My last Pantene video is now live – I’m so sad it’s over!

This campaign ended up being huge, so as you can imagine, I was tickled pink by it all. Pantene flew me out to New York for what I thought were going to be a few simple, no-frills videos shoved on some out-of-the-way blog. Imagine my amazement when I woke up Monday morning and saw my face splashed all over the Pantene page–I practically fell out of my chair. (I then called Papa Jolie and was all, “To your computer, Papa Jolie! Check this out!”)

Here’s a little behind-the-scenes goss for you: we actually filmed the videos over the course of 2 days, not 7. For those of you wondering, we really did use only Pantene Daily Moisture Renewal products, although I also had a little bit of hair help in the form of my stylist Richard. He’s responsible for my hair looking like this.

And this.

And this.

And this.

Okay, I’ll stop now.

I spoke to my best friend A. on the phone a few days ago, and we discussed how the videos were cute but that I sounded a little schill-y and robotic in a couple of them. The truth of the matter is, I didn’t have a script and we were shooting in a giant loft in front of an enormous crew, so it took a few takes to get things just right–and obviously, I’m a blogger, not a commercial actress. No matter how easy it is pouring your heart out to a camera alone in your bedroom, it’s an entirely different story when you’re on set with 30 people tapping their watches impatiently because your inability to say “Daily Moisture Renewal” without stuttering is holding up their lunch!

In the end, though, it was hands-down one of the single best experiences of my professional career, and I can now brag for life that I’m in the esteemed club of Pantene girls. Eva Mendes, Zooey Deschanel, Gisele Bundchen, Naomi Watts, and as of a few days ago, Courteney Cox…it’s some pretty awesome company, don’t you think?

Oh, and, here’s the coolest thing that happened to me on set:

When you’re filming a commercial, everybody has notes. The Director has notes, the Client has notes, the Ad Agency has notes, the Hairstylist has notes…it’s up to you to take the notes, usually on a moment’s notice, and incorporate them into what you’re saying. In my case, I had a general idea of what I wanted to say, but then after every take, I’d get a new directive–something along the lines of, “That was awesome, but you said the word conditioner when you meant to say mask,” or “Loved it! But would you talk a little more about why you liked the product and what it did to your hair?” So this went on and on for two days, and by the end of it, I was exhausted. I was feeling like I let everybody down. I felt like a giant failure when it comes to off-the-cuff hairstyle speaking!

Finally, we wrapped, and I enjoyed some champagne with the crew. As I slumped in a chair, sipping Veuve and feeling more than a little jet-lagged, one of the Very Important People on set came over to me and bestowed me with the greatest compliment of my life.

“You know,” she said. “You were awesome there.”

I thanked her.

“No, I mean it. It’s hard incorporating all those notes–everybody telling you this and that. You were great. I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’ve worked with a lot of so-called actresses.” She shook her head to correct herself. “I mean, they were actresses, of course. But the only person I’ve ever worked with who was better than you at incorporating all those notes was Diane Keaton.”

I died.

The Pantene Daily Moisture Renewal Collection is available in drugstores now. It’s still fairly new, so if you can’t find any of the products (like the famous Moisture Whip!) check back soon. And, yes, I really do recommend the products. For a drugstore line, it’s tops.

Thanks for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, Pantene!

Disclosure: While this post was sponsored, as always, all opinions remain my own.