Review: Garnier Ultimate Blends Papaya Hair Food Range

I’ve been looking for a good drugstore haircare line for quite a while, so when I saw that the whole of the *Garnier Ultimate Blends Repairing range was on offer in Boots for half the price, I knew I had to snap them up. In total, all three of these products – the shampoo, conditioner and mask – came to £9.99. It was honestly too good of a deal for me not to get them!

Reviews I’d seen of these products before buying them were generally positive so I had high hopes. Keep reading to see if they lived up to my expectations!

*If you’re in the US or the rest of Europe I believe the Garnier Ultimate Blends range is actually called Garnier Fructis, I’m not quite sure why there was a name change in the UK!

Which hair type is the Papaya line suited to? And how is it different from the other Hair Food lines?

Garnier currently has seven Hair Food lines, each of which have different functions:

• The Papaya line is for damaged hair
• The Banana line is for dry hair
• The Watermelon line is for fine hair
• The Pineapple line for long, dull hair
• The Cocoa Butter line is for dry, curly hair
• The Coconut line is for frizzy hair
• The Aloe Vera line is for normal hair

I’ve also seen that there’s a Goji one for coloured hair but I’m not sure if it’s been discontinued as I can’t find it anywhere!

What makes the Ultimate Blends Hair Food range so special?

• 98% natural ingredients
• 96% biodegradable formula
• Free from silicones
• Shampoo and conditioner bottles are 100% recyclable and made from 50% recycled plastic

Is Garnier cruelty-free?

Garnier is a cruelty-free brand which means that neither they nor their suppliers (of which there are over 500) test on animals. They also don’t sell their products in countries where animal testing is required.

Garnier, however, is owned by L’Oréal which doesn’t test on animals themselves, but allows third party companies to do it.

Is this line vegan?

Garnier’s Repairing line is completely vegan, as are all the Ultimate Blends Hair Food lines.

Price & availability

The Papaya Shampoo and Conditioner are both around £6 in Boots, LOOKFANTASTIC and Superdrug. The Papaya Hair Mask is £7.99 at the same retailers.

This range is often on offer so make sure to keep an eye out if you want to save a couple of £s. You also get an exclusive discount on these products if you’re a Boots Advantage Card holder.

Reviews

Papaya & Coconut Shampoo

Garnier’s Ultimate Blends Repairing Shampoo is meant to nourish and revive damaged hair. With papaya and coconut as its key ingredients, this fruit-infused formula fends off dryness, prevents tangles and minimises breakage.

First, let’s start with the positives. This shampoo smells REALLY good. If you’re a fan of tropical, fruity scents you’re going to love it. It makes your hair smell super clean and fresh, but not in an artificial, overpowering way. The scent does wear off pretty quickly – you’re probably not going to keep getting wafts of it after you wash it out. But if I’ve washed my hair with this in the morning, I can still faintly smell it in my hair by the end of the day.

I also think this lathers really well. It’s definitely easier to distribute it throughout my hair if I foam it up in my hands beforehand, but even without doing this I feel like it’s pretty easy to work it in. You don’t really need to use too much to get a good lather either – though this obviously varies depending on how fine/thick your hair is. With my fine hair I can get away with using about one teaspoon full.

Now, for the things I didn’t like so much. While I like the way this shampoo works in the shower, I’m not so keen on how my hair feels afterwards. This leaves a residue that makes my hair look super flat when I dry it. The bottle says ‘no weigh down’ but it does leave my hair feeling quite heavy, especially at the roots. This almost coats my hair rather than giving moisture to the strands. When I first used it I thought that I just hadn’t washed it out properly but this seems to happen each time!

This also doesn’t contain silicones so it doesn’t leave my hair feeling as silky as other shampoos I own. I know some people prefer products without silicones but I don’t tend to find they have a negative effect on my hair so it’s not something I actively avoid.

Overall, I probably wouldn’t buy this product again – the main reason being that after a few washes the build up leaves my hair feeling quite greasy at the roots. Maybe this isn’t suited to my hair type and those with thicker hair might have more success!

Papaya & Coconut Conditioner

Like the shampoo, the Garnier Repairing Hair Food Conditioner uses a blend of papaya and coconut to moisturise and strengthen damaged strands.

This has quite a thin consistency – I’m used to conditioners that are more mask-like – but I don’t necessarily think a conditioner needs to be thick or creamy to work! I like how easy it is to run this through the ends of my hair and I find that it washes out well too. I do, however, think that thicker hair types might struggle with the runny texture. It may be too watery to feel like it’s properly coating the hair.

I love that the conditioner smells just as good as the shampoo. It’s always disappointing when a brand comes out with a scented shampoo and the conditioner smells like nothing! Garnier earned themselves another point here! But…

In terms of effectiveness, I don’t know whether this does a whole lot for my hair. It definitely stops it from tangling so much, however, the condition of my hair doesn’t really feel any better after I use it.

As I mentioned with the shampoo, because this conditioner doesn’t contain silicones my hair isn’t as soft as I generally like it to be after washing. For it to be as nourishing as other silicone-free conditioners I own, like the Vegamour GRO Revitalizing Conditioner, I think it would probably need to contain more plant oils or some kind of silicone alternative (like Vegamour’s Karmatin).

If you want something a bit more heavy duty, I’d say you could probably skip this conditioner and just buy the Repairing Hair Mask. Here’s why…

Papaya & Amla 3-in-1 Hair Mask

The Garnier Ultimate Blends 3-in1- Hair Mask combines the Repairing line’s star ingredient, papaya, with a bunch of different plant oils (sunflower, soybean, amla and coconut) to create a product that deeply conditions and hydrates the hair.

You can use this mask in multiple ways:

1. As a pre-shampoo treatment
2. As a wash-out conditioner
3. As a leave-in conditioner

For my fine hair this is a bit too heavy to use as a leave-in conditioner, but it works perfectly if I apply it just before or during my usual hair wash routine. As I mentioned above, going forwards I’ll probably just use this mask instead of the Papaya & Coconut conditioner because I think it works better!

The texture of this is thicker than the Papaya Conditioner (I’d say it’s more akin to the Coco & Eve Conditioner) but a little thinner than other hair masks I currently use (like the Gisou one). I actually like the fact that it’s slightly runnier as it makes it easier to spread this through my hair.

Of the three products in the Papaya line, this is without a doubt my favourite. It has that gorgeous tropical smell (which was the highlight of the shampoo and conditioner) and it really does leave my hair feeling soft and nourished after I use it.

Plus, when it comes to getting bang for your buck, buying the Garnier Hair Mask is a no brainer. It’s £7.99 for 400ml which, when you consider that the Gisou mask is £42 for 230ml, is amazing value for money. I’ve been using this quite often and I’ve still got loads left so I can see this lasting me quite a while!

Have you tried the Garnier Ultimate Blends Papaya Hair Food range yet? Or any other Ultimate Blends products? Let me know what you thought of them in the comments!