Garnier Fructis Hair Food Papaya Review

So I probably need to start this by clearing one important fact up.... Even though this container is gorgeous and bright and inviting, and even though it smells divine, you need to remember that this is NOT yogurt. I know you're now asking why that is something that needs to be said, but I got this delivered to work and 3 of my coworkers tried asking me about the delicious looking yogurt on my desk, and it honest to goodness smells good enough to eat. So, if you're severely sleep deprived you might have to be careful not to confuse it.

Anyway, onto the review. I'm admittedly a little bit of a hair product snob, mostly due to the fact that I use a Joico K-pak treatment in place of my conditioner anyway. So lets start from the top. Packaging - divine Smell - delicious Ease of opening - a little tricky to put the lid back on when you've got a few fingers covered in product, the container is wet, and you're trying not to get it filled with water. So could do with a little texture on the lid or base to make it easier to twist on. Mask - feels really good going on, washes out nicely and does leave the strands feeling more substantial or 'thicker' than they normally do. Will definitely keep using it

Leave in - not so much. I'm sure this will be good for some but I have dry curly hair and after the second use and leave in my ends feel more gunky or textured rather than soft. I can feel a bit of residue on my hands after playing with the ends 24 hours post shower and I don't think I put a huge amount on. I think I'm going to skip doing a 10c coin sized leave in in future.

So overall - smells great - could be made easier to put the lid back on - great as a mask - fairly weighty as a leave in if you're not used to being able to feel the product the next day.

I'll keep using it because it sure smells good, but unsure if I would purchase it when I run out.

On receiving this in the mail, my first impression was delight at the size of the container. Most of my hair products sit around 250ml so this was a treat at 390ml.

Upon opening it, it reminded me of a big container of body butter. The shape, colour, texture and even packaging all reminded me of some body butters I've used.

The packaging itself is interesting reading. An ingredient list is shown that highlights the source of the ingredients, showing most of them as from vegetable origin. It also makes a point of announcing that there are no parabens, silicones or artificial colours in this product. Overall the ingredients in this product were some of the best I've seen in a hair conditioning product. And I agree they need the 2% of ingredients of non natural origin for efficacy and preservation.

Now onto using the product. It can be used three ways; as a mask, a conditioner or a leave in.

I tried it as a leave in first. Much like other leave in's I've used, I found the effects limited and had to be careful how much product I used to ensure it didn't weigh the hair down and make it greasy.

The second way I used it was as a conditioner. This could easily work as a conditioner and I like that it can be a substitute as I often run out of conditioner before I do shampoo. Unlike as a leave in, to be an effective conditioner, I used the product liberally.

And finally I tried it as a mask. Much like as a conditioner I used the product liberally and found my hair felt a little softer and protected for the next 24 hours. But overall no other effects.

What I wasn't struck on with the packaging was that when using it in the shower it needs to be kept away from the water more than a tube does. But on the plus side it is very easy to get the product out.

I received a full sized tub of this for review from Beauty Review.

The first thing that struck me about this product is the scent! It smells good enough to eat. Natural, fruity, and light - yum!

It comes in a 390ml tub, surprisingly large compared to other similar products. The lid doesn't screw on super tightly, so I'd be cautious about storing this in the shower as I'd worry it may let water in. There are instructions on the tub for how to use the product as either a conditioner, a mask, or a leave-in conditioner. The instructions for use as a conditioner or mask don't include details about the amount of product to use or how long to leave it in for, so I just made my best guess and went with "a generous dollop".

I have fine brown hair that comes down to just below my shoulders, I don't use any hair colour or styling products regularly, and it tends to get a bit neglected with blow-drying every second day.

As a leave-in conditioner, this product went on easily, absorbed quickly, and my hair felt soft and silky with no heavy residue. The scent didn't linger as long as I'd hoped it might, but overall I liked it as a leave-in.

As a conditioner, this was easy to use, I just put a dollop (about 2Tbsp) in my hair, focussing on the mid-lengths and ends, and left it in for two minutes. It left my hair soft, silky, and smelling great, but it started to feel oily and heavy by mid-afternoon. I really thought I'd need to wash it the next day, but I managed to get a second day out of it. I'm not sure if I used too much product or if it didn't rinse out as well as I thought it did, but this just didn't work as a conditioner for me.

I was a bit nervous about trying this product as a mask, after my experience trying it as a conditioner, but I'm glad I did. I used about 1Tbsp and applied to wet hair, rinsing after 1 minute as instructed. After blow drying my hair felt soft and nourished, no heavy or oily residue, and a faint tropical scent. I think perhaps this is in part due to the silicones in my conditioner stopping my hair from fully absorbing the product.

Overall, I prefer this product as a leave-in conditioner. It smelled good and I like the fact that it's free from so many nasties. I would probably not purchase it as it was a bit heavy for my fine hair, but I'm glad I had the chance to try it.