise, Brooke is a non-protective styler like me. In fact, most of the time you'll find her with hair down. So my first question to her after she shared that with me was "how do you keep your hair moist between washes?" Most of the credit for keeping her hair fabulous between washes goes to Pantene's Relaxed and Natural moisturizing shampoo and conditioner. According to Brooke, the products contain enough moisturizer to last her hair pretty much until the next wash. After her washes she allows her hair to air dry loose. Once completely dry, she flat irons with her Maxiglide iron and she's on her way. Brooke attributes the health of her hair to minimizing heat to only on wash days which usually happens every two weeks or so. At night she wraps the hair with a satin scarf to help keep the straightness and bounce. Her moisturizer of choice is Pantene's Daily Oil Cream Moisturizer. Her ends remain full and thick because she trims on a cycle of about every three months.



Believe it or not, Brooke wore her hair in it's natural state until about 10 years ago when she decided to relax and venture into the world of doing her own hair. She's a self relaxer who touches up 2-3 times a year with a mild lye formula. She keeps a very consistent routine of washing with her staple Pantene products, air drying, and using a Maxiglide iron which straightens the hair with the power of nourishing steam. Moisturizing Pantene products, plus airdrying, plus an iron that hydrates while it straightens seem to make up the bulk of her beautiful hair process. Oh, and I have to also mention that Brooke also supports the overall health of her hair by drinking lots of water.

What I learned from speaking with Brooke is how important it is to be consistent throughout. She doesn't struggle much with dryness because she's using moisturizing Pantene products, air drying to help keep in moisture, then finishes it off with a steam flat iron. It's no that wonder her hair's able to retain moisture. Add the fact that she uses a mild relaxer only sporadically and you've got a formula for healthy hair. I'm impressed that someone who has been natural pretty much all of her life has now ventured into the world of chemical relaxers while still maintaining health thickness and vitality. When I asked her about the difference between her natural hair and relaxed, she responded by saying the only difference was that her natural hair would sometimes feel stringy when pressed because of the amount of product used during the process. Now she minimizes the product usage which helps produce fuller looking hair.

My thanks to you Brooke for becoming a hair inspiration for me. I love full, thick hair and you make it look so easy. Thank you Pantene, for creating products that help support beautiful heads of hair like Brooke's. For years I've drooled over the heads of hair I've seen on Pantene commercials. I've used Pantene products years ago and now I find myself eager to re-introduce my hair to Pantene once again. I loved their Relaxed and Natural Mask and currently I'm enjoying the Damage Repair Ampoules (review coming soon).

I'll leave you all with more inspiring pics of Brooke's fabulous mane. Enjoy!




Brooke was one of four winners of the "I love Pantene" contest where Pantene searched for four African-American women through an online casting call and at the New Orleans Essence Music Festival with beautiful, healthy hair who used Pantene products. Brooke submitted her photo online with the encouragement of her friends. Brooke and the other winners will also be featured in magazines nationwide!