GARNIER ULTIMATE BLENDS HAIR FOOD REVIEW | SMOOTHING COCONUT + NOURISHING BANANA

 

It feels like such a long time ago that I experimented with hair care. I’ve been known to be quite set in my ways when it comes to the stuff I out on my head given all the traumas it’s been through! For those of you who’ve read my blog for a while, you’ll know that I’ve been bleaching and colouring my hair for years upon years. You’ll also probably know that about 2 years back, a ‘hairdresser’ melted off my hair into an attractive mullet. Since then, I’ve been super careful about what products I’m using, using heat, sleeping with it up, using hairbands and all that good stuff. I’ve generally used salon-brands or higher-end products you can get in the supermarket or Boots. This time, though, I seem to have made a bit of a mistake by choosing these Garnier products…

Garnier Ultimate Blends Hair Food Smoothing Coconut & Macadamia Shampoo 

★★★☆☆

So the shampoo is definitely not the worst out of the lot. It’s not bad. But it’s just also…not that good? The shampoo comes out of the bottle feeling like a strange slime. It doesn’t feel like a normal liquid shampoo. It honestly has the texture of some kind of jellyfish, which on first impressions is really strange! It’s also a completely transparent formula, which I was quite surprised to see. I’ve never used a ‘nourishing’ or ‘hydrating’ shampoo which is perfectly clear because usually they are a sort-of ‘milky’ looking liquid.

The consistency makes it kind of hard to lather up when put onto the hair, but eventually it does foam up and seems to clean my hair quite well. I don’t notice any sort of overpowering smell, which again is quite disappointing as I love the smell of coconut. However, for some people who don’t like a strong fragrance, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. And with all my moaning so far, these products are made using 98% naturally derived ingredients and are a fully vegan recipe, which can only be positive points. They’re also readily available at supermarkets, drugstores, B&M, Savers, Wilko, so you can pretty much get your hands on them anywhere.

Garnier Ultimate Blends Hair Food Smoothing Coconut & Macadamia Conditioner

★★☆☆☆

I’ll start with the good points for this one, because it’s my least least least favourite hair product I’ve tried for a long time. It only cost £2.49, so it is really affordable and really accessible for those tighter budgets. I do actually really love the packaging of the shampoo and conditioner - I think they look like little up-cycled milk bottles or something, which I do think is really cute and they look great on my shower caddy. The sizing of the bottles are also pretty generous. I’ve noticed that typically shampoos and conditioners come in quite small packages which means they run out super quickly. These ones are [sadly] going to last me over a month easily. 

However, that’s where the good points end. And in terms of working as a conditioner, this is where the compliments end. When squeezed out of the bottle, what you’re met with is a super thick, gluey, claggy formula which holds its shape perfectly in your hand. Usually I don’t mind a thick conditioner, but something about the consistency and look is just off-putting. When you smooth it onto the hair, you don’t get a real soft, silky feeling on your hands the way you do with some other conditioners - where you can already feel it working kind-of-thing. It just smooths on over the hair and…sits there. After rinsing, the hair feels coated and weighed right down. For about 2 to 3 days after use, my hair feels like I’ve not washed the conditioner out properly and I simply cannot wait to get back into the shower and wash it again. I initially thought that maybe my hair wasn’t ‘frizzy and unruly’ enough to warrant using this formula, but I’ve used plenty of other smoothing and taming products before without this sensation of greasiness and clagginess. 

Garnier Ultimate Blends Hair Food Nourishing Banana & Shea 3-in-1 Hair Mask

★★★★☆

This mask is the saving grace. I absolutely love it. It’s the second ‘flavour’ I’ve tried of the range, and I’ll definitely be buying another once this runs out. I cannot quite believe it belongs to the same range as the shampoo and conditioner above, because the quality just seems so different. I think it’s an absolutely fantastic mask for it’s price point [around £3.50 depending on the shop] and there’s a scent for everyone. Again, you can find these on the shelves during the weekly shop or when you’re popping into Wilko or B&M, so they’re very easy to find. The size of the tub is very generous and my previous one lasted me well into a third month!

These masks made it onto my 2021 Haircare Favourites blog post as I think they’re just great. I only tend to use it once every 3 or 4 washes because it’s very nourishing on the hair, plus I like to try to make them last! And it always leaves my hair feeling like I’ve given it some real TLC. I feel noticeably as though I’ve gone to the trouble of doing a hair mask, which is always nice. The banana scent is noticeable, but not too in-your-face which is lovely. The other scents look really good too; I’m thinking of giving Watermelon a go next time! 

So basically the shampoo and conditioner are an absolute flop. To the point I’m thinking of just chucking them away - but the environmentally-conscious waste-hater within me says NOOOO! It’s just such a shame, but I really don’t want to keep wandering around with heavy, greeeezy hair. Luckily, the hair mask makes up for it and really redeems the Garnier Hair Food range in my opinion. I feel like it’s a good idea to try out the full range, because you never know, they could be absolutely fantastic products for that incredibly low price. I’m usually of the opinion that ‘you get what you pay for’ and in this case, I’m kinda right and kinda wrong. I still don’t understand how they got it SO wrong and then SO right within one range, but I guess we’ll never know!

Lots of love,

Jasmine x

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