The Drugstore Haircare Revival: The Viral TikTok that Made an Old School Brand Cool Again

It started like all great modern love stories do… with a random, unsponsored TikTok from Gen-Z queen, Alix Earle.

She said she used expired Pantene shampoo from under her parents’ sink (we’ve all been there) and her hair had never felt softer.

Then she pulled out a throwback pic of her teenage mane and said, “I’m starting to think maybe I should switch back.”

It was unserious. It was unhinged. It was completely candid. And it sent the internet into full detective mode.

Searches for “Which Pantene did Alix Earle use?” exploded.

TikTok was flooded with only-the-best-and-most-expensice beauty girls re-testing drugstore hair care.

Pantene knew what they had to do.

They wiped their socials clean. They called Alix up. They launched an entire campaign.

A shiny, cheeky, fully produced drop called The Unexpired Collection. A remix of the exact formulas Alix (and literally all of us) used as a teen.

Sheer Volume Conditioner remains undefeated, I won’t listen to any slander.

They even poked fun at themselves in the campaign trailer, calling out the “expired shampoo heard ‘round the world.”

(Here’s the full Media Eye breakdown if you’re a marketing girlie who wants the backstory.)

What am I learning from this that you can too?

Your best marketing may already exist if you’ll pay attention.

(Honorable mention for: it’s never too late to not be boring.)

Pantene didn’t make the moment. The never could have!

They saw it. They moved on it. And they marketed the heck out of it.

How we’re taking notes:

• Stay radar-up in your industry. Maybe your brand isn’t being name-dropped on TikTok (yet), but you can still capitalize on trends. Watch what’s bubbling up in your niche - or even in adjacent ones - and be the first to translate it for your audience.

• Treat curiosity like currency. If your people start asking about something… even in passing… that’s a campaign seed. Dig in. Build around it.

• Nostalgia sells. Don’t sleep on your old content, early offers, or first formulas. What used to work might just need a rebrand. Like Pantene’s classic Daily Moisture Renewal line that’s now trending again.

Suave is literally quaking right now.

Xo, The Salesgirls

PS. Being in the know pays. If you’re not up at 11:47 p.m. watching a TikTok about expired shampoo and sensing cultural shift… hire someone who is. The chronically online girls are the secret sauce.