Garnier Fructis Hair Food Papaya Review

This is one flexible product and I tried each of the methods suggested on the Garnier Fructis Hair Food tub.

As a leave in - I put a large dollop of the product through the lengths and ends of my dry hair the morning of the day I was due to wash it before heading to the gym. No one would have been able to tell as it absorbed, didn't weigh down my hair or leave it sticky and the sweet papaya smell followed me around. It can also be left in wet hair.

As a conditioner - I used a small amount and left it for about a minute after shampooing before rinsing. The naturalness of this product seemed apparent with this method as does how soft and shiny it makes your hair as this was most definitely the case for the lengths and ends of my long, slightly damaged and usually dry, thick hair.

As a mask - this is my favourite and most effective use for the hair food as I've been getting hair mask treatments every time I have my hair cut but haven't taken this luxury into my own home. I smear the hair food through in the shower after I've used shampoo and conditioner and leave it for just over a minute before rinsing. It has resulted in softer hair and the papaya scent remains between washes on top of the soft but not weighed down feeling of my hair.

The only wee downside is that this is a massive, heavy tub of product which is certainly not gym bag friendly for girls who tend to wash their hair after their workouts. Without knowing the price I'm unable to really comment on the value for money but given it's effectively three products in one it'd be hard to lose!

After trying the Garnier banana food and loving it I was confident to try this variety and in short it doesn't disappoint me at all. The scent is sweet and intoxicating like the banana but not as heavy though still quite strong. The viscosity is very thick like you would expect a hair mask to be. I like to use this product in several ways. 1. As a hair mask - I like to leave it in longer than a minute. 2. As my normal conditioner after shampooing! 3. As a leave in or smoothing product for fly aways and frizz! The scent lingers and the benefits to me are really worth spending the money to buy a tub of this goodness. I get no product build up from silicones and diamenthicones in regular conditioners, less dry hair, stronger healthier hair over all and doubles as several other separate hair products in the one tub. 1 tub lasts me months. The trick is to get the right ratio for your hair. At first I used too much. Once you allow it to soak into your hair a little goes further than you think. I can find I can get away with cheap shampoo if I'm using the Garnier hair food. The container is recyclable and product is excellent for natural product lovers. Long term - as I have been using it for almost a year now I think - this beats salon products and my hair has never been healthier. I can't wait to try another variety but banana is my favourite.

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.

I had serious doubts about this - how could something so cheap be getting such rave reviews?

My hair is probably a good test for any conditioner - long, the colour is completely fake (naturally grey, dyed every 203 weeks with very specific dyes as i'm allergic to PPD, heat styled daily, has to constantly put up with airplanes, hotel heating/cooling and all the rest of it). This conditioner makes short work of it!

I use this 2-3x a week, and I always double condition anyway, but this can stand alone if it needs to. I tend to use it as a mask - work through hair, leave for a few mins, and wash out. My hair is currently silky and smooth - healthier and prettier than it's been in years. Adding in this product is the only real difference I've made.

This has come with me all around NZ, and to Fiji so far. I have a dedicated wee container to pop it in for travel though - I really wish they made this in sachet form for that purpose!

The huge tub is such good value, and this goes a really long way. The price is cheap, but I've bought two of these on serious special for around the $7 mark which is even better. The scent is 'just papaya-y enough' detectable and pleasant without being too much.

I'm converted, I'll be using this for a long while yet!

I said from the beginning that I was worried about the smell of this making me hungry. And seriously I opened the packaging and it smell like tropical yumyum!

This tub of goo was bigger than what I expected too, so that was awesome!

I love how natural this product is. The amount of damage we do to our hair to feel glam is crazy, so this was a nice pamper!

It definitely made my hair feel super soft. I don't brush my hair enough because it's too long and too thick, but I found that when I did pick up the brush it was less tangled than usual. It keeps the fresh papaya smell too!

It's not all great though. I can't put my finger on it yet, but there is something about it I don't love. My roots seem to have a greasy shine like ive been working out and sweating. And if there is one thing I don't do, it's work out! Maybe I need to rinse for longer - time will tell when I use it more!

I fell in love with the sound of this product reading through all the reviews. With all the different flavours I ended up buying 3 different ones to try them out.

I have long hair with lightened ends so the length is quite dry. I’ve struggled to find a nourishing conditioner that treats my ends without making my hair dull and lank. I love the versatility of this product - a conditioner, a mask and a leave-in treatment.

This was by far my favourite scented one. It has a fresh, fruity, holiday scent that makes me feel like I'm lying on a beach somewhere.

I tried this product the 3 different way (conditioner, mask and leave-in treatment). After a bit of trial and error, I found the perfect balance. This one is more intensive than the Macadamia one (my favourite), so I only use this as a treatment if my hair has had a particularly tough week. I found if I used it unnecessarily it made my hair dank and oily and just looked like it needed a good wash. This was perfect after a beach holiday to restore moisture and softness to my ends.

Omg this is one of the best drugstore hair masks Leaves your hair soft and shiny ; great value for money Highly recommended

I received this product to trial from BR which was very handy as my hair was in need of some extra care.

I've been using this product after shampoo, instead of a regular conditioner and have since noticed a significant change in the texture and appearance of my hair.

This deep conditioning hair treatment comes packaged in a large plastic tub, it's a lot of product, I imagine that it will last for quite some time.

The texture of this stuff is like a super thick and smooth custard, and it smells exactly like papaya fruit.

I rub a good dollop of this product through the lengths of my hair and leave it on for a few minutes before rinsing it off thoroughly.

The condition of my hair has noticeably changed since the first time of use with this treatment, it looks and feels smooth and nourished, and is also glossier than usual.

This is a really nice product to use, it does what should and I would definitely purchase and use it again.

I usually use this as a leave in conditioner, but it's amazing in the shower too. I have chemically treated hair that I often use heat on and this seems to be helping to keep it on my head. When I apply a little bit on dry hair it soaks in nicely and doesn't leave it feeling thick or greasy, it's a great pick me up for when my ends start to feel dry a few days after I wash it

I have really long (down to lower back) bleach blonde hair and I’ve been looking for a delicious smelling hair mask that will keep my hair looking and feeling healthy.

First off, this mask smells AMAZING. I’ve been tempted to lick it but no that probably wouldn’t taste nice.

I’ve tried it out as a mask, a conditioner and a leave in conditioner. It’s so versatile! My hair smells great and feels healthy. I love how it has a list of all the ingredients on the tub and says which are natural ingredients. It comes in a pretty decent size tub too!

I would definitely try out the rest of the range to see if they all smell as fantastic as this one does