Garnier Fructis Hair Food Banana Review

This product smells AMAZING! The consistency is as you would expect, and the jar is a large twist top. It gets a bit tricky to close when you have product in your hands and shower water making things slippery and i almost dropped the entire jar a few times!

I used it as a mask so put on a good sized blob to work its manic whilst showering.

The end result, smooth and shiny hair that smells great! I even had people compliment me on my hair asking if I had had it straightened. So that’s always going to make something a winner in my books!

I've used this product before the trial and enjoyed it, so it was nice to get chosen for this trial to give my thoughts on it.

My hair is dry and curly, so I've used this mainly as a leave-in conditioner. It does everything it says it will, but does tend to leave my hair looking a little dull. A simple hair oil helped with that, but was necessary. The scent is very strong, and not for everyone. I have workmates who are very sensitive to product scents, and this one sadly affected them in a negative way. Because of that, I will keep this as a weekend treat for myself. I think they could improve the jar it comes in as it is very large and awkward. The top is a screw-top, and I struggled to get my hands around it to open. Women with smaller hands than me would find this even harder, I imagine.

Overall, I enjoyed this and my curls enjoyed the extra hydration too.

I bought this on special to give it a try as I loved the concept of "hair food" which implied it was made from mostly natural, food ingredients. I picked the banana because I thought it would smell the best and was best suited to my dry hair. I used it like a mask, leaving it in my hair for about 10 minutes before washing it out. It didn't really do much to change the condition of my hair, it was just like a normal conditioner but the smell is amazing and my hair smelled like it all day! It's like a fake banana/Perky Nana bar smell and it is delish. I would purchase again based on the scent alone.

I have long, straight, fine and frizzy hair and I don't use supermarket shampoo's or conditioners, mostly because they irritate my hands so reading the reviews that said this was just as good as a salon style conditioner I thought I'd try it out as a potential replacement for my in-shower conditioner.

As others have mentioned, this comes in a tub. It's really awkward, it takes up a lot of shelf space, you have to use both hands to hold and open the top then you have to scoop it out with your fingers and reverse the procedure while trying not to drop what's in your hands. I understand the reason behind this is because it's more for a hair mask than an in-shower conditioner so it makes sense.

My husband loved the smell of this and said it smelt good enough to eat and yes, it has a lovely, slight banana scent to it which I didn't find overpowering.

It didn't irritate my hands and left my hair feeling soft. No increase in frizz and yes, it was just as good as my salon conditioner.

However, I recently spent some time in a humid climate and this conditioner did not perform well at all. I could not let my hair down due to the incredible frizz and didn't want to walk around looking like a cavewoman. So, back to my salon conditioner.

I had serious doubts about this range - like I said when I reviewed the papaya....how could something so cheap be getting such rave reviews?

This works, don't get me wrong. It helps hydrate dry hair and give it a nice shine. I just don't like the scent. It's very banana-y. I know it's a banana PRODUCT, but.... you know. It's a lot.

My hair is a good test for any conditioner, with the amount of heat styling, travel and washing I put it through. 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. All the products in the range seem to achieve this, the only difference is the scents.

The huge tub is such good value, and this goes a really long way. I paid $8.50 for this in My Chemist Warehouse, so even cheaper than normal.

I joined the Curly Girl Facebook page, as I have wavy hair, and this was highly rated by other Curly Girls, so I thought “why not give it a go?”. Firstly I feel the tub isn’t very handy to work with in the shower, I think it needs to be in a bottle. The smell reminds me of banana lollies, which is that kind of a fake, chemically smell but it’s not too overpowering. It’s nice and thick and is easily spread through hair and washes out well enough. I did like how my hair felt at the start but it didn’t really stop the dryness at my ends as much as I’d hoped. I must admit it is good as a hair mask but I don’t feel it’s good for long term or daily use.

I have so many mixed feelings about this product

The tub is quite large (which should be a good thing!) but it is a little awkward to fit in the shower and tricky to put the lid back on when your hand is full of product. Plus I am not a fan of putting my fingers in a tub of product - just a personal quirk. I would definitely prefer if it came in a bottle. The banana smell is a little more like a sickly sweet banana lolly and is very strong but the scent does calm down and I can always purchase a different flavour so no biggie. The product is thick and creamy and easy to apply.

I tried using the product in all three ways suggested on the back of the tub - a conditioner, mask and as a leave-in.

It worked ok as a conditioner and there was definitely no weigh down, I had volume like you wouldn't believe! I looked like I had sooooo much hair! The next day I had to straighten it to calm it down but then I found it got greasier so much quicker than my hair normally would. I usually only need to wash my hair twice a week but with this product I had to wash it every couple of days. I thought using it as a mask after using shampoo and conditioner would be excellent but sadly it definitely made my hair greasy quickly. For me I don't think using this product all over my hair is the way to go. I tried it as a leave-in on the ends of my hair when my hair was dry and I was nervous as it it looked like it was going to make my hair look very greasy but after a few minutes the ends of my hair soaked up the product and apart from the smell you wouldn't know I had applied any product. But using it as a leave-in on my mid length/ends on wet hair was the best outcome for me. I always air dry my hair and instead of my hair getting all frizzy through the day as it dried it just looked soft, moisturised and healthy.

If you like banana smoothies, you'll love the smell of this product! If you use it as a conditioner or hair mask, washing it out afterwards, you still get a pleasant lingering smell. The smell is a lot stronger if you leave it in.

As a conditioner, I would rate it about average in effectiveness, in comparison to other supermarket brands. My hair didn't feel any softer than usual, even when I used it as a mask, but nor did my hair feel as dry as when I don't use conditioner at all.

As a leave in treatment, I was worried it would be greasy and stain my pillowcase, but actually it wasn't too bad. But it was a little too oily and smelled too strong for me to leave in during the day.

I admire the attempt at producing something that's based on natural ingredients, although just because something is natural doesn't mean it's good for you. The ingredients list has a lot of healthy sounding items in it, alongside a list of chemicals that have 'vegetable origin' or are 'perfume or plant derived'. This is where I get cynical and don't buy into the marketing, as everything is made up of chemicals and originating from plants doesn't necessarily make them safe! But kudos for appearing to try.

I think this would be a good product for children and young adults in particular, due to the fresh, sweet smell and possibly healthier ingredients list. I can imagine myself loving this as a child,