Garnier Hair Food Shampoo Bar - Aloe

Probably the worst shampoo I've ever used. I was really excited to use a shampoo bar, but was highly disappointed with this one. It left my hair feeling greasy and and like I had used dry shampoo and hairspray for weeks without washing it. Thought it may just be my hair it done this too so tried it on the kids, and was exactly the same. The smell is alright but once applied to the hair it gives off the most awful smell. It's also a little annoying as you can't leave it in the shower without other shower grub getting on it.

I was lucky enough to be chosen to review the Aloe Garnier Food Shampoo Bar and the Aloe Hair Food. It was the first time I had tried a shampoo bar, nice size and fits in your hand perfectly, I found that it lathers up thick and quite creamy so you don't need to use a lot. It's quite soft so finding a place to put it could be a problem as my shower is above my soap dish and it would literally just melt away quite quickly. I ended up taking it out of shower and leaving it to dry and then put it in small container. After shampooing I used the Aloe hair food to condition my hair. Great smell and I like the tub packaging, it can just be left on shower floor. I also like that you can just scoop the amount out you need and apply as needed. Blow dried my hair as normal and it looked great, hair was clean and soft but seemed to lack lustre. That evening my hair was quite lank looking and by the morning looked a little greasy and that it needed another wash, I only ever wash my hair twice maybe three times a week so was a little disappointed that it looked the way it did.

It lathers really well, but I found like some other reviewers that it dried out their hair. It would probably be fine if you have different hair than mine, which is curly and needs a lot of moisture all the time. I wouldn't buy it again because of how drying it was.

Prior to trialling this product I had never used a solid shampoo bar so I was unsure how effective it would be or what to expect. I have quite fine, straight and generally shiny hair. I wash my hair daily and so notice small differences quickly between brands and experiences. This product was a bit hard to initially lather - I tried both lathering it directly on my hair as well as rubbing it with my hands. But once lathered, it was easy enough to get it into the roots and wash. Perhaps I lathered too hard because I felt the shampoo bar left my hair looking quite dull. The result was similar to that of dry shampoo - quite stiff and actually somewhat hard to brush out. I liked that the shampoo bar was vegan and was a biodegradable alternative but unfortunately I won't be reaching for this product in a hurry.

I love a shampoo bar. I have gone through countless Lush bars, love them enough that I have a dedicated bar holder in my shower.

My hair: brown, very long, fine, frizzy, 2A crankshaft curl pattern. Not coloured. No scalp concerns.

PROS: Nice hard bar, didn't get mushy in the shampoo bar holder in my shower. I used it with my shampoo massage brush to work up a nice big lather. It has a very fresh scent that stays in my hair for ages. It made my hair very voluminous, but not floofy looking.

CONS: I think I have a sensitivity to Aloe, I tried the Hebal Essences Potent Aloe shampoo once and got lots of painful blind pimple type bumps on my scalp, which I put down to a change in medication at the time. Unfortunately I had the same reaction over the couple of weeks I've used this product. I've used the matching conditioner with no trouble for three months, but I keep conditioner off my roots usually. I also felt like the bar was leaving a coating on my hair, like I have styling wax in my hair after I rinse the shampoo out of my hair. I have used solid conditioners before too and they didn't have that odd feeling. I didn't feel it once my hair was dry. On days I didn't follow with conditioner my hair was tangly and hard to get a comb through.

I think it's decent, easy to buy at the supermarket, I might try again to see if it was just the aloe one.

I wanted to love this but it fell a little short. Packaging is nice and bright and eco friendly, but branding is a little cluttered.

Smell is great and refreshing.

I found it hard to use though. It might be habit that I’m used to liquid but I just found it hard to get the lather up and really get into all the right parts of my hair.

I'll be very honest, I was expecting this to be much like applying soap to my hair. I was sure it would strip any goodness from my scalp and hair resulting in a straw like texture creating multiple knots... but it didn't! I was pleasantly surprised. In true Fructis style it smells fruity fresh & clean. The instructions tell you to wet the bar and apply it to your wet hair by sliding the bar from your roots to the tips, creating a foamy texture. It took a little bit to create the foamy texture with a new virgin bar, and the process felt very foreign, but once I got the knack I managed to create a luscious foamy texture. I'm a shampoo twice girl, so did this each time I used the bar, being a total of 3 washes over the week (6 rinses). I was truly happy with the clealiness of my hair after rinsing & how soft and hydrated my hair felt. I was wowed. However, the bar needs to be kept dry between uses, this was an issue as I had nowhere to keep it other than the shower, so decided to house it in its original packaging between uses. This worked ok for a couple of days, but the sustainable packaging was quickly deteriorating in the moist surroundings (being the shower). I couldn't help but wish that I had a soap container to keep it in. I checked it out at my local New World and was shocked at the price, it was 3 times the price I was expecting. I thought for the price perhaps the packaging could have accommodated the bar for long term storage and still had been sustainable? I also noted on the packing that it states the bar is equivalent to 2x 250ml bottles of shampoo, I wholeheartedly disagree with this, maybe equivalent to one 250ml bottle. All in all, its a great shampoo to travel with (once you've purchased your soap container to house it in) and would be perfect for the gym etc